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The camera uses AI to help identify falls even when the subject is partially obscured. | Photo: Kami Vision Home security company Kami Vision is introducing a new camera that's designed especially for seniors living on their own. The Kami Fall Detect Camera monitors for falls and can alert families or caregivers to take action. The company has been offering similar fall detection systems for senior living communities, but this is its first product designed with private homes in mind.The Fall Detect Camera offers an 87-degree view and can rotate 360 degrees. The owner can authorize other users to receive alerts if a fall is detected or access the camera's live view to check on them - there's even two-way audio communication built in. Kami Vision claims the camera detects falls with 99.5 percent accuracy and uses AI to identify a fall even if the person is partially obscured.Kami Vision offers a subscription service at $45 per month that includes professional monitoring to verify falls and automatic calls to emergency services if there's no response to a fall. The camera itself costs $99 and can be used on its own, but the subscription is required to get the fall detection features.Kami isn't the first company to introduce tech to help people age in place. Both the Apple Watch and Google Pixel Watch include fall detection features that allow the wearer to call for help when a fall is detected. But those devices need to be on your body to work and need to be kept charged, which might not be practical for someone whose age or condition puts them at risk for falls. As baby boomers reach their senior years, something like Kami Vision's approach will probably look awfully appealing to caregivers and those wanting to age in place alike.

The Floodlight Cam Pro is our pick for the best overall outdoor floodlight camera. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Ring is doing something rare for a technology brand: upgrading devices that customers have already purchased. The company is updating its outdoor cameras to boost video resolution, but it's not just new customers who will benefit - existing owners of the floodlight and spotlight cams will get the upgrade, too.Ring's series of outdoor cameras currently support 1080p video. The Floodlight Cam Pro and the Spotlight Cam Pro are getting the boost to 2K video, while the Plus versions of those cameras will remain at 1080p. It's a significant jump in resolution for the Pro models considering that most other Ring cameras top out at 1080p, with the exception of a few doorbells that do 1440p and 1536p.Across Ring's product line, these outdoor cameras are good candidates for a resolution bump. Since they're typically mounted higher and farther away from the subjects they're meant to record, a little extra resolution can make a significant difference in image detail. Digital zoom, which was already pretty good on the Floodlight Cam Pro, should get a little sharper, too.Existing Floodlight and Spotlight Cam Pro owners will be able to upgrade their devices through the Ring app when the update starts rolling out on January 8th.

Kidde's new smart smoke and combination smoke + CO alarms with Ring work in the Ring app and don't require a Ring Alarm system. | Image: Ring Ring has announced a new partnership with fire safety brand Kidde to launch smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that connect to the Ring app via Wi-Fi and send alerts to your phone when the alarms are triggered.The Kidde Smart Smoke Alarm with Ring ($54.97) and the Kidde Smart Smoke and CO Alarm with Ring ($74.97) are hardwired alarms with battery backup. They will launch this April at The Home Depot and come to more retailers later in 2025, according to Kidde. Image: Kidde The Ring-powered Kidde smart smoke alarm works with the Ring app and costs $55. The alarms connect to the Ring app and, as well as sending alerts when triggered, will notify you about a low battery to help avoid those 2AM chirps. But the Ring alarm can't hush an active alarm, you'll have to do that manually. If you have other compatible hardwired Kidde smoke alarms in your house, adding one of these Ring-powered alarms will enable your existing alarms to also connect to the Ring app.Unlike the First Alert Z-Wave smoke and CO alarms that also work with Ring, the Kidde alarms do not need a Ring Alarm hub to connect to the app and don't require a subscription to receive alerts. Ring will offer the option go 24/7 professional monitoring of the smoke alarms for $5 a month; if you already have Ring Professional Monitoring for your Ring Alarm, smoke alarm monitoring is included. (Ring also sells a $35 smoke alarm listener that can alert the Ring app if it hears an alarm in your home, which also requires a Ring Professional Monitoring subscription.)Smart smoke alarms are critical devices, as they can alert you to danger at home when you're not there. There really aren't many choices on the market today. While Amazon, Apple, and others offer services through smart speakers and home security systems that listen for your existing smoke alarms and send alerts to your phone, actual connected alarms are few and far between.Google's Nest Protect is one of the best options, but at $149, it's very expensive. While it has some excellent features, including a motion-activated nightlight, voice alerts, and the option to silence the alarm from the Nest app, the product hasn't been updated in several years. Google also doesn't offer professional monitoring. First Alert's OneLink smart alarm line has been discontinued. Kidde sells a stand-alone line of Wi-Fi-connected smart smoke alarms that work with its app to send alerts and integrate with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. According to Kidde, these new alarms will only work with the Ring app at launch and will not integrate with Amazon Alexa or any other smart home systems.

Illustration: The Verge Buying a smart home product today means checking which ecosystems it works with by looking for the little Works with Apple Home" or Works with Google" badge on the package. Matter was supposed to get rid of those because if a product works with Matter, it should work with all the big smart home platforms. That hasn't happened yet, and now we have one more badge to look for: the Matter badge.Getting all those badges is about to get simpler for manufacturers, though. The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which runs Matter, announced today that Apple, Google, and Samsung will all accept its certification for their Works With" programs:

OWC has released two new super-long active optical USB4 cables, available in lengths of nearly 10 feet (3 meters) and 15 feet (4.5 meters) and offering up to 40Gbps of data throughput. According to OWC's press materials, they'll set you back $98.99 and $129.99, respectively, though its website currently lists them for slightly less. That's a bargain, compared to what Apple is charging.Data throughput aside, OWC says you can also expect the 3m option to provide up to 240W of power, while the 4.5m cable manages 60W. The cables are covered with braided nylon, too, which hopefully means they're nice and flexible. And although they aren't Thunderbolt 4 cables, they'll work the way you'd expect with other Thunderbolt 3- or- 4-capable devices, including docks and hubs. Image: OWC Intel generally guarantees Thunderbolt 4 performance at up to 2 meters over traditional copper cables. Those cables need special tech inside to keep throughput up over longer runs, which is likely part of why Apple's 3-meter 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 cable costs $159.You can find some USB4 cables as long as OWC's for much less than that, but the longer ones don't tend to offer the same high throughput, which OWC credits to the electromagnetic interference immunity of fiber-optics.OWC's cables are a bit of a throwback to Thunderbolt's roots as Light Peak, which was initially codeveloped by Intel and Apple as a fiber optic cable standard that made its way to a Sony laptop just as the companies decided to go with copper, instead. Optical, data-only Thunderbolt lives on at companies like Corning, which has you covered if you need a $480 164-foot (50 meters) 5K optical display cable in your life.Cables aside, OWC also recently announced a $189.99 Thunderbolt 5 hub, which went up for preorder in November and is available now. It's got four Thunderbolt 5 ports and a single USB-A port and supports three simultaneous 8K displays at 60Hz.

With its new lineup of TVs, Samsung is making a decision that I think might prove somewhat divisive. The company is bringing the matte, glare-free display technology that debuted on last year's S95D OLED to several more models - including its flagship Mini LED sets. Here at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Samsung is showcasing all of its latest TVs at its annual First Look event.The new S95F QD-OLED gets blazingly bright, likely using a just-announced Samsung Display panel that's technically capable of reaching 4,000 nits. According to the company, the glare-free coating has been improved to further cut down on reflections from overhead lighting, floor lamps, and sunlight. And similar to LG's top-tier 2025 OLEDs announced earlier today, the S95F is capable of hitting a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. PC gamers, rejoice. Even Samsung's First Look show floor, with bright lights everywhere, poses no issue for the glare-free screen. It's really quite impressive. And now Samsung is bringing it to more models. But not everyone likes the perceived tradeoffs. If you're wondering what's so controversial about Samsung's glare-free screen, some people insist it results in a worse overall picture than glossy coatings and that the perfect blacks of OLED aren't so inky black in all lighting conditions anymore. This issue has been debated at length on Reddit, in YouTube videos (hey, Caleb), and all over AVS Forum.But clearly Samsung remains undeterred by the haters because now the glare-free display is also coming to the company's Mini LED Neo QLED" TVs for the first time. That includes the flagship 4K QN90F and both of this year's 8K models. (Buying an 8K TV is very silly; I still very much recommend against doing that.) Samsung's other 2025 4K TVs will stick with a glossy treatment, so at least there are options if you refuse to go glare-free.These latest Mini LED TVs are also available in some truly enormous sizes: the QN90F tops out at 115 inches, while the (glossy) QN80F can be had at up to 100 inches. Samsung says the wonderfully named Supersize Picture Enhancer" will help keep 4K content looking crisp even on that giant QN90F. You still won't find Dolby Vision on any of these TVs no matter the size; clearly, that's a philosophical choice at this point. The company's 115-inch 4K Neo QLED TV uses a Supersize Picture Enhancer" to boost clarity at this enormous size. Vision AIFor 2025, Samsung is pulling all of its AI-powered TV features under new branding called Vision AI. These include the usual suspects like AI Upscaling, Auto HDR Remastering, and Adaptive Sound Pro. But there's a new Click to Search feature that can identify actors on-screen, the location of a shot, or what clothes are featured in a scene with just one click of the new AI button on your SolarCell remote." Yes, there's now a dedicated AI remote button.Another new AI trick is Samsung Food, which recognizes the food on your screen and provides recipes for bringing it to life." I'm mildly curious about this and can't wait to see how accurate or off the mark it is. Live Translate is a much more helpful addition: it can instantly translate closed captions on live broadcasts in up to seven languages."The company is also using AI to provide more robust home security features. From tonight's press release:

The company created a sensation by making TVs that look more like art and less like tech. With The Frame Pro, Samsung is trying to deliver the best of both worlds. Samsung's The Frame has been enormously popular ever since its release. There's no shortage of imitators at this point, with other manufacturers trying their hand at creating a TV that seamlessly blends in with home decor and can also convincingly look like wall art when idle. But none have captured lightning in a bottle quite like Samsung.And in 2025, Samsung is looking to fend off copycats by introducing The Frame Pro. With the artwork side of things well handled, now the company is aiming to make The Frame Pro a good TV for everything else. The Frame has nailed the aesthetics and style from the start. People buy it for the vibe more than anything else. But as a TV, it's always just been, well... fine. There wasn't much wow factor in terms of brightness or the overall picture quality that came with the nice design. That might be changing now.There are two main upgrades that put the pro" in The Frame Pro. First, Samsung is moving to Mini LED, which the company says will give The Frame Pro a boost in contrast, brightness, and black levels. The regular Frame, which isn't going anywhere, has never offered any local dimming to speak of.But there's an important caveat: this isn't Mini LED in the regular sense. Normally, Mini LED TVs contain a ton of small dimming zones behind the screen. This lets them be way more precise in lighting up only the sections of the display that need it while preserving black levels and shadow detail elsewhere. The Frame Pro doesn't do that. The Frame Pro uses Mini LEDs, but they're at the bottom of the panel - not behind it. Instead, Samsung is placing Mini LEDs along the bottom of the screen, while claiming that this approach still produces some level of local dimming. To me, it all still very much sounds like an edge-lit TV. But I'll give this Mini LED" tech a fair chance whenever I get one in for review.Samsung is also boosting The Frame Pro's maximum refresh rate from 120Hz to 144Hz, so PC gamers can get even smoother visuals than before. But if you were hoping pro" might finally mean Dolby Vision support, that's still a no.The Frame has always been something of a compromise; maybe you've got a significant other who refuses to allow a dull black rectangle into the living room. So you, being the good and considerate person you are, ultimately agree to settle" on The Frame. After first hearing about The Frame Pro, I was hopeful that it would be much less of a compromise.But this asterisk around Mini LED has me a little less excited. Like recent models, The Frame Pro's display has a matte finish to give your preferred art a more authentic appearance and mask the reality that you're looking at a screen. But matte screens can sometimes lessen a display's punch, so genuine Mini LED backlighting could've helped quite a bit in that regard. There's no more wire running from Samsung's breakout box to the actual TV. You plug your game consoles, streaming boxes, and other devices into the Wireless One Connect Box. The second major improvement is that The Frame Pro no longer has a thin wire running between it and Samsung's breakout box that houses all the HDMI inputs and the TV's other brains: that connection has gone fully wireless. This will result in an even cleaner look with less cable clutter. And the Wireless One Connect Box, which supports up to Wi-Fi 7, eliminates yet another telltale sign that The Frame Pro is a television. Now, all you've got to worry about concealing is the display's power cord. Samsung says the wireless connection between the box and TV works at distances of up to 10 meters, even with obstacles in its path." The Wireless One Connect Box can be placed up to 10 meters away. The Frame Pro is also getting the same litany of AI-powered features as Samsung's other 2025 TVs. AI is such a focus this year that there's a dedicated button on the remote for activating Click to Search, which can show you who the actors are in a given scene, where that scene is taking place, or even the clothing the characters are wearing," according to Samsung's press release.A new Samsung Food feature can recognize dishes onscreen and provide you with the recipes to make them - or something in the same ballpark, at least. Beyond that, the company is dialing up its AI-enhanced picture and sound optimizations, and AI is also reaching into accessibility features like Live Translate, which can instantly translate closed captions on live broadcasts in up to seven languages." That's very neat.The critical question is one I can't answer yet: how much will this thing cost? How much more expensive will The Frame Pro be compared to the regular model? Samsung won't be sharing pricing details until closer to the spring when it ships. If the company gets cocky and goes too high, that could ruin a lot of the appeal here. But if you already know that some version of The Frame is in your future, you're probably very happy that The Frame Pro now exists.Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

The IrriSense smart sprinkler can be installed in 15 minutes with a garden hose and power cable. | Image: Aiper Aiper has announced a new smart watering solution at CES 2025 that could be as easy to set up as a traditional lawn sprinkler. The IrriSense Smart Irrigation Sprinkler doesn't require any pipes to be buried under a yard, and as an all-in-one device, it doesn't need additional hardware to be installed on a faucet. Its targeted approach to watering also limits overspray, reducing water usage.The IrriSense Smart Irrigation Sprinkler will be available starting in May 2025 for $399. It includes a 33-foot-long waterproof power cord that needs access to an outlet, but you'll need to provide a standard garden hose long enough to reach a faucet. Installation and setup takes about 15 minutes, according to Aiper, which involves the IrriSense sprinkler being secured using four ground stakes that can be pulled up when you need to relocate or temporarily remove the sprinkler to cut the grass. Image: Aiper The sprinkler's targeted spray pattern can be defined in a mobile app, while watering schedules take into account recent weather conditions and rainfall. The sprinkler's blast can reach 39 feet and cover an area up to 4,300 square feet as it oscillates back and forth. Through the Aiper mobile app, you can customize the spray pattern by creating a map through a manual process that involves pinpointing locations around your yard. The goal is to not only reduce water consumption but also help keep certain areas dry, such as a public sidewalk on your front lawn.The IrriSense sprinkler's routine can be scheduled through the mobile app, but for additional conservation and to prevent overwatering, it can also take into account the weather. There's a sensor on the sprinkler itself as well as separate soil sensors that can keep track of moisture levels. If the lawn is still properly hydrated from a recent rain, scheduled watering routines will be skipped.Multiple IrriSense sprinklers can be installed and automated to expand the coverage area, and they can be used to dispense liquid fertilizers or pesticides.

Image: Halliday Halliday Glasses have boarded the smart spectacles hype train, featuring proactive" AI assistance and a near-eye display that shows information directly in the user's field of view. Wearable technology startup Halliday says its flagship eyewear will be available sometime after CES. Shipping is expected to start by the end of Q1 2025," and pricing will be set somewhere between $399 and $499 - pricier than display-free competitors like the $299 Meta Ray-Bans and Solos AirGo Vision.Halliday says the DigiWindow" located in the upper right of the frame is the world's smallest and lightest near-eye display module and can display information to the wearer regardless of whether they have perfect eyesight or require vision correction." The display appears as a 3.5-inch screen in the upper-right corner of the user's view with minimal obstruction, according to Halliday, and remains visible in bright sunlight. Image: Halliday The near-eye display is located in the upper-right frame. Checking messages or notes might look a little odd to other people if you need to keep glancing up. The glasses' built-in display works alongside an AI assistant that can anticipate what users need by analyzing conversations, answering questions, and providing additional insights without requiring a prompt. For instance, during a meeting, it can proactively answer complex questions, summarize key discussion points, and generate summarized meeting notes afterward," Halliday said in its announcement.The AI features require the glasses to be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth, according to Halliday, but the company hasn't mentioned what AI model it uses or if there are additional costs involved. Features include real-time AI translation in up to 40 languages, live navigation for directions, voice-to-text notes transcription, and the display of synchronized lyrics when listening to music. Users can also discreetly view and reply to messages, create audio memos, and display notes like a teleprompter.The near-eye display is supported on both prescription lenses and if no lens is used at all. The displayed information isn't visible to other people and can be controlled using either voice commands, frame interface controls, or a ring that features a built-in trackpad. Image: Halliday The Halliday Glasses are available in either black or tortoiseshell. Image: Halliday Information about the trackpad ring is limited, but it seems like a neat way to control the display features without messing with the actual glasses. Halliday says the glasses weigh 35 grams (about 1.2 ounces), provide up to eight hours of battery life, and come in two color options: matte black or tortoiseshell. We've asked Halliday for more information about the trackpad ring, such as how / if it's charged and any potential options for color and sizing.

The Nexode Desktop Charger 500W can deliver up to 240W of power through a single USB-C port. | Image: Ugreen Ugreen has announced a new version of its Nexode desktop GaN charger, boosting the total power output from 300W to 500W, with up to 240W from a single USB-C port. It features five USB-C ports and a single USB-A port, so you can charge five laptops at the same time without the need for a power strip overstuffed with chonky adapters.Pricing for the Nexode Desktop Charger 500W won't be finalized until it's available sometime in March 2025. Image: Ugreen All six of the desktop charger's USB ports can be used simultaneously. Although it would definitely help simplify your travel charging kit, the Nexode Desktop Charger 500W is a hefty brick designed to sit on your desk, in your workshop, or on a kitchen counter. It's useful anywhere you have multiple power-hungry devices like laptops or handheld gaming devices, and Ugreen says it can even be used to charge power tools or e-bikes.The charger supports USB-PD 3.1 and Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 fast-charging protocols. The top port can deliver up to 240W of power; the other five ports share 260W regardless of what the top port is doing, and none of them can exceed 100W. You can charge a gaming laptop at 240W, plus two more laptops at 100W and one at 60W, or one laptop at 240W and four laptops at 60W, with another device charging at 20W from the USB-A port.Without a screen, this might be another multi-port charger in need of a cheat sheet to keep track of which port to use.

Mirror, mirror at CES, what's my resting heart rate trend? | Image: Withings Withings is back at CES with another futuristic health tech concept called Omnia. It's a smart mirror that can measure and display your health metrics, offer feedback from an AI voice assistant, and then potentially set you up for a telehealth consultation with a doctor.In a nutshell, Omnia has a base that can measure weight, heart health, and metabolic health. It can also pull in data collected from other trackers like smartwatches, blood pressure monitors, or even a smart bed. Withings says the built-in AI voice assistant will offer real-time feedback and could potentially give motivational pep talks or guidance. In addition to virtual consultations, the company says the mirror could also send data to doctors for review. Image: Withings The interesting thing about Omnia is it cobbles together a bunch of health tech trends into a single device. The most interesting thing about the Omnia concept is how it rolls up a bunch of existing health tech trends into a single package. Connected smart mirrors capable of displaying information, making video calls, and playing sound are not new - all of those components existed in Lululemon's ill-fated Mirror and other copycats. Likewise, smart scales that can measure heart rate, take EKGs, and discern body composition have been around for ages. Meanwhile, AI chatbots embedded in existing health tech was an emerging trend in 2024 - and something well-known players like Oura, Whoop, and Fitbit are tinkering around with.More cynically, you could see this as an ecosystem play - a proof of concept for what a single person could do if they went all in on Withings' myriad gadgets. After all, Withings makes plenty of smartwatches, smart scales, connected blood pressure cuffs, smart thermometers, and even a noninvasive sleep tracker that you stick under a mattress. It's shown up at CES in the past with an at-home urinalysis gadget that you stick in your toilet and scales that can analyze nerve health from your foot. It's also incorporated elements of telemedicine in past launches. Its original FDA-cleared ScanWatch had cardiologists review EKG results.Omnia isn't an actual product for sale yet. Withings says it's currently in development," with no concrete timeline for when it'll actually be available or for how much. Given the company's track record with bringing CES launches to market, there's a good chance it'll be a lengthy wait before Omnia reaches consumers - if it ever does.Withings will give demos at CES 2025, which may help gauge whether Omnia is the real deal or more CES health tech vaporware. But even if Omnia never amounts to anything beyond a concept, it's an indication of where health tech is marching.

SwitchBot's new video doorbell and monitor. | Image: SwitchBot SwitchBot has taken the wraps off a new video doorbell that comes with a monitor you can put inside your home. The 4.3-inch monitor serves as a gateway" for SwitchBot products, as you can use it to see who's at your door, talk to your visitors, and manage your door lock.You can plug the display directly into a power outlet, allowing you to mount it on a wall or prop it up on a table. It features a 100dB chime and connects to SwitchBot's new video doorbell, which offers 2K resolution and color night vision. The doorbell also features a 165-degree wide-angle view, AI motion detection, and an Amazon Alexa integration. You can either purchase a wired option or a battery-powered model that you can juice up with a USB-C charger or a solar panel. Image: SwitchBot The monitor displays the doorbell's video feed, allowing you to see who's at your door. SwitchBot has also revealed an upgrade to its SwitchBot Lock Pro. Like its predecessor, the SwitchBot Lock Ultra is compatible with the company's Matter hub and can fit over existing locks, including deadbolt, mortise, and jimmy-proof locks.Where the Lock Pro has disposable batteries with the option to purchase a rechargeable one, the Lock Ultra comes with a rechargeable battery right out of the box. The Lock Ultra lasts up to nine months on a single charge (or up to 12 months with the extra large" battery option) and has an emergency battery" in case the main battery stops working due to cold temperatures. Image: SwitchBot The SwitchBot Lock Ultra comes with a rechargeable battery that lasts up to nine months. You can unlock the SwitchBot Lock Ultra using 16 different methods, including with your fingerprint, NFC, voice commands via Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, or through the SwitchBot app. It stores up to 100 fingerprints and can recognize them in as fast as 0.3 seconds, according to SwitchBot. The device also supports auto locking, allowing you to lock your door at a specific time.The SwitchBot Lock Ultra, along with the new video doorbell and monitor, is set to arrive toward the end of the first quarter of 2025. There aren't any details on pricing just yet.

The Circular Ring 2 addresses many of my issues with the previous model. | Image: Circular I was not at all impressed with the Circular Ring Slim. It wasn't accurate, it felt like it was made of 3D-printed plastic, syncing took forever, battery life wasn't great, and honestly, we'd be here all day if I listed everything that went wrong during testing. But for CES 2025, the company behind the ring says it's here to redeem itself with the $380 Circular Ring 2.We had some issues, obviously, with the previous ring," says Amaury Kosman, cofounder and CEO of Circular. Mostly electronic, but more than that, we wanted to rebrand the company around two main points. One being accuracy, and the other being a more luxurious, quality-built product."That's immediately apparent looking at the Circular Ring 2's design and specs. For starters, it's no longer plastic. The Ring 2 is now made from titanium in four finishes: gold, silver, rose gold, and black. It also sports an upgraded EKG sensor that allows for FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation detection - a first for this category. Beyond that, the new ring has additional photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors for more precise readings. Kosman says the upgraded sensor array translates to much more accurate health tracking compared to the Slim. (It's a good thing, too; the Slim was sometimes off by 5,000 steps in my testing.)We also took into consideration everything we've learned from what was told to us [by customers]. The biggest things were connectivity issues, battery life, and at the beginning, the ring wasn't entirely waterproof. The Slim tried to correct some of that, but obviously we weren't doing it perfectly," Kosman says, noting that these issues have also been improved in the new ring.As mentioned, syncing was an absolute chore with the Slim - so much so, I often just gave up on engaging with the device. Now, Kosman says, the Circular Ring 2 should have no problems with background syncing. He also assures me that battery life has doubled. In performance mode (where all the tracking features are turned on), users ought to get around four days. In a battery-saving mode, the ring gets up to eight days. Also, instead of a tiny, easily lost USB charger, Circular has switched to a charging dock.Circular's AI chatbot Kira has also been revamped. Previously, it took 14 days to calibrate, took forever to generate dubious advice, and overall was cumbersome to use. With the Ring 2, Kosman says that it'll only take about four days to calibrate and the overall experience will be smoother. Recommendations should also be more accurate and complex thanks to improvements to the algorithm and sensors.Another neat update is that Circular will add digital sizing. Kosman says the company's website will let customers use their smartphone camera to compare the size of their hand to a card-sized object. From there, Kosman says the company will be able to calculate which size ring a person needs for each finger. Smart ring sizing is a huge pain point for the category, and most companies require customers to order a physical sizing kit before they can actually buy the product. Image: Circular This definitely looks nicer than plastic. On paper, it seems like Circular has taken the laundry list of issues with the Slim and ticked them off one by one. To do that, though, some sacrifices had to be made. One of the Slim's unique features was a built-in haptic motor that worked as a silent alarm. In the future, Circular had promised that the motor could also alert you to notifications. Unfortunately, Kosman says the haptic motor had to go to accommodate better health sensors.That said, Kosman isn't giving up on the idea of haptics in smart rings entirely. The goal is to have two product lines - the Circular Ring 2, a more health-focused ring in line with what's currently available on the market, and an upcoming revamp to the existing haptics-capable Circular Ring Slim.The Circular Ring 2 will be priced at $380 and is expected to launch in February or March of 2025. We'll have to see (and test) for ourselves whether Circular can deliver on all these improvements. It's certainly a tall order considering that there's increasing competition in the smart ring space. But if it can, that'd be one hell of a redemption arc.

Image: Govee Govee is launching a new pixel light grid that can display art, animations, and live data. The Gaming Pixel Light lets you upload your own images and GIFs to display or choose from 150 different data sources, letting it provide live updates on the weather, Bitcoin prices, NBA scores, and more.You can also sync the display to games you're playing by hooking it up to Govee's HDMI sync box or play 8-bit tunes that sync to the pixel grid using the built-in speaker. Naturally, there's an AI component as well - an accompanying app can generate new pixel art for you using Govee's AI Lighting Bot." Image: Govee You can generate pixel art with Govee's AI Lighting Bot." The Gaming Pixel Light is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. You can wall-mount the screen or place it atop a table or desk, making it seem like a neat little addition to a gaming room or office.Along with this pixel light, Govee is announcing the Table Lamp 2 Pro - an LED-packed tabletop lamp with a 2.5-inch JBL speaker that syncs up lighting with your music. The portable device has 210 independently controlled LED beads and 600 lumens of brightness. When it's not synced with your music, you can customize the lighting yourself or choose from 100 preset scenes. Image: Govee The Table Lamp 2 Pro comes with a 2.5-inch JBL speaker. The lamp works with Matter, Google Assistant, and Alexa and comes with a rechargeable battery. You can also link two lamps together for a full stereo surround experience." Govee says it will release the Gaming Pixel Light and the Table Lamp 2 Pro in the second quarter of 2025, but it didn't provide any pricing information.

Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve. | Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images Amazon Prime Video has licensed a documentary about Melania Trump that will be directed by Rush Hour director Brett Ratner, reports Variety. A Prime Video spokesperson told the outlet that the movie will be an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look" at the first lady.The news comes after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had dinner with Donald Trump, who was heavily critical of the company during his first term. It also follows the decision by Bezos and Amazon to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, just as other tech CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook and OpenAI's Sam Altman have done. Prime Video is also set to livestream Trump's inauguration.The film is the first significant Hollywood project that Ratner has taken on since 2017, when several women accused him of sexual misconduct and another of rape, Variety notes. He denied the allegations but parted ways with Warner Bros.Ratner has some notable ties to the Trumps, including a former partnership with Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin. He also filmed 2011's Tower Heist largely on-location at Trump International Hotel & Tower and has reportedly run in Mar-a-Lago social circles since his departure from Hollywood life.Amazon's Melania Trump documentary has already begun filming and the company plans to give it theatrical and streaming releases starting in the second half of this year, Variety writes.

Image: LG At least when it comes to making TVs, LG can seemingly do no wrong. Year after year, the company's OLED sets are at the top of most reviewers' recommendation lists. They've overcome the Achilles' heel of older models - brightness - thanks to clever innovations like Micro Lens Array, which made the G3 and last year's G4 bright enough to make HDR shine in any viewing environment.So it should come as no surprise that LG's 2025 lineup of OLED TVs raises the bar yet again. At the top of the lineup is the M5, which is the latest series to use the company's Zero Connect Box for a wireless link between the TV screen and your gaming consoles, streaming boxes, and other external devices. The M5 will come in 65-, 77-, 83-, and 97-inch sizes. The Zero Connect Box is an impressive trick that, by all accounts, works quite well. This year the wireless connection is apparently even more reliable. But no one really needs that. So I tend to view the G-series as LG's more practical flagship for consumers.Lucky for us TV nerds, the G5 is (somehow) getting even brighter. LG says its latest Brightness Booster Ultimate technology enhances light control architecture and light-boosting algorithms to achieve brightness three times higher than conventional OLED models." (For context, that comparison is being made with OLEDs that don't include the Micro Lens Array tech found in the M5 and G5.) LG is also pushing the refresh rate on its premium G5 all the way up to 165Hz, which it claims is an industry first, offering a new level of smooth gameplay for the PC crowd. You'll be able to get the G5 in sizes ranging from 55 inches up to 83 inches. There are also 48-inch and 97-inch models, but those won't deliver the same peak brightness. Image: LG The two highest-end models feature LG's latest Alpha 11 Gen 2 processor, which improves image processing and upscaling to make lower-bitrate content look as good as possible on these 4K screens. LG says a lot of those processing tricks are also trickling down to the more mainstream C5. With so many people watching internet TV services and other streaming content these days, that magic sauce can make a noticeable difference. Sony's known for being the best in the game at this, but LG has made big strides in recent years.Goodbye inputs button, hello endless AI featuresThis year's Magic Remote no longer has a dedicated inputs button. In what might prove to be a controversial decision, LG is making the Home Hub button pull double duty: you can press it to reach the Home Hub dashboard of webOS or hold down the button to pull up your list of inputs. That's not the end of the world, but it's still another thing to remember for a fundamental TV interaction.And then comes the avalanche of AI features. The usual AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro optimization modes are present. The C5 series is getting the same virtualized 11.1.2-channel surround sound that debuted in the G4 last year. LG is also expanding on the picture wizard it introduced two years ago, where viewers pick from a series of images to land on their ideal image settings, with a similar process for audio.How much AI is too much for a TV?But this year, the AI focus is much, much bigger than that. LG has new LG AI" branding - that's what the mic button now activates. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I call it the Magic Remote before? The remote has been rebranded as the AI Remote. And there's a whole damn LLM chatbot built into these TVs. Hell, even Microsoft's Copilot is being thrown in.The risk LG faces here is getting in the way and pushing this stuff on customers too aggressively. The company's OLEDs are some of the very best TVs on the market. They offer brilliant visuals with every feature home theater enthusiasts want. In 2025, that includes an enhanced Filmmaker Mode that takes your room's ambient lighting into account and adjusts picture settings accordingly - all the while making sure to maintain the filmmaker's original intent."For its part, LG claims the latest webOS homescreen is faster and easier to use. And the company has vowed to keep software updates coming over the next five years, much like our smartphones gain new features over time.Still, at this stage, I find myself putting up with webOS and spending the bulk of my usage time in a different interface - whether that's Apple TV, Google TV, or something else. I'm hopeful that LG's mega push into AI won't be too heavy-handed, but we'll have to see how it all comes together once the 2025 TV lineup starts shipping this spring. If customers find their usual flows getting interrupted by AI gimmicks, there might be some complaints.We'll have a much better idea of how LG AI fits into these superb TVs - and whether it ultimately detracts from them - when the M5, G5, C5, and B5 OLEDs hit stores in a few months. By then, we'll know how much they'll cost, too.

EcoFlow is launching it Home Energy Management System at CES this week. | Image: EcoFlow Smart energy solutions company EcoFlow is debuting Oasis, its new AI-powered Home Energy Management System, at CES in Las Vegas this week. Designed to automate and simplify energy management, Oasis features an AI assistant that can answer and even act on complicated questions about your home's energy using natural language, such as How can I maximize my solar energy usage today?" The company also teased the upcoming launch of Ocean Pro, a new grid-tied whole-home solar battery solution for the US it plans to launch later this year.Energy management is a key use case for the smart home, but the infrastructure is expensive, and it can be complicated to set up and confusing to manage. With Oasis, EcoFlow is tackling at least two of those problems.Oasis works with EcoFlow's home power technology to manage your home's energy through real-time monitoring of your home's solar energy production, energy storage to EcoFlow batteries, and energy use from third-party appliances and systems you connect to it through the EcoFlow app. Image: EcoFlow Screenshots from the EcoFlow app, showing how Oasis provides an overview of your home's energy use. Peter Linghu, EcoFlow's director of product strategy and development, explained that Oasis uses predictive analytics and automations to do helpful things automatically, such as switch to backup power in the event of a power outage or charge up your batteries if there's a big storm coming. While these are features most home battery storage systems today offer, with Oasis, EcoFlow says it's adding a more capable software layer to provide more granular whole-home energy management.The EcoFlow Assistant, an AI chatbot in the app, can answer questions for you, such as How much energy did I use today?" But it can also suggest, create, and set up automations to manage energy use across your home. For example, you can ask it to set up the best power backup solution, and it will present options it can then implement (see video). Linghu says it does this by analyzing data such as past energy usage, local electric rates, home solar energy generation, and weather patterns.Oasis can also proactively offer suggestions, such as running your air conditioning or washing machine off stored energy rather than grid power when energy prices are high. Linghu says you can instruct Oasis to automate functions like this or choose to be notified about them and implement them yourself.The EcoFlow Assistant chatbot can set up automations for you based on weather and energy use, simplifying the process of programming your smart home.Intelligent management of your home's energy can save you energy and money without you having to run around turning off lights, fiddling with the thermostat, and unplugging the EV charger. But a big hurdle is finding a system that can talk to everything in your home and to existing infrastructure like solar panels. You also need an energy provider that offers time-of-use rates and demand response programs to get the most benefit. Additionally, many solutions today only work with proprietary equipment, making them better suited to new builds rather than retrofitting into your home. EcoFlow's approach is more open.Today, Oasis works with EcoFlow products such as its portable Delta 3 Plus and River 3 Plus solar generators and its whole-home backup solution. Currently, that includes the Smart Home Panel 2, which offers circuit-level management of electrical loads and can be connected to your existing electrical panel. It can also work with the portable Delta Pro Ultra as a battery backup system.The new EcoFlow Ocean Pro system that's coming to the US later this year will bring a higher-capacity grid-tied option for whole-home backup. EcoFlow hasn't provided many details but says it's similar to EcoFlow's PowerOcean system, which is available in Europe. It looks like it will be a direct competitor to popular products in this space, such as the Tesla Powerwall and Anker Solix.Oasis also works with third-party devices such as Ecobee and Nest thermostats, energy-monitoring products like smart plugs from Shelly and TP-Link, as well as any Matter-compatible device. While Matter is still in its early stages when it comes to energy management, high-energy use devices like appliances, heat pumps, solar panels, and EV charging equipment are now part of the Matter specification. So, there may soon be more products that can integrate directly with Oasis. All this helps bring more devices into the system to get a clear picture of your home's energy use.Several other companies are working on this type of home energy management solution. Schneider launched its Schneider Home system at CES last year; Savant Power, Anker Solix, and Generac also have interesting products in this space. The initial cost is still a major roadblock for many people, but if the complexity can be reduced through intelligent home energy management software, that feels like a big step in the right direction.

Image: Belkin Belkin has announced the Stage PowerGrip, a magnetic battery pack that doubles as a DSLR-style ergonomic grip for iPhone photography, a phone stand, and a spare wired charger for your other devices. It'll be available in May, with pricing info coming later on.The PowerGrip is an odd-looking accessory until you see it attached to a phone. It's clearly designed to evoke the look and feel of a traditional camera. It features Bluetooth pairing to enable the shutter button" on the top of the grip to let you take pictures with the iOS camera app.Besides that, the PowerGrip has a built-in retractable USB-C cable for charging other devices and a 10,000mAh battery. It offers wireless 7.5-watt charging for the attached iPhone, and a small LED screen on the front will show how much battery it has left. Belkin says it will come in powder blue, sandbox (a grayish sandy color), fresh yellow, black, and pepper (a nearly black dark gray).Belkin's take on this is similar to others you can find on Amazon, though mostly those are from brands with alphabet soup-style names. Apple sells one version of this concept called the ShiftCam ProGrip. Like Belkin's devce, it adds a physical shutter button to your phone and doubles as a charger, but it costs $149.95. Belkin hasn't announced pricing for the PowerGrip, but assuming it's cheaper, it could be well worth a look if you're into iPhone photography.

The Saros Z70 from Roborock is the first robot vacuum with an articulating arm that can clear clutter out of its way. | Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge Roborock has added an arm to its latest flagship robot vacuum. And this is no tiny appendage like the one the company debuted on its S8 MaxV Ultra at CES last year; it's an actual articulating robotic arm. The arm rises from the middle of Roborock's latest flagship bot - the Saros Z70 - and can extend out to pick up items such as socks and tissues while cleaning your floors. While it's mildly terrifying and currently extremely slow - I can certainly see the potential in a robot vacuum that can clean up ahead of itself.The Verge got a sneak peek at the Saros Z70 in action ahead of its launch at CES 2025 and can confirm the arm works as advertised, although, as mentioned, it's laboriously slow. During our demo, it took about a minute to pick up and move each sock in its path. It's also limited to socks, tissues, small towels, and sandals that weigh under 300 grams. Roborock says more items will be added over time but hasn't promised increased weight capability. No pricing has been released, but the company says the vacuum will ship by June 2025.The Verge saw this demo last month of the Saros Z70. Roborock says its capabilities have improved since then. We'll be checking it out at CES this week. Video by Owen Grove / The VergeThe Saros Z70's arm is the first-of-its-kind mass-produced foldable robotic arm with five axis," according to Roborock. Called the OmniGrip, it can unfold, extend, and twist horizontally and vertically to pick up items and move them out of the way. It includes a camera and LED light in the arm to see objects and has sensors that allow it to detect an object's weight and know its positioning - including if there's anything above it, so the arm doesn't hit anything when it raises.Roborock says that during its first cleaning run, the Z70 will detect and mark any objects it can lift. It then returns to deploy its arm, moving items to the area it has already cleaned and cleaning the areas those items were blocking. Finally, it can be programmed to go out a third time to pick up the items and put them away in a place you designate on the map in Roborock's app, such as near a closet or in a basket. Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge When not in use, the arm tucks into the robot's chassis. Yes, this whole process will take a long time. Yes, it would be quicker (and quieter) to pick up the socks yourself (assuming you're at home). But also, it's a robot that picks up your socks! We are truly living in the future.One intriguing feature Roborock says will come to the Saros Z70 via an OTA upgrade doesn't involve the arm. Instead, it leverages the robot's new navigation and obstacle recognition, called StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, to let you train the robot to recognize specific objects - say, a favorite teddy bear or your purse. According to Roborock, you'll be able to use its app to see where the robot last spotted that item, which could be handy for locating lost things.StarSight launched on the Qrevo Slim and uses 3D time-of-flight sensors, RGB cameras, and machine learning to navigate and identify obstacles. The AI-powered machine learning allows the Z70 to detect and navigate up to 108 preprogrammed objects, according to Roborock. It also uses a new laser-powered obstacle avoidance technology called VertiBeam, which Roborock says can more accurately clean around extended cables and irregularly shaped walls and furniture. Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge The Saros Z70 will pair with a new auto-empty dock. Other Saros Z70 features include an impressive 22,000Pa of suction power, a dual anti-tangle system for the robot's roller brushes, and dual spinning mops that can not only lift 2.2cm to avoid carpet but also automatically detach at the base station when mopping isn't necessary.The Saros Z70 is just under 8cm high, which should allow it to get under those low sofas, and has the AdaptLift chassis first seen on the Qrevo Curv. This helps the robot climb high room transitions and maneuver over high-pile carpets.The flagship robot pairs with Roborock's new Multifunctional Dock 4.0 to charge, auto-empty, refill and drain its water tanks, and maintain the mops with hot water washing and hot air drying; this model also introduces a 2.5-hour fast-charge feature. Image: Roborock The Saros 10R has most of the features of the Z70, just with fewer appendages. Realistically, as cool as the arm is, it's clearly more of a proof-of-concept product (although Roborock assures me it will ship this year). So, alongside the Saros Z70, Roborock debuted two other flagship robot vacuums at CES. The Saros 10R and the Saros 10 will ship on February 10th and cost $1,599.99 each. Both feature a similar slimline body and the same AdaptLift chassis as the Z70, and they can both automatically detach their mop pads when not needed.The main differences between the two are in mopping and navigation tech. The Saros 10R has the same StarSight 2.0 navigation and obstacle recognition tech, the same mopping tech, and the same dock as the Z70. However, it has slightly lower suction power (19,000Pa).By contrast, the Saros 10 is an upgrade to Roborock's current flagship model, the S8 MaxV Ultra (our top pick for the best robot vacuum). With 22,000Pa of suction power, it uses the lidar navigation found on most Roborocks but can retract its lidar tower to fit under low spaces, bringing it to the same height as the other two Saros models. Image: Roborock The S10 works with Roborock's RockDock Ultra 2.0, which features a new design and a tempered glass finish. Instead of the oscillating mops on the Z70 and the 10R, the Saros 10 has a new version of Roborock's excellent VibraRise mopping feature. This uses a flat mopping pad that vibrates 4,000 times a minute to simulate scrubbing and can now soak dry stains before attempting to remove them.The 10 also comes with an improved version of Roborock's Reactive AI Obstacle Avoidance (version 3.0) and gets the new VertiBeam cable avoidance tech. It has Roborock's new DuoDivide anti-tangle roller brush, first seen on the Qrevo Curv, and pairs with the company's new Ultra 2.0 Dock.Roborock says all three new models will be updated to support Matter 1.4, allowing the vacuums to work with any Matter-enabled smart home platform. It looks like Apple is bringing support with iOS 18.3, and Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings already support robot vacuums through Matter. Out of the box, the robots are compatible with Alexa, Siri Shortcuts, Google Home, and Roborock's own Hey Rocky voice assistant.

Image: PayPal Honey Devin Stone of the YouTube Channel Legal Eagle is suing PayPal over the affiliate link practices of its Honey extension that were detailed by fellow YouTuber MegaLag last month, he announced in a video published Friday.The proposed class action lawsuit was filed December 29th in California's Northern District Court by Stone's Eagle Team LLP and several other YouTubers' businesses. It accuses Honey of intentionally replacing creators' affiliate links with its own, even if it's not offering shoppers a benefit, depriving creators of money in the process.The complaint alleges that PayPal's practice violates California's Unfair Competition Law and constitutes interference between creators and their business partners. The plaintiffs are seeking to represent anyone who was part of an affiliate program and had their link redirected to Paypal as a result of the Honey browser extension." Class action status has not yet been certified by a court.Honey operates by offering to find coupon codes through its browser extension. The MegaLag video last month describes how when shoppers interact with its pop-up offers at checkout, it replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own in the background and gets credit for the sale, whether it actually found a coupon or not.The complaint lists other ways PayPal is allegedly claiming affiliate commissions. That includes offering users rewards through its Honey Gold Program and encouraging them to Get Rewarded with PayPal," which prompts them to check out using PayPal.We dispute the allegations in the lawsuits, and will defend against them vigorously," PayPal VP of corporate communications Josh Criscoe said in a statement emailed to The Verge. He added that Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution."The lawsuit acknowledges that last-click attribution is a standard practice that credits the most recent affiliate with a sale at checkout. The plaintiffs argue Honey is using that standard practice in a way that's deceitful and clandestine," luring users into clicking useless pop-ups that insert its code. We've reached out to PayPal for a statement on the lawsuit.Lawyers are asking the court to make PayPal pay damages to creators and to permanently forbid it from swapping its own affiliate attribution at checkout. They've set up a website inviting other creators to join the lawsuit.Here is Criscoe's full statement:

Image: Games Done Quick A new year means a new Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) speedrunning marathon for charity, and this year's event is just about to kick off. AGDQ starts today, January 5th, at 12PM ET, and is scheduled to end very early in the morning on January 12th. You can watch the event live on Games Done Quick's Twitch channel, and runs are typically uploaded to Games Done Quick's YouTube channel soon after they air.I've been perusing the schedule, and here's a few runs that I'm excited about:

The Verge United Airlines is accelerating its plan to add Starlink-enabled Wi-Fi to its planes, with the first commercial flights now expected to arrive this spring.Last year, United announced its intention to upgrade its in-flight Wi-Fi using SpaceX's Starlink satellites, with testing expected to start in the spring and the first equipped flights coming later in the year. Now the airline says it will start testing next month," followed by the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 aircraft - a narrow-body aircraft for regional flights that can fit up to 88 passengers - in the spring.On top of that, United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of 2025 and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the end of this year. Ultimately, the airline expects to have its entire fleet of nearly 1,000 planes outfitted with Starlink Wi-Fi. Image: United Airlines United currently has four different Wi-Fi providers, according to travel site One Mile At A Time, with regional jets utilizing Intelsat (formerly Gogo) and most wide-body jets using Panasonic Wi-Fi. United also uses Viasat Wi-Fi on most of its 737 Max aircraft, some A319s, and A321neos. Viasat is the best of the bunch in terms of speeds and is commonly found on American and Delta flights.But while a number of international carriers have announced similar plans to add Starlink to their fleets, United is still alone among the major domestic carriers to adopt the SpaceX-owned technology. (JSX and Hawaiian have both said they plan on adding Starlink to their airplanes.)United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of 2025And while in-flight Wi-Fi remains slow and unreliable for most air travelers, we seem to quickly be approaching a tipping point on expectations for fast, free connectivity. Mobile device owners are growing accustomed to uninterrupted video streaming and other conveniences wherever they are - even while thousands of feet in the air.Starlink boasts download speeds of 40-220Mbps and upload speeds of 8-25Mbps per terminal, which United says can support streaming, gaming, and even videoconferencing. United says its Starlink-enabled Wi-Fi will be free to its MileagePlus loyalty customers (for which signups are also free).We have a lot planned for our MileagePlus members this year and adding Starlink to as many planes as we can - as quickly as we can - is at the center of it all," said Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus, in a statement. It's not only going to revolutionize the experience of flying United, but it's also going to unlock tons of new partnerships and benefits for our members that otherwise wouldn't be possible."

Arlo's cloud storage subscriptions get another price hike. | Image: Arlo Arlo has once again increased the monthly subscription pricing for its smart home cameras' Arlo Secure cloud storage plan. The company now charges $9.99 per month (up from $7.99) to store a single camera's recordings and $19.99 a month (up from $17.99) for unlimited cameras. And instead of calling the cheaper plan Arlo Secure, both are now named Secure Plus.At $9.99 per month, the cheapest Secure plan is now more than three times the monthly $2.99 Arlo once charged to store video for a single camera in the cloud. The company bumped that to $4.99 in early 2023, then to $7.99 last year. With annual billing, the single-camera plan still works out to $7.99 per month, while the unlimited-camera one is effectively $17.99 per month when you pay for a year upfront. Screenshot: Arlo website Arlo's annual pricing is a little cheaper per-month. This latest round of price increases comes after Arlo announced a new set of AI-powered features in September. The features include letting users name specific people or vehicles the camera sees and get notifications about them, or to train its cameras to detect and notify them of events like a sprinkler turning on or garage door opening. The company has also doubled how many days of recordings it will store, from 30 to 60 days.Arlo has offered at least some users the ability to keep their old rate by switching to an annual plan, according to a screenshot posted to the Arlo subreddit.Users can still get free storage by using Arlo Base Stations and SmartHub devices that are compatible with their cameras. However, going that route also means missing out on certain subscription-only features that make smart cameras appealing, such as package detection.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge It's time for the biggest tech show of the year. CES 2025 officially kicks off next week, with most of the industry's biggest names gathering in Las Vegas to announce new products and demonstrate some of the most exciting tech they have coming throughout the year.CES is traditionally a show about TVs, laptops, and smart home tech. But it's increasingly become a big show for cars, wearables and health tech, and a whole lot more. This year, expect one abbreviation to show up a lot across every single category: AI. The AI hype cycle is rolling straight into 2025, and there's certain to be AI popping up on the next generation of TVs and cars, like it or not.The show officially starts on Tuesday, January 7th, but you can expect announcements to start coming out on Sunday and Monday ahead of the show floor opening and a day of press conferences.Here are the big beats we're expecting to see at the show.TVs Image: LG LG's wireless TV tech is expanding to its QNED models this year. I'm expecting two prevailing trends for TVs at CES 2025: screens will keep getting bigger, and AI features are going to be everywhere - to the point of being... Read the full story at The Verge.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency building is seen on August 21st, 2024, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Tierney L. Cross / Getty Images An alliance of grassroots environmental groups could lose $60 million in federal funding after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) was named one of the Environmental Protection Agency's grantmakers" more than a year ago, putting it in charge of distributing subgrants for locally led environmental projects. But out of 11 of the EPA's grantmakers, the CJA is the only one that has yet to receive any funding. The group has faced a barrage of attacks for publicly opposing the Israel-Hamas war, and some EPA staffers say the group has been singled out as a result.We have been deeply disappointed to witness EPA's current withholding of $60 million to the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), the only one of the eleven grantees that courageously spoke out against the environmental toll and human rights violations in Palestine," a group of anonymous EPA and Department of Energy employees wrote in an open letter in December.The money could disappear if it isn't dispersed before President-elect Donald Trump steps into officeThe money could disappear if it isn't dispersed before President-elect Donald Trump steps into office. Trump has said he would rescind unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act that set aside money for the grants. And if his second term is anything like his first, he's likely to gut the EPA and roll back environmental protections.With a deregulatory agenda at the national level, local efforts become even more crucial to safeguarding Americans' air, water, and climate. It's those kinds of grassroots initiatives that the EPA's grantmakers are supposed to support and what's at risk if the agency doesn't disburse the funds before it's too late.What this would do is further strip away funds that our communities have been counting on," says CJA executive director KD Chavez. We need people to be resourced so that at least on a local level they can do clean up projects, they can have air quality monitoring," Chavez says, citing examples of how the money might be used.Money for the EPA's Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program came from the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $369 billion for clean energy and climate action. The 11 grantmakers include universities and nonprofit organizations charged with doling out a total of $600 million to locally led environmental projects.That was supposed to make it easier for smaller grassroots groups to access funding, especially those living with the most pollution, which are often communities of color in the United States. The CJA includes around 100 organizations across the US, many of them rooted in communities of color like the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program and the Indigenous Environmental Network.The CJA, in particular, was chosen to distribute subgrants to EPA regions 8-10, which encompass most of the Western US. It's also the national grantmaker responsible for outreach to tribal communities. The CJA says it has already spent $1.6 million from its own operational budget to get the organizational infrastructure in place needed to allow community groups to apply for subgrants. It's supposed to receive $50 million for those subgrants, plus an additional $10 million for technical capacity.Why have we been singled out as anti-American?"As of January 3rd, only $461 million of the funding from the grantmaking program had been awarded, according to data on the EPA website, leaving the rest of the funds vulnerable to the incoming Trump administration.There are questions we have about the singling out of us as an organization. Why have we been singled out as anti-American? Is it because we're led by working class people, Black Indigenous, and people of color communities?" Chavez says.Over the past year, conservative media and some Republican lawmakers have accused the CJA of being radicals," antisemitic, and Anti-American" for its stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Even before the EPA announced its selection of 11 grantmakers, the CJA had released a statement in October 2023 calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to demand a ceasefire by Israel and Hamas.I was surprised to learn that $50 million has been designated for Climate Justice Alliance, a group which explicitly publishes a free Palestine' section on its website. On the website, there are dozens of antisemitic and alarming images," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said to former EPA administrator Michael Regan when he testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in July of last year. (Regan stepped down from his post in December.)The CJA has published its ceasefire statement on its website. We call on Biden and the US Congress to support an immediate end to the violence by publicly demanding a ceasefire within the region. We stand firmly on the side of peace and support the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, decolonization and life," the statement says.At our core CJA has always been anti war and pro communities," Chavez says. We are just collateral damage in a war against regulations," they add.The group has also caught flak for its environmental advocacy. A letter from Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) to Regan last May accuses the CJA of supporting partisan, and in some cases extreme, environmental activism" including mass organization of climate alarmism protests" and the litigation of fossil fuel projects." The letter similarly castigates other grantmakers chosen by the EPA, but the CJA has faced more heat as protests in the US against the war in Gaza gained momentum.The letter published by EPA and DOE staffers last month (first reported on by The Intercept) urges the agencies to end their collaboration with Israel until there is a permanent ceasefire" and release all designated federal funds to Climate Justice Alliance." It says the funding is needed for Indigenous communities and other groups that have historically been left out" of environmental protections.According to Chavez, the EPA told the CJA in a meeting in September that it was under investigation by the agency's office of general counsel (OGC) without any explanation as to why. The group says the agency's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights then told the group to expect funding by January 6th - even though grantmakers were initially anticipated to be able to start doling out subgrants in the summer of 2024.The EPA didn't verify the CJA's claims or answer specific questions from The Verge about an investigation into the CJA. EPA continues to review the grant for the Climate Justice Alliance," EPA spokesperson Nick Conger said in an email to The Verge. EPA continues to work through its rigorous process to obligate the funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the Thriving Communities Grantmakers program." The agency is on track" to award more than 90 percent of the funding by the end of the Biden administration, Conger added.When The Verge asked the EPA last year how it chose grantmakers for the program, Regan said in a call with reporters that they each demonstrated a very strong governance structure that creates accountability" and that the agency selected the 11 knowing that they would be able to operationalize these resources in a way that the communities that need these resources the most would absolutely get them."

Image: Samsung Samsung and Google are ready to push a new standard, Eclipsa Audio. This format will enable 3D audio experiences on certain YouTube videos later this year, with support available across Samsung's 2025 lineup of TVs and soundbars. Over the years, Samsung notably hasn't supported Dolby Vision HDR for dynamic HDR metadata, choosing instead to promote its preferred alternative, HDR10 Plus. Now, it seems ready to make a similar competitive push for open-source 3D audio support.Eclipsa Audio could eventually serve as a free alternative to Dolby Atmos, the dominant 3D audio format that hardware makers like Samsung pay to license for TVs and other equipment. Samsung says that similar to Atmos, this audio format supports adjusting audio data such as the location and intensity of sounds, along with spatial reflections" to create a 3D experience.The two companies first announced a partnership to develop spatial audio technology in 2023, initially calling it Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF). At the time, Samsung spatial audio head WooHyun Nam said the format would provide a complete open-source framework for 3D audio, from creation to delivery and playback."The IAMF spec has also been adopted by the Alliance for Open Media, a group that has been pushing for royalty-free codec support since 2015 and counts companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix - along with Samsung and Google - among its members. If they also add support for this audio format, it could help it catch on, although it's already taken years for their AV1 video codec to see more use.Samsung and Google are also creating a certification program with the Telecommunications Technology Association to ensure consistent audio quality" across devices using the format, which also sounds similar to the way companies like Dolby and THX manage the labeling for their specs. We expect to hear more about Eclipsa Audio in the coming days, as CES 2025 kicks off next week.

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge As promised, I've got a special mailbag issue this week. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. Like last year, I picked a handful that hit some of the themes I plan to continue covering in 2025.On to your questions...I'm really concerned / worried / curious about the near-term future. Between now and 10 years from now, I think it is very clear AI will be replacing many job functions. What are we all going to do?The leaders at the AI labs say that, yes, there will be job loss, but that doesn't mean catastrophe. The optimistic take is that humans are creative and will invent new jobs, like they always have when technology changes things. At the moment, there's also a macro belief among the CEOs driving a lot of the spending on infrastructure for AI that its impact will be deflationary and lead to GDP growth.Job displacement will still be painful, of course. Sam Altman and others believe that some form of universal basic income will be necessary to offset the economic impacts of AGI. Altman has his other startup, Tools for Humanity, already scanning eyeballs and distributing cryptocurrency. But I think it's way too early to be seriously concerned. As Altman himself recently... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images A screenshot that seems to suggest billionaire Elon Musk is cosplaying superfan Adrian Dittmann" - showing X account permissions beyond that of an ordinary user - is almost certainly fake, a source at X tells The Verge.The source, who claims no knowledge of Dittmann's identity, says an image posted to 4chan's /pol/ board doesn't reflect an actual interface available to people who work for X. The screenshot was posted by a user who identifies themselves as Adrian Dittmann, showing a post from Musk's X page. In that screenshot, the X interface includes non-standard links to an Admin Portal" and a Bans" page, hinting that the user has special privileges on the site. But the source says neither of these options exist for X employees logged into their accounts. In fact, X employees would see the same interface as other users, with the potential exception of new features currently being trialed for wide release.

Image: LMVPD A day after a Cybertruck exploded in the Trump Hotel valet area, law enforcement officials released more details on the progress of their investigation, including the coroner's confirmation that the driver was a US Army soldier named Matthew Livelsberger, who died by suicide of a self-inflicted gunshot just before the explosives in the truck's bed detonated.I'm comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter," said Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. I'm not giving it any other labels." McMahill also noted that police haven't investigated the suspect's phones or laptops yet, or identified a possible motive.Separately, the Denver Gazette reported on text messages Livelsberger sent after renting the truck on December 28th, with videos of the vehicle and boasts about its ungodly" speed. The New York Post cited an unnamed source saying he left his home in Colorado the day after Christmas after an argument with his wife. The Independent contacted Livelsberger's uncle, who described him to the paper as someone who loved the Army" and loved Trump." Image: LMVPD Camera footage of the Cybertruck before the explosion. During the briefing, law enforcement officials displayed surveillance video of the truck once it arrived in Las Vegas on the morning of January 1st and a map of its eight stops at Tesla charging stations over three days. They also said that people from Tesla were coming to assist in the investigation, including possibly recovering video from the truck's built-in cameras. Image: LVMPD While the sheriff said investigators had received information about the charging stops from Elon Musk, they are also looking to see who else may have been charging at the same time to possibly find video captured by those vehicles.Like the F-150 Lightning used hours earlier in an apparent act of terrorism by driving into a crowd in New Orleans, Livelsberger rented the 2024 Cybertruck via the Turo app.Turo said on Friday, We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone - including law enforcement." However, as an immediate next step while we wait for law enforcement to conclude their investigations, we're consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts to learn more about how we can get even better and play our part in helping prevent anything like this from happening ever again," writes CEO Andre Haddad.It has also been reported that both men spent time at the same military base and served in different areas of Afghanistan in 2009. However, the sheriff said that while they're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point," there's no evidence at this time of a connection between them or a link between the incidents.The truck was transported to the department's fleet services area for further inspection, and the investigators have reported finding the subject's iPhone, identification, and two firearms that had been purchased two days earlier. The explosive components found inside the truck consisted of consumer-grade fireworks, mortars, and aerial shells, as well as fuel enhancers and the kinds of explosive targets that can be purchased at sporting goods stores, according to Kenneth Cooper, the ATF assistant special agent in charge.

JMGO's N3 Ultra Max has a motorized gimbal, letting you remotely adjust where it projects. | Image: JMGO JMGO's N3 Ultra Max projector simplifies setup with a motorized gimbal that handles alignment automatically. Once positioned in a room, you can change where it's projecting using its motion-sensing wireless remote. The all-in-one projector will handle the rest of the fine-tuning, including focus, optical zoom, and keystone adjustments to ensure the image is level and perfectly aligned.Although the 4K N3 Ultra Max debuted in China late last year, JMGO is announcing a new version for the global market at CES that includes improved software, Google TV, and native Netflix support. The company expects it to be available globally, including in the US, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, but pricing details haven't been finalized yet. Image: JMGO The N3 Ultra Max can match the movements of its wireless remote. The N3 Ultra Max joins a growing line of gimbal-mounted projectors from JMGO but is one of the first from the company to feature motorized movements. To increase the projector's range of motion, JMGO relocated its two HDMI and other I/O ports to the gimbal's base. However, since the base rotates 360 degrees, there's still a risk of tangling or the projector's movements being limited if cables aren't long enough.In addition to automated movements, the projector uses a camera and 3D distance sensors to detect and avoid projecting over obstacles on a wall such as artwork or light switches. That will help eliminate visual distractions but could also result in a smaller image depending on how cluttered a wall is. Image: JMGO All of the projector's I/O ports have been moved to the gimbal's base so it can rotate without tangling cables. Using a triple laser system, the N3 Ultra Max outputs around 4,000 ISO lumens of brightness, but JMGO says the projector's performance hasn't been verified by a third party yet. That's enough brightness to project an image up to 180 inches in size, the company says, and it will potentially allow the projector to be used in the daytime in a room with ambient light with a smaller image size.

The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images A few months before the first Cybertrucks were delivered to customers, Tesla CEO Elon Musk got on a call with investors and said he wanted to temper expectations" about the polarizing vehicle.It's a great product, but financially, it will take, I don't know, a year to 18 months before it is a significant positive cash flow contributor," Musk said in the October 2023 call. But, ever the showman, Musk couldn't resist injecting some hype.The demand is off the charts," he said. We have over 1 million people who have reserved the car."But more than a year later, that demand appears to have dried up.Yesterday, Tesla reported its fourth quarter production and delivery numbers for 2024, giving us as close to a complete picture of the Cybertruck's first full year of sales as we're going to get. Tesla doesn't break out Cybertruck numbers specifically, instead lumping them in with its two older vehicles, the Model S and Model X, as other models."Tesla said it produced 94,105 vehicles in that category in 2024, of which 85,133 were delivered to customers. Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, estimates that between 35,000-50,000 of those other models" sold over the course of the year were Cybertrucks.How you view the Cybertruck depends on what your expectations going in were," Roberts tells me. If you thought it was going to be a large volume vehicle, a la Ford F-150 competitor, it hasn't become a large volume competitor. But if you compare it to, say, a lifestyle pickup or the Ford F-150 Lightning, I think it's done pretty well."And yet, the Cybertruck did not meaningfully contribute to Tesla's growth in 2024, as evidenced by the fact that the company reported its first year-over-year sales decline in over a decade.The Cybertruck didn't meaningfully contribute to Tesla's growth in 2024Musk claimed that over 1 million people reserved a Cybertruck, and so far, that has not resulted in 1 million Cybertrucks on the road. To be sure, it's still early days for the angular EV, and it could still prove to be a success. But Tesla lowered the deposit reservation to $100, after initially asking for $1,000, which likely boosted reservations among people who probably weren't going to end up buying one.And then there was the rocky rollout: the viral videos of a Cybertruck getting stuck in snow or sand; the numerous recalls (seven since its launch in December 2023), including one related to a faulty accelerator pedal; and Musk's emergence as a stalwart supporter of Donald Trump and a purveyor of racist, rightwing conspiracies.Even still, the Cybertruck seemed to come out of the gate strong. It was America's best-selling electric truck in Q2 of 2024, the third-best-selling EV in the country in Q3, and the best-selling vehicle costing over $100,000 in the first half of the year.In July, it almost matched combined sales of all other electric trucks on the market, including the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV, and Chevy Silverado EV. But some analysts suggested that Tesla may have been filling a backlog of older orders at the time, which would suggest that the sales numbers weren't related to increased demand.But as the year went on, evidence emerged that the Cybertruck may have already passed its peak. There were anecdotal reports of Cybertrucks piling up on used car lots. Tesla Cybertruck factory workers in Austin were told to stay home for three days in December.It hasn't become a large volume competitor"Meanwhile, dozens of limited edition Foundation Series Cybertrucks, the first version of the truck to go on sale, were piling up in the automaker's inventory, leading Tesla to reportedly start buffing the badging off so they could be sold as regular models. And the price of a used Cybertruck keeps dropping: $104,300 on average on December 30th, down from $107,800 the month before, according to CarGurus.What's going on with used Cybertrucks and we can see the number of days those vehicles have been sitting on lots has been going up," Roberts says. And the average price of used Cybertrucks has been trending down."A brand-new Cybertruck is still very, very expensive: leasing starts at around $900 a month, while someone interested in buying an all-wheel drive base model would be expected to drop at least $90,000. Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge And while the Cybertruck just recently qualified for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500, that benefit is likely to be short-lived, as Trump is expected to kill the credit - with Musk's backing. Musk still has a few more months to make good on his claim from 2023 that the Cybertruck will be a significant cash flow contributor" within 18 months - but the outlook looks grim.Tesla could have followed up the enormously successful Model Y with an even more affordable EV, which is what a lot of analysts and investors were expecting. But instead, Musk introduced a highly polarizing, questionably made, lifestyle vehicle that will likely never sell as many units as its predecessors.Tesla has had a big volume hit, the Model Y is in the top five selling vehicles in the US," Roberts says. So they can get those big volume vehicles. The Cybertruck just hasn't been that. And it's going to face some headwinds in 2025 that could make it a challenge for it to get to that kind of volume status."

Image: Universal If you missed The Wild Robot in the madness of last year's holiday season, Universal's about to make it a little easier to catch the animated sci-fi adventure on both the big and small screens.The Wild Robot has been available to purchase physically on DVD / Blu-ray and on digital platforms like Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video for some time now. But today, Universal announced that, following the film's upcoming theatrical rerelease on January 17th, it will also be available to stream for Peacock subscribers starting on January 24th. The news comes after The Wild Robot's successful initial box office run that saw it rake in an impressive $324.3 million worldwide and secure a number of awards from various film critics groups.The theatrical rerelease feels a lot like Universal's way of priming the public to be thinking more about The Wild Robot as we march deeper into awards season, but it's also going to give folks more options to experience one of 2024's best films.

The Apple Fitness Plus integration in Strava is getting a revamp. | Image: Apple Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they're collaborating to revamp how Fitness Plus integrates with the popular fitness community, which includes more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in Fitness Plus content, and a free three-month trial to the service for Strava subscribers.Starting today, you'll be able to see a thumbnail of the Fitness Plus workout and information like episode number, music genre, trainer, metrics, and achievements. While mostly a design update, this brings Fitness Plus more in line with other Strava integrations from services like Peloton and Ladder.Technically, Apple Watch users have been able to import their workouts into Strava from the get-go. However, that integration has been limited with bare-bones workout summaries. While you could see the activity type, calories burned, and basic heart rate metrics, there wasn't any information about the class or instructor. (As you can see from this screenshot, you'd be hard-pressed to know that my New Year's Day yoga workout was even a Fitness Plus class.)The Fitness Plus and Strava integration goes in both directions. For starters, new and existing Strava subscribers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia will get a free three-month trial of Fitness Plus regardless of whether they have an Apple Watch. (You do, however, need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to access the service.) Popular Strava athletes will also feature as guests in Fitness Plus workouts. That includes a strength workout with runner Hellah Sidibe on January 13th and a treadmill workout with Kayla Jeter.So far, Apple has only offered free Fitness Plus trials with the purchase of a new Apple gadget. And while the service regularly features well-known athletes as guest hosts in its programming, it's never sourced those guests from a third-party fitness community.Sidibe, for example, may not be quite as famous as two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety (who recently hosted a Fitness Plus series). However, if you're into running and on social media, there's a good chance you're familiar with Sidibe's seven-year daily run streak and penchant for running with four smartwatches.Over the past 10 years, we've hugely admired what Strava has done to impact the fitness space, especially around community," says Jay Blahnik, Apple's vice president of fitness technologies, acknowledging that Apple doesn't often partake in this sort of collaboration.Blahnik says working with Strava also presents a new opportunity for Fitness Plus' reach. When the service first launched, there was an emphasis on making sure it was inclusive, motivating, and accessible for people of all levels. And in those early days, it often felt like Fitness Plus was like a fitness starter pack for the average person who might need a little encouragement - something The Verge pointed out in its initial review. That's not exactly the typical Strava user.They don't need us for motivation! They're already self motivated," says Blahnik. Instead, for seasoned athletes, Blahnik is pitching Fitness Plus as a supplemental resource for cross-training and discovering new activity types.Maybe they're taking up running for the first time, and they want to make sure that they don't get injured, and they need to do the yoga and the strength," adds Zipporah Allen, Strava's chief business officer.Both Allen and Blahnik also note that the collaboration isn't a one-and-done type of deal, hinting that the integration could evolve further down the road. While both demurred on providing specifics, Blahnik noted the companies have bold ambitions for what [they] might be able to do down the road in terms of sharing." (Asked if perhaps one day you could tap on a Fitness Plus class a Strava friend took and immediately be taken to that workout on your phone, Blahnik said they'd keep that in mind.)In the short term, it's a beneficial move for both companies. Strava recently angered users by changing the terms of its API for third-party apps, leaving some disgruntled users questioning the value of a Strava subscription. A free three-month trial to Apple Fitness Plus could appease some of those users. Strava has long been a de facto fitness data hub for dedicated athletes, giving Fitness Plus easy access to long-term athletes who aren't likely to quit their New Year's resolutions.