Author Archives: Sarang Sheth

This Apocalyptic Cyberpunk Cafe Racer has a humble BMW R Nine T underneath it

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The R nine T is perhaps BMW, nay, the world’s most customized bike. Ognjen Docic remixed this versatile classic into something virtually unrecognizable but vastly more eye-catching. Dubbed the Rat Race, this cafe racer isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s skeletal yet meaty, and explores unique design directions like using transparent plastic as a part of its overall fairing. This post-apocalyptic beauty also seats just one, because if Hollywood’s taught us anything, the apocalypse always creates lone wolves!

Designer: Ognjen Docic

The Rat Race’s aesthetic explores the addition, removal, and reinforcement of its overall structure. Certain parts of the fairing are removed because they add no value. Others are given further reinforcement like the fuel tank (perhaps to deter theft), and the overall chassis gets a secondary frame to make it stronger for more aggressive riding.

“I transformed the iconic BMW R9T model into dream vision, seamlessly blending vintage aesthetics for a retro old-school vibe with futuristic elements. By merging the past and future in design, I believe it transcends a specific era, becoming timeless,” says Serbia-based designer, Ognjen Docic. “In my rendition, the bike retains its original structure with subtle modifications to the frame. Introducing “Rat Race,” this concept embodies the timeless struggle, capturing the essence of life’s rat race.”

When asked about the Rat Race’s specs, Docic mentions – “Specifications of the motorcycle are unknown! Crafted within the confines of my mind, it borrows foundational elements from the R9T model. My imagination took residence in an underground motorcycle tuning garage in the outskirts of Belgrade.”

An interesting touch is Docic’s use of transparent materials in the motorcycle’s body design. A panel around the headlight almost looks like a transparent skull for the bike, enveloping its headlight and a portion of its handlebars. The base of the automobile has it too, as does the end, where Docic cleverly implemented edge-lighting to create a rather unique-looking taillight. This use of transparent plastic adds to the structure without adding to the bulk or volume.

The result of the entire endeavor is a bike that’s practically unrecognizable, but somehow still manages to have its own distinct character (and possibly a very interesting backstory). It looks like it’s been through hell and back, and still has the willpower for handling some more. Those ridiculously chunky tires are proof that the Rat Race was built to get you anywhere you want to go – no questions asked… and the lack of rear-view mirrors is proof that where you’re going, there’s no looking back!

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Thinking of buying the Galaxy S24? TORRAS made a stunning 9H hardness Screen Protector to go with it

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Almost like clockwork after CES wrapped up, Samsung took the stage to debut all their new products. New Year New Gear, people say… and it seems like Samsung is prepared to equip all Android lovers with their next smartphone – the Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra. However, with great phones come great responsibilities, and that means ensuring your cutting-edge smartphone is shielded by some cutting-edge cases, covers, and clear screen protectors. It’s a good thing the folks at TORRAS came well prepared too, especially after a pretty exhaustive CES (where they built a 15-foot clear phone stand case as a part of their booth). Lining up perfectly with Samsung’s Unveiled event, TORRAS has announced two new products – the Diamond Shield Screen Protector with a game-changing 9H on the hardness scale and 3-step easy setup, and their iconic O Stand case, which gives your smartphone its dedicated grip-stand for easier, ergonomic, and hands-free use.

Click Here to Buy Diamond Shield Screen Protector Now: $25.99
Click Here to Buy O Stand Ring Case Now: $35.99 $49.99 (28% off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

Installation of screen protectors has often been a tedious task, but the Diamond Shield changes this narrative. Designed with a 3-step setup process, it ensures a perfect, bubble-free fit in just 15 seconds. This ease of installation is facilitated by the Tora-Airfree molecular glue technology. This adhesive, paired with the protector’s plastic armature, ensures a seamless application while maintaining the sensitivity and responsiveness of the touchscreen – an essential feature for the interactive experience of the Galaxy S24 series, especially for features like fingerprint scanning and S Pen usage.

The cornerstone of the Diamond Shield’s effectiveness lies in its exceptional hardness, rated at 9H on the Mohs scale. This level of hardness is achieved through the innovative Tora-CRC strengthening process. All that technical jargon aside, the Diamond Shield screen protector’s incredibly high hardness rating means it can easily fend off everything from being dropped on gravel or even having to deal with keys and cables scratching against your phone inside your pocket or laptop bag. The 9H rating makes the Diamond Shield 3x stronger than standard tempered glass, giving your premium smartphone the premium protection it deserves. Beyond protection, the Diamond Shield excels in preserving the visual fidelity of the Galaxy S24 series display. It guarantees 100% color accuracy, ensuring that users experience the screen’s original brilliance without any color deviation. This clarity is complemented by the protector’s ability to allow maximum light transmission, maintaining the display’s vividness and sharpness.

While durability and hardness are often the primary focus for a screen protector, the tactile experience hasn’t been overlooked either. The NanoScale pressure structure combined with the Tora-Silk coating technology provides a smooth, sleek oleophobic surface that repels fingerprints and reduces smudges. This technology ensures that the touch experience is as fluid and responsive as the device’s original screen, a crucial aspect for users who interact with their phones constantly throughout the day.

Alongside the Diamond Shield, TORRAS also unveiled the Galaxy S24 Series’ very own O Stand case. Following last year’s Ipsos report that put TORRAS at the forefront of the burgeoning phone stand trend, the O Stand for the Galaxy S24 is a slim yet protective cover for the phone that comes with its own built-in kickstand. The hollow circular ring is designed for comfortable holding and reducing forearm stress, a blessing for those endless scrolling sessions. Functionality wise, the O Stand doubles as a MagSafe stand and supports your phone in both portrait and landscape modes. Whether you’re video calling, watching a movie, or even using the S Pen remote control on your Samsung S24 Ultra, this stand has you covered.

What makes the O Stand special is its versatility. It supports angles from 0 to 120 degrees, ensuring that you always have the best view. And for those who prefer to keep their tech gear sleek and minimal, the O Stand’s design complements the sophisticated look of the Galaxy S24 series, while measuring a mere 2.5mm in thickness so that the stand folds flush into the phone case, leaving you with nothing except a slick, smooth luxurious surface that doesn’t add any bulk or weight to your new smartphone.

Click Here to Buy Diamond Shield Screen Protector Now: $25.99
Click Here to Buy O Stand Ring Case Now: $35.99 $49.99 (28% off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

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Atari is entering the handheld gaming space with this gorgeous console that packs 200 iconic games

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If as a kid you ever relished the thought of carrying all your change to the nearest arcade to bust out a few games, this one should be the perfect feels trip down nostalgia lane. The MyArcade Atari Gamestation Portable, unveiled at CES 2024, is a vibrant time capsule that transports you straight back to the golden era of gaming. This device promises to deliver a nostalgic yet innovative gaming experience, and here’s what makes it stand out.

Designer: MyArcade

Design and Controllers: A Nostalgic Twist

The Atari Gamestation Portable distinguishes itself with a design that’s a respectful nod to the classic Atari era. Licensed by Atari, MyArcade has done more than just slap on a retro label; they’ve integrated elements of the beloved Atari 2600 into a portable format. This isn’t just about playing old games; it’s about reliving the unique experience of them. The inclusion of an Atari Trak ball, paddle, and a keypad, alongside a d-pad and ABXY buttons, ensures that both classic and modern gamers feel at home.

Display and Games: A Feast for Retro Eyes

The Gamestation Portable boasts a 7-inch high-resolution display, significantly larger than MyArcade’s previous handhelds. This size increase enhances the visual experience of the over 200 classic Atari games preloaded onto the device. While the full games list hasn’t been published, the promise of such a vast library is exciting for fans of Atari’s extensive catalog.

Operating System and Connectivity: Tailored for Atari Classics

The device runs on a proprietary operating system, specifically designed to play Atari classic games, eschewing more common systems like SteamOS or Windows. This specialized OS ensures a seamless gaming experience, tailored to the unique requirements of retro games. Additionally, MyArcade has included two rear-mounted USB Type-C ports and a kickstand, adding modern convenience to the retro experience. The system’s LEDs illuminate to indicate which buttons are supported by the game currently being played, adding a helpful, modern touch to the gameplay experience​.

Pricing and Availability: A Trip Down Memory Lane

The Atari Gamestation Portable is expected to hit the market in September or October 2024, with a price tag of $149. This pricing positions it as an affordable entry into the world of retro gaming, making it accessible to a broad audience of gamers and nostalgia enthusiasts alike​.

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World’s First AI-Powered Night-Vision Goggles give you Game-Changing 4K Vision in Ultra-low Light

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Night vision technology has come a long way from its early military origins, now boasting better visibility, color reproduction, and clarity that goes beyond the grainy green images we’ve come to expect from action films in the 2000s… however, it fundamentally still relies on the same principles of using IR to help the human eye see in low light settings. What the AKASO Seemor does is game-changing, as it weaves AI magic into the entire process. While regular night vision goggles purely rely on large sensors and heavy image processing, the AKASO Seemor uses an AI-driven ISP algorithm that detects objects and shapes, compares it to its vast database, and uses that information to enhance what you see. It’s perhaps the biggest leap in night-vision tech, representing the kind of game-changing leap from using regular Google Search to AI-powered search like Bard, ChatGPT, and Bing Chat.

Designer: AKASO

Click Here to Buy Now: $179 $289 (38% off). Hurry, only 66/150 left! Raised over $98,000.

Designed to look like a pair of high-end binoculars with a digital viewfinder on one end, the AKASO Seemor is equipped from the top to the bottom with some of the most cutting-edge night-vision tech consumers can buy. A large 1/1.79″ CMOS sensor gathers as much light data as it can to observe objects and environments, while all visual data gets passed through the Seemor’s cutting-edge AI-powered ISP (Image Signal Processor) to enhance everything it sees. The 4-megapixel sensor is capable of recording videos and images in 4K, reproducing up to 99% of the color in the scenery – something other night-vision goggles struggle with. A whopping 16x digital zoom lets you hone in on subjects as far as 500 meters (1640 feet) away, making the Seemor perfect for everyone from surveillance personnel to wildlife enthusiasts, night-time adventurers, and just overall lovers of great tech.

Ultra-low Light Full-color Night Vision

The AI chops are perhaps the Seemor’s most impressive accomplishment, as it effectively taps into rising tech trends to meaningfully make its own features better. The way the ISP works is remarkable, because it tries and identifies the things it sees by comparing them to its massive database. That information then helps the ISP do its magic, adding details and vivid colors to the scene and the objects within it, even in ultra-low light. The AI also aids with other features like scene enhancement and HDR color-grading to provide some impressive results.

Visuals from the Seemor are displayed on its dedicated 3-inch TFT display, allowing you to easily see up to 3280 feet away from you. The goggles offer 7 different infrared settings (for how dark your scene is), while letting you toggle between color and IR viewing modes. In the color mode, you’re treated with stunning vivid hues thanks to the Seemor’s ability to accurately represent 99% of the color in its scenes. This means flowers look vibrant, skies look distinct, and your environment looks exactly like it would in daylight – despite the lack of sufficient light.

The Seemor’s visual chops go beyond just enhancing low-light visuals. With its incredible visual range, the goggles let you see as far as 3280 feet (1 kilometer), although the 1640 foot mark (500 meters) is where you’ll be able to clearly view smaller subjects. Beyond mere observation, the Seemor goggles also excel in capturing what you see. They’re capable of 4K video and image capture, and come equipped with H.265 video encoding, ensuring high-definition image and video quality. Media gets saved onto an SD card within the Seemor, allowing your night goggles to have a storage of up to 512Gb. Aside from a removable SD card, the Seemor also sports removable 3200mAh batteries, letting you quickly swap out an old pair out for a new one to keep the party going (each Seemor comes with two batteries to ensure you’re always ready for what nature has in store for you). The batteries give the Seemor up to 4-hours of continuous use in IR mode, and 8 hours if you shift to color. A USB port lets you charge your Seemor directly too, further prolonging its life.

Priced at just $179, the Seemor sits at the perfect crossroad between amateur night-vision gear and cutting-edge military-grade tech. However, it vastly outperforms anything in its price category, thanks in part to its game-changing use of AI. Each Seemor also comes with its own dedicated AKASO Aura app that lets you remotely monitor and capture everything the goggles see. Just mount your Seemor on a tripod thanks to its threaded mount and you can wirelessly view and record media directly from your Seemor or even transfer photos and videos over its built-in 2.4G WiFi link. The AKASO Seemor begins shipping as early as February 2024.

Click Here to Buy Now: $179 $289 (38% off). Hurry, only 66/150 left! Raised over $98,000.

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These Minions Wi-Fi Routers were probably the most brilliant devices we saw at CES 2024

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Flying cars and AI assistants are a dime a dozen – but have you ever seen a router so adorable it would be the highlight of your interior decor??

The SmartAir Minions Routers were so oddly located in a corner of the Westgate area of the CES 2024 exhibition that it was easy to miss. As chance would have it, I headed to the Westgate area to look for another company, only to suddenly notice these minions through the corner of my eye sitting on a counter. Given the fact that CES is predominantly a tech show, I obviously wondered why these plush-looking toys were on display. A few seconds in it dawned on me – these lifelike characters from the Despicable Me franchise were, in fact, dual and triple-band WiFi 6E routers capable of multi-gigabit internet. The added bonus? They look more adorable and presentable than your existing WiFi router ever could.

Designer: Davolink

Click Here to Buy Now

The routers come in two models, designed to resemble the two key characters in the Minion-verse, the short and adorable Bob, and the tall and klutzy Kevin. The choice of these two characters play well into the routers’ features too – Bob, being smaller, offers dual-band WiFi connectivity, while the taller Kevin (and that tiny antenna-esque toupee of his) offer triple-band internet, giving you 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz, and even 6Ghz.

Together, both the routers provide a brilliant blend between wide coverage and high speeds, enabling everything from 8K streaming to even gaming. The routers eliminate dead zones too, ensuring every corner of your home has WiFi connectivity with a mesh feature to help maximize coverage.

The highlight, however, is the fact that they are a stunning replica of easily some of the most memorable and iconic characters of animated cinema in the past decade. I’ve always advocated for functional products ditching their industrial aesthetic (air purifiers and smart speakers don’t need to look horrendously industrial in today’s day and age), and it seems like it’s time that WiFi routers took that same approach. Bob and Kevin are designed to be the kind of routers that hide in plain sight. They’re adorable enough to be kept on your shelf or tabletop without feeling the need to conceal them behind curtains or other objects, and that’s really what makes them such a standout product. After all, wouldn’t you rather have a router that looks as cute as these little nitwits than something like the boring box you’re currently connected to as you read this article? My only worry is kids trying to play with these and accidentally bringing your entire home network down… but that’s a problem for another day!

Click Here to Buy Now

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This gorgeous concrete sculpture of the New York Flatiron Building is actually a high-end Speaker

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It isn’t often that you see brutalism as a design style being used outside architecture… but this sculptural speaker is a different beast entirely.

Designed to look like it was chiseled out of actual concrete, “TheSoloist. Sounds.” from Takahiro Miyashita was crafted with the vision of being the absolute centerpiece of your living room. Outwardly, it’s an homage to New York’s Flatiron building, standing at an impressive 43 inches tall with a dizzying amount of detail. Behind that exterior, however, is a 7-speaker setup designed to output a whopping 2000W of audio power, loud enough that its engineers promise “spectacular sound pressure that can be felt directly on the skin.”

Designer: Takahiro Miyashita

Before your ears experience TheSoloist. Sounds.’s audio, your eyes are treated to one of the most beautiful speakers they’ll ever see. Now in the realm of speaker design, TheSoloist. Sounds. is far from traditional. It doesn’t boast your standard acoustic chamber, audio grill, or showcase the drivers. It looks entirely like an artistic representation of New York’s architecture emerging from a block of concrete, but under that facade hides all of the audio magic. The sculpture can be split into two halves, the upper chiseled section and the lower, which arguably house the mid/high, and the woofer drivers respectively.

The lower section sports two 6.5″ woofers, while the upper part of the speaker houses two 3″ mid-range and three 1″ tweeters, covering a frequency range of 20Hz ~ 25KHz. The speaker pulls 2000W of power, and outputs an impressive 110dB of audio. The entire unit comes crafted from faux concrete, weighing 55lb (24.9 kilograms)… which does feel deceptively light for its nearly 4-foot stature.

Recreated for a second edition after the first one sold out, TheSoloist. Sounds. sports an eye-watering $$6,345.32 price tag… but that makes sense just given the amount of effort and intricate detail that went into the exterior as well as its inner hardware. That being said, TheSoloist. Sounds. isn’t for the discerning audiophile. It’s made for people who want an expressive statement piece to dominate their interior spaces – something this brutalist speaker does exceedingly well!

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The Twitter (X) Smartphone sports an X-shaped camera and a dedicated rear display for notifications

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While the world’s been living on a prayer of a Tesla phone some day, designer Antonio De Rosa had a much better idea – why not build a phone centered around a much more smartphone-centric company? The Object-X is every microblogger’s dream device, with its own dedicated display unit just for Twitter (ahem, X). You can see notifications, browse the app, send tweets, and even access your Tesla right through the rear display. For everything else, a normal front display serves its purpose. Oh, and extra points if you noticed the X-shaped camera bump…

Designer: Antonio De Rosa

Just given the company’s (and its founder’s) trajectory over the past year, the Object-X may not be for everyone, but as a concept and design exercise, it makes for a pretty nifty piece of hardware. It builds on all of Elon’s companies’ most smartphone-centric features, from the social media app to Tesla integration, AI-based computational photography, and even enhanced connectivity thanks to Tesla SpaceLink.

The Object-X sports a 6.9-inch (nice) screen on the front, with a slightly asymmetric design and a sharper corner on the bottom right, with a dedicated X button that doubles as an Action Button, allowing you to do things like fire up the social media app, start your Tesla, or even chat with Grok (X’s ‘free speech’ AI chatbot). No, it probably isn’t made from the same metal as the Cybertruck, but it’s nice to think that maybe this could be possible one day.

The rear display is the Object-X’s most visually iconic feature, giving Twitter-addicts their dedicated supply of the microblogging platform. Although it’s really impossible to get any typing done on that small screen, it’s perfect for browsing tweets, retweeting, checking notifications, and liking tweets from your feed. A sidebar lets you also toggle between Twitter and Tesla applets, so you can also do things like locate your car, auto-park it, unlock it, or even remote-start your vehicle.

If the secondary display didn’t excite you, the quad-cam system probably might. Shaped to look like the X logo, the cameras are augmented by Twitter’s GROK AI that processes the photos to give you great images every time… or at least that’s what designer Antonio De Rosa envisions with the phone. The four cameras cover a wide range of scenarios, while a flash in the middle handles low-light photography.

The Object-X is clearly just a concept phone, but it explores possibilities more than it does feasibility. I doubt most people would trust Musk with a smart device that knows everything about you (no single person deserves all that power), but hey, you never know… the Cybertruck still has 1.9 million preorders as of last year, with no clear delivery in sight. People clearly have money to spare when it comes to Musk’s visions.

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SHARGE Icemag Hands-On at CES 2024: A Cool-looking MagSafe Power Bank that Cools your Phone

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Touted as the world’s first power-bank with its own turbo-cooling feature, the Icemag power bank keeps itself (and your phone) breezy while charging. An ultra-silent fan moves at speeds of 8000 RPM, actively cooling the battery pack inside while the Icemag wirelessly charges your phone, preventing anything from heating up during the charging process.

Sharge has pretty much solidified its reputation for building some of the most incredible-looking charging equipment of our time. Whether it’s the transparent 170W power bank with its own LED display, or the tiny yet indomitable Flow Mini power bank that’s small enough to blend right into your phone’s design, becoming its dedicated second battery, Sharge’s built a rather wonderful ecosystem of charging gear that’s both powerful and unmistakably eye-catching. The Icemag joins that ecosystem as a first for both Sharge and the world – the 10,000mAh MagSafe battery pack comes with its own active cooling system that pushes hot air out from around the lithium-ion battery, increasing its life and overall efficiency as it charges your phone. It also comes as a rather opportune time, as Apple silently killed its own MagSafe power bank, leaving a void in the marketplace.

Designer: SHARGE

Click Here to Buy Now

The Icemag has the same proportions as Apple’s MagSafe power bank, albeit with that aforementioned cooling system and a whopping 10,000mAh battery that charges your entire phone twice over with enough extra juice left to spare for a third charge. It sports Sharge’s unmistakable aesthetic, with a transparent panel on the front that lets you peer into the electronics inside – namely the lithium ion battery, the PCB, and that active cooling system.

The active cooling system kicks in the second the Icemag is connected to a device (whether through MagSafe or via USB-C cable). The tiny fan outputs an impressive 8000 RPM, helping circulate air within the Icemag to keep the battery actively cooled (rather than relying on a metal heat-sink like other charging apparatus). The fan operates at a deadly silent <25dB, and it was practically inaudible in the buzz and chatter of the CES floor. What was noticeable, however, was the RGB lighting around the fan that changed colors as the Icemag juiced your device. It served as a nice visual indicator of the Icemag’s activity, especially given Sharge’s tech-geek and gamer-centric audience.

The compact power bank snaps satisfyingly onto the back of your MagSafe phone, beginning the charging process instantly. An indicator on the side shows exactly how much power the Icemag’s battery still has, while a USB-C port on the base supports both power in as well as out. This means the USB-C port can be used to charge the Icemag itself or can be used to connect the Icemag to another phone to charge it conventionally (without using the MagSafe wireless charging feature). The Icemag supports pass-through charging too, letting you charge it while it wirelessly juices your smartphone, and as far as charging speeds go, the Icemag’s wireless charging coil outputs a maximum 7.5W. If you want to tap into higher speeds, connecting your phone/device via USB-C gives you an output of 20W, charging your gadgets significantly faster for when you’re in a bind.

The Icemag balances its responsibilities of being handy, eye-catching, and functional rather well. It’s compact for its capacity and weighs just 223 grams (7.9 ounces), allowing it to securely attach to the back of your phone without any problems. The 10,000mAh battery is absolutely perfect for people who blow through their phones during the day, giving you an extra battery that can support your phone multiple times. The transparent aesthetic and active cooling system, however, steal the limelight for the gorgeous nerdy-cool aesthetic they give the Icemag. The term nerdy-cool probably gets used literally in this sense because of the Icemag’s ability to keep itself at manageable temperatures as it charges your phone. I dare you to find a MagSafe power bank that’s as gorgeously functional as this one…

Click Here to Buy Now

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Hands-on with the $5000 Wehead ChatGPT-powered AI Assistant: When Technology Disappoints

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Too Little, Too Early… The Wehead has a long way to go before it can be taken seriously, on both hardware and software fronts.

As we coursed the floors of the Showstoppers event at CES, my eyes landed on something familiar. I made eye contact (to the best of my ability to make eye contact with a set of virtual eyes) with the $5000 Wehead device, which I had just reported on just mere weeks ago. It sat on a lone table in the corner of the massive ballroom where the event was being held, with a few people basically gathering the courage to talk to it. Obviously, I wanted to really get a sense of what it was like to chat with an AI, but also to see whether this $5000 device was worth the hype. Long story short, the Wehead was a bit of a mess from top to bottom. The hardware lacked the kind of finesse you’d expect from a premium product, and the software failed miserably at processing requests amidst the buzz of all the people around it.

Designer: Wehead

The Wehead was first envisioned as a one-of-a-kind teleconferencing device that could allow you to speak to people via video-chatting apps, but instead of staring at a screen, have you stare at a head that moved and responded to the actions of the person on the other end of the call. Somewhere down the line, the company made its transition to turning it into a ChatGPT-esque assistant that would use AI to answer queries and augment life. The difference between the Wehead and something like ChatGPT, Siri, or Google Assistant? The fact that Wehead actually had a face, which, at least in theory, would add a more immersive, believable aspect to the entire experience.

The problem, however, lay in two broad domains – firstly, the Wehead was a solution in search of a problem. The lack of a facial component to AI may be a problem, but it isn’t a problem that demands a $5000 multi-screen bionic robot. Secondly, even if that were true, the Wehead itself was a rather shoddily assembled device, using four mobile phones, a shotgun mic, and a speaker to give ChatGPT an anthropomorphized touch.

For starters, just a look at the Wehead revealed the fact that its four screens were actually smartphones assembled together into one large Macgyvered solution. The screen element with the Wehead’s eyes actually had a visible front-facing camera cutout. Above it sat an off-brand shotgun microphone that captured vocal input, and below, a small speaker where you’d expect the Wehead’s throat to be. The four screens displayed parts of the Wehead’s face, which emoted and responded to the Wehead talking, listening, and interacting.

However, even though the hardware seemed to be put together by a bunch of engineering students, the Wehead failed to deliver. Its face was perpetually pixelated, which impacted the Wehead’s already dwindling realism. There was a severe mismatch between the audio and the face’s movements, adding further problems to the mix… and finally, the Wehead just couldn’t seem to grasp anything anyone said. Sure, the event was crowded, resulting in a lot of background noise, but the Wehead still managed to fail at the basic questions it grasped. When Wehead got stuck in one of its “I’m sorry, I don’t understand” feedback loops, someone from the company came by to get it to stop responding, but it took them 3 tries to get Wehead to stop. A lot can be attributed to the general event’s background chatter, but that practically set the AI head up for failure, showing its clear lack of being able to isolate audio before processing it.

Here’s the thing though… I do think the Wehead holds great potential. It just needs a LOT of work before it can justify that price tag. For starters, maybe ditch the smartphone displays for something more unique like a curved OLED… and hide the microphone and speaker, so it isn’t that obvious that this was put together using hardware bought at Best Buy. A talking head running ChatGPT sounds impressive, but the illusion sure falls apart when it looks like a college project, and when the Wehead itself can barely pick up anything you say to it.

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BLUETTI’s wide catalog of Power Stations at CES 2024 make it an Absolute Must-Have for 2024

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As the tech world descended upon Las Vegas for CES 2024, BLUETTI, a name synonymous with portable power solutions, has once again set the gold standard with its latest offerings designed for recreation, emergencies, work, and overall energy independence. From the versatile SwapSolar system to the rugged AC240 power station, BLUETTI’s lineup this year is nothing short of a power-packed promise for both adventurers and home users. We visited the BLUETTI booth to speak to their Director of Portable Power Systems, Phillip Fischer. Phillip explained to us what BLUETTI’s been achieving in the past year, what are the new exciting products they’re debuting at CES, and why portable power stations should be on everyone’s wishlist for 2024.

Designer: BLUETTI

If you’re still one of those power-station skeptics in the year 2024, Phillip has some rather sage advice to give you. Sure, the average power station user is the outdoorsy type, using it to provide energy to camping sites, RVs, and other outdoor excursions/activities… but what BLUETTI’s power stations also do is provide aid and assistance during emergency power cuts. Whether it’s one of their larger devices, or even the small portable ones, BLUETTI’s power stations can be potential life-savers when the power runs out. The same power station can play multiple roles, whether it’s necessity or leisure… with the added benefit of helping you do things like shift to a solar grid too to help reduce power bills.

Leading the power-station charge at CES this year is the BLUETTI SwapSolar, a dynamic duo comprising the AC180T portable generator and the MultiCooler portable fridge. The AC180T can easily be confused for its sibling, the AC180 – but what really sets it apart is its game-changing hot-swappable battery system. With 1,433Wh capacity, 1,800W output, and 2,700W lifting power, the AC180T features two detachable batteries that can either be used simultaneously, or in a scenario where one battery is removed from the AC180T and placed in the MultiCooler portable fridge. Imagine never running out of power because you can instantly replace depleted batteries with charged ones.

But that’s not all. The MultiCooler is the Swiss Army knife of portable fridges. Acting as a fridge, freezer, and, believe it or not, an ice maker, it redefines the concept of portable cooling. Featuring a 40-liter compartment with temperature control from -20°C to 20°C (-4°F to 68°F), the MultiCooler can chill a staggering 65 cans of soda (or any beverage of your choosing) or keep the sausages frozen for a picnic. It also boasts the ability to make ice from moving water, a feature that Phillip mentioned was “really cool” (pun intended!)

Next up, meet the AC240, BLUETTI’s rugged outdoor companion following the legacy of the AC60. Tailor-made for the wild, this power station is both water-resistant and dust-proof, boasting an impressive IP65 rating. Whether you’re facing a dust storm in the desert or a downpour in the mountains, the AC240 won’t let you down. With a robust 2400W of power output and a 1536Wh LFP battery, it’s built to last. And if you thought that was impressive, the AC240 can expand its capacity to a whopping 10kWh with four B210 expansion batteries. BLUETTI didn’t stop there. They also showcased their revamped portable generators and home storage products, including the AC60P, AC2P, and the modular AC500 and AC300 series.

In the midst of unveiling these technological marvels, BLUETTI also took a moment to highlight its Lighting an African Family (LAAF) program. This initiative underscores BLUETTI’s commitment to social responsibility, bringing sustainable solar energy to African families. With over 100,000 families already impacted, BLUETTI is powering more than devices; it’s powering dreams.

The post BLUETTI’s wide catalog of Power Stations at CES 2024 make it an Absolute Must-Have for 2024 first appeared on Yanko Design.