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Garmin has unveiled a new heart rate monitor, the Garmin HRM-Fit heart rate monitor for women and the device comes with a clip-on design, the device is designed to be clipped onto a sports bra. The device was made official at the Consumer Electronics Show in las Vegas. The new Garmin HRM-Fit heart rate monitor […]
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Duolingo has cut 10 percent of its contractors and using AI tools to handle the tasks they used to do, Bloomberg reports. "We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing," a spokesperson told the news organization without saying what they did for the company exactly. "Part of that could be attributed to AI."
As Bloomberg notes, Chief Executive Officer Luis von Ahn told shareholders in November that the company is using AI to create new content, such as scripts, "dramatically faster." Duolingo also relies on AI to generate the voices users hear in-app. The company previously released customer-facing AI features, as well. Last year, it introduced a premium tier called Duolingo Max that gives subscribers access to a chatbot that can explain why their responses were correct or incorrect. Another Max feature called Roleplay lets subscribers practice their language skills in made-up scenarios, like ordering food in a Parisian cafe.
The rise of modern generative AIs over the past couple of years brought to surface society's fear of losing jobs to technology. In this case, no full-timers were affected by the job reductions, and the spokesperson said it's not a sign that it's straight up replacing its workers with artificial intelligence. A lot of the company's full-time employees and contractors are apparently using AI tools to accomplish certain tasks in their work.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/duolingo-lays-off-contractors-as-it-starts-relying-more-on-ai-060331602.html?src=rssRobots are invading our homes, in one way or another. There are the rolling discs that are robot vacuum cleaners, and there are a growing number of cute robots that aim to provide entertainment and sometimes even security for the whole family. Well, at least the human members of the family. Some households have “small” a.k.a. furry family members, and these are often left unserved by these modern innovations. Worse, they’re sometimes even put at risk because of how some smart home robots are not designed with pets in mind. Turning the tables around, Ogmen Robotics is revealing at CES 2024 a kind of intelligent home robot that was designed from the ground up to be the “pawfect” playmate, guardian, and caretaker for your canine best friend.
Designer: Ogmen Robotics
At first glance, the Ogmen ORo looks like one of those robots on wheels designed for human use. After all, it has the semblance of a face, or at least eyes, on a tablet-like screen and a somewhat tall frame that loosely resembles a body. They say that looks can be deceiving, and that’s definitely the case here since all of the ORo’s features were carefully selected for the benefit of dogkind primarily, and humans only by association.
At the top of the list of those features is its ability to provide physical, mental, and emotional stimulation through playful activities. It keeps track of the dog’s health and even detects when they’re feeling anxious, at which point ORo will play soothing music to help calm them down. It can even help owners train their dogs through obedience games and virtual training services right at home.
When paired with Orgmen’s food and medicine dispenser, the ORo robot ensures that the pooch gets a balanced diet while also monitoring their eating habits. For humans, ORo offers the benefits of remote connectivity and interaction, allowing owner and pet to bond even when they’re far apart. The robot can also take photos of the bet’s precious moments, allowing you to easily share and boast on social media.
Technology doesn’t need to benefit humans only. In fact, it should be used to benefit all, including the planet as well as our furry friends. Ogmen’s ORo puts those very same technologies that power human smart appliances and devices at the service of the four-legged members of the family. After all, having happy and healthy family members is a good thing for both humans and animals alike.
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CES 2024 may not have officially started yet, but the news is already in full swing. The show’s official dates are January 9-12, with the 8th usually being a day of press conferences ahead of the convention centers opening to attendees. Which makes this… Day 0 of CES 2024.
The announcements on this day usually gives us an idea of what to expect for the rest of the week, and this year we’re already seeing some emerging trends. Samsung and LG both brought us transparent display tech, we saw a slew of pet and kitchen gadgets, while vibrating and massage chairs have taken over the showfloor. Here’s a recap of the biggest news out of CES 2024 so far.
Let’s start with the companies that couldn’t even wait till we were in Vegas to share their news.
On January 3rd, just one day after people returned to work on the New Year, LG announced it would be bringing its new DukeBox smart speaker to the show. The DukeBox features vacuum tube audio placed behind a transparent OLED screen, allowing you to see the vacuum pipes for a retro vibe even as something is on the display. LG also teased a two-legged AI-powered robot, a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor that goes up to 480Hz, its latest 4K OLED TVs with AI processors, Gram laptops with AI features and the CineBeam Qube 4K projector.
We’ve now seen many of these things in person and I’ll tell you more about them in a bit, but other PC and gaming peripheral companies also teased their wares prior to the show. Dell, for example, showed its new XPS 13, 14 and 16 laptops alongside a curved 40-inch 5K monitor that it says offers “five-star comfort.”
Razer also told everyone to be on the lookout for its Blade 16 laptop at CES, because it’ll feature the “world’s first 16-inch 240Hz OLED display.” Samsung also teased its trio of Odyssey-branded anti-glare OLED gaming monitors on January 2nd! The day after New Year’s Day! I wish companies would stop just spilling their own beans ahead of the actual full reveal, because it gets in the way of actual news. And there was plenty.
For instance, Samsung had a whole truckload of new products to share. Yes, it did announce most of its news ahead of CES, but a lot of it was really interesting. The one that stole most of our attention was the world’s first transparent MicroLED screen — that's a screen you can see through even as it displays content, and is completely clear when nothing is on. According to our senior reporter Sam Rutherford, who saw the screens up close last night at Samsung’s First Look showcase, the transparent MicroLED panel was significantly brighter and noticeably clearer than the transparent LCD and OLED screens next to it.
Samsung also launched a new speaker version of its Frame TV, called the Music Frame. This is basically a photo frame that can hold a photograph or art print, while also hiding a solid speaker within. It basically masquerades as home decor, but that doesn’t diminish its capability. It has two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers, and also supports Dolby’s Atmos audio. You can pair it with your existing home audio system or use it standalone.
That’s not all Samsung unveiled. It also showed off Premiere projectors that can turn any surface into an interactive display, as well as its 2024 TV lineup that features plenty of AI.
Samsung’s main rival at CES is LG, since both companies tend to show off an incredibly similar portfolio of products. This year, LG also came to the game with transparency as its secret weapon, showing off the “world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV.” According to Billy Steele, who’s seen this OLED T TV, “some of the visuals are a bit unsettling,” but because the transparent background made it feel like things on display, like a singer, seemed like they were actually in the room. He said image quality was bright and sharp, though, and that it was comparable to Samsung’s MicroLED version. Though LG’s set seems more ready for public consumption, the company did not share pricing information, just that it’ll be ready to sell the OLED T this year.
LG also brought the other products I mentioned earlier and I was able to check out the new Gram Pro laptops in person at the Unveiled showcase last night. They’re impressively thin and light, as usual, and trying to do bicep curls with them is really not a challenge.
While we’re on the topic of laptops, a quick shoutout to HP and Acer. HP brought us the “world’s lightest 14-inch gaming laptop” and a new 4K 240Hz OLED gaming monitor, among other things, while Acer dragged out a massive 57-inch ultrawide monitor that will cost $2,500. It refreshes at 120Hz and has a Dual UHD resolution of 7,680 x 2,160. Acer also refreshed its Swift and Aspire laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors and dedicated Copilot keys for Microsoft’s generative AI shortcuts.
We also saw a slew of kitchen and pet products at Unveiled, including GE’s Profile smart indoor smoker that cooks meats and imparts a woody flavor without actually smoking up your apartment. The Flappie AI cat door, meanwhile, uses AI to see if your cat is coming back to your house with a rodent and automatically lock so it can’t come inside with the gross gift.
There’s so much more that I can barely cover in this single recap article, so I urge you to check out our liveblog, which we update all the time with the latest news. This has only been a collection of news from the day before the day before the show officially opens, and we’ve barely begun. Stick around as we continue to cover the biggest news and trawl through the convention to find you the most noteworthy developments from CES 2024.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2024-day-0-recap-all-the-biggest-news-and-the-most-transparent-tvs-051811355.html?src=rssI don't like talking on the phone in public. Often, I'm gossiping about something I have no business discussing around other people, or I'm talking about some tech product that has yet to be launched. That's why a product like Skyted's Silent Mask entices me. The company launched its Kickstarter campaign today at CES 2024 for its noise-reducing wearable that would allow you to speak freely about confidential information anywhere without worrying about people around you hearing. It's already broken its $8,800 goal many times over, and as of this writing it's raised $54,000, meaning it's a concept that resonated with many people.
I'm skeptical of most Kickstarter projects, given the high likelihood they're vaporware, but the Skyted prototype I checked out here at the show felt solid. It didn't have an elastic head strap for me to put it on my head, so I had to hold it to my face while I tested it, but that aside the mask felt well-made. More importantly, the device actually worked.
I had to temper my expectations slightly, but otherwise I was impressed. The mask isn't made to completely eliminate noise or let you scream your primal rage out in the middle of a restaurant and still remain unheard. Or, if you're an aspiring Broadway singer like me, it won't completely mute your belted out ballads. It will, however, reduce sound by 25 decibels so if you're speaking at a normal volume, the person next to you won't hear what you're saying.
My colleague Mat Smith was kind enough to join me for part of the demo so I could talk to him while putting the mask on and off my face. When I had the mask on, Mat, who stood right next to me, was sometimes unaware I was speaking. I kept my volume at a consistent level, which was slightly louder than I'd normally speak, given the noise around us on the showfloor. Even without Mat's validation, I could tell that what I was saying was noticeably muffled, to the point where if I had to talk about embargoed or confidential information in public, I would feel certain no one can hear the contents of my conversations. Now, I do need to point out that I did struggle to breathe at some points when trying on the Skyted mask, but that probably has more to do with how tightly I was pressing it to my face than the actual fit.
The mask uses technology similar to recent models of jet engines, which use resonators to draw sound away and into chambers. That way, the waves dissipate in a controlled environment instead of being leaked and overheard. There are little holes in the middle of the inside of the mask, and 12mm chambers on either side of the face. A microphone sits inside the mask, and, depending on the model of the device, can connect to your phone or laptop via Bluetooth or a wire. It has audio jacks onboard for input and output, so you can hear both yourself and the other people on your call.
The Skyted is currently available for an early bird starting price of $299 on Kickstarter, though after the introductory period it will cost $100 more. There are quite a few applications for a mask that helps keep your realworld conversations private, like allowing people to take meetings on their commutes. Skyted CEO Stephane Hersen said that talking on the phone is illegal on some trains in Europe, which means passengers on longer routes can't take work calls if they need. With Skyted, they would be able to. Hersen, who says he previously worked as a VP at Airbus, believes there are applications in education as well.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-skyted-mask-makes-you-quiet-enough-to-take-calls-even-in-a-library-043759088.html?src=rssI've always been curious how easy it is to work while you're using one of those under-desk bikes and, thanks to CES 2024, now I know. My jaunt to Las Vegas has taken me to visit LifeSpan, who was showing off its recently released Ampera standing desk bike. Unlike some desk bikes, Ampera is designed to capture your energy and use it to charge your phone via its 15W Qi charging plate. And, if you feel your legs have more power in them, you can re-juice your laptop via the 65W USB-C port.
You don't even need to plug it in, since it operates entirely under its own power, or at least the power it has once you've given it some. The company's official estimates suggest you could get a phone up to 50 percent charge in half an hour. And, if you cycle at speeds over 60 rpm, you'll be able to produce 65 watts per hour, enough to put some decent charge in your laptop or USB battery pack. There's also a companion app which will let you track how much power you've generated, how many calories you've burned and even change the color of the embedded RGB light.
And it's certainly comfortable enough to work from, even in the less-than-ideal conditions of a CES media event. Sitting with my laptop balanced on a tall cocktail table, I was able to maintain a fairly brisk typing speed all the while slowly adding some power to my phone. It's sturdily built and helps you feel planted while you're working out, but mercifully there's also a pair of wheels to help move it around. I could very much imagine having one of these under my standing desk to slide in and out when I don't fancy going out and cycling in the real world.
The Ampera Office Bike is available to buy right now from Amazon, normally priced at $999, it's presently on sale for $799.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lifespans-standing-desk-exercise-bike-can-charge-your-phone-if-youve-got-the-legs-for-it-041730775.html?src=rssCES has increasingly become a grilling show, with companies constantly finding ways to bring more tech to your deck or patio. One company that's added a dash of AI to its spice rack is Seergrills, a UK-based startup comprised of engineers and product developers. Its flagship model, the Perfecta, can cook a one-inch-thick ribeye steak in 90 seconds. Overall, the company says the grill, a unit that looks more like a see-through counter-top oven, cooks foods around 10 times faster than conventional cooking methods.
Inside, dual vertical infrared burners cook both sides simultaneously, which not only expedites the process, but it also eliminates the need to flip. Seergrills says the burners top out at 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit and the unit can even ensure edges are crisp thanks to 360-degree heating. A built-in AI chef takes the desired doneness and sear level into account, calculating the proper cooking time and temp based on the food. Sensors detect the thickness of things like steak and chicken to prevent over or undercooking and the burners automatically move toward and away from foods as needed during the process. The entire smart setup is what Seergrills calls NeuralFire, with a quad-core processor and host of sensors for gathering cooking data.
The vertical orientation nixes any flareups, according to the company, as only smoke and water vapor are exhausted out of the top, with fat and grease collected in a dishwasher-safe drip pan at the bottom. The Perfecta also has oven and rotisserie modes, so you can cook pizza and roasted chicken with ease. There's a Chef Mode too, offering full control over the unit. Plus, the company has designed a grill cart for a full outdoor setup. Due to the power of the burners, the Perfecta runs on gas, with a 12-volt electrical cord for the onboard electronics. Those include a touch screen for entering your desired cooking parameters. Since this is an outdoor grill after all, we weren't able to see it cooking at a tradeshow table. but the company says it will be available to early buyers before the end of the year.
Seergrills is planning to ship the Perfecta in Q4 of 2024 at a price of $3,500. Early adopters can save $1,000 through the end of CES.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-perfecta-grill-uses-ai-to-help-cook-a-steak-in-90-seconds-041030578.html?src=rssWe didn’t have to wait long to get more details about Sony's new mixed reality headset. Just after Sony teased the “spatial content creation” device onstage at CES 2024, we got a fresh look, and a few more details about the headset during Siemens’ keynote in Las Vegas.
The two companies are teaming up on the device as part of a broader vision to enable an “industrial metaverse” where mixed reality plays a central role in businesses’ manufacturing and design processes. It’s still not clear what the device is actually called — Siemens’ press release refers to it only as “Sony’s new spatial content creation system,” — but the company shared that the headset will be available beginning “later in 2024.”
We also got a new look at the headset itself which, according to Siemens, is equipped with “4K OLED microdisplays.” And, as we noted during Sony’s keynote, the device will be enabled with some unusual-looking controllers. It appears there’s one worn on the finger and another, larger controller that looks more like a typical VR controller.
The two companies also showed off a number of potential use cases for the tech. For example, Red Bull Racing’s engineering and design teams will use the headset to visualize the cockpit of a Formula One car (the Red Bull rep onstage said it was still “early days for us at the moment” regarding the tech).
Siemens is pitching the headset as a tool to enable what the company has dubbed the “industrial metaverse,” which CEO Dr. Roland Busch defined as “an immersive space where people and AI can collaborate in real time to solve real world problems.”
The keynote seemed to confirm that the headset is intended to be used in industrial and professional settings rather than consumer ones. As expected, this is not an Apple Vision Pro competitor. But it could still open up some interesting new possibilities for mixed reality that may be more appealing than VR workstations.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-new-spatial-headset-will-power-whatever-the-industrial-metaverse-is-040838964.html?src=rssAlthough the main function of a TV is to show videos, the appliance has long stopped being a utilitarian device in people’s homes. It became a focal point of many social interactions between families and friends, especially because of its imposing presence in the living area. Recently, however, TVs have taken on a different role, trying to disappear into the background or, conversely, proudly stand as an art object to complement the rest of the room’s decor. Some homeowners have even completely thrown out the TV, preferring the frame-less freedom of home projectors but at the cost of convenience and clarity. At CES 2024, LG is unveiling a different take on this problem by presenting a TV that almost literally disappears into the background when you don’t want to see it.
Designer: LG
Transparent displays have long been a hot topic in the tech industry, giving sci-fi vibes that could only be accomplished in Hollywood. Of course, that’s a thing of the past now, with plenty of transparent panels coming out of the woodwork, some still with imperfections that don’t meet expectations, at least expectations based on imagination and fiction. LG, however, believes it’s finally time for those fantasies to become reality and has unveiled the rather ambitious SIGNATURE OLED T, the world’s first wireless transparent 4K OLED TV.
It’s easy enough to make a panel transparent. After, we have transparent glass and plastic for that. Making only specific parts completely opaque to show images, however, is the challenge that transparent TVs face. That’s why it’s mind-blowing to see the LG SIGNATURE OLED T in action, watching the transparent surface get covered up in places with vibrant pictures and fluid animations, completely obscuring what’s behind those parts while still retaining the transparency in areas where there’s no image being displayed.
This isn’t just an incredible feat of engineering, because that design has significant implications on how you design your room and where you place the TV. You no longer have to worry about putting a large black rectangle in the middle of your wall, nor are you prevented from putting the TV right in the middle of the room thanks to LG’s cutting-edge wireless transmission technology. Once you’re done watching, the TV can literally blend with the background, showing off your wall’s original design or letting you see the rest of the room’s decor. Alternatively, you can also use the SIGNATURE OLED T to display breathtaking images and act like a magical art canvas or gigantic photo frame.
The LG SIGNATURE OLED T isn’t just for show either, equipped with the brand’s latest and greatest hardware for 4K OLED TVs. That includes a new α (Alpha) 11 AI processor that works faster and better to enhance image quality in real-time. Whether it stands invisibly in the middle of the room or hangs silently on a wall, the LG SIGNATURE OLED T wireless transparent 4K TV gives you the freedom to enjoy life’s pleasures while keeping your beautiful space clean and free of big black screens.
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