The Shine 2.0 is a compact wind turbine for your next camping trip

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Amy Skorheim

As power gets more dicey, personal energy generation only gets more appealing. Shine’s compact turbine isn’t going to power your house any time soon (though Rachel Carr, the company’s co-founder told me they have plans in that direction) but it can suck up the energy required to refill a smartphone in as little as 17 minutes. Of course, what it can generate depends on wind speed. That same charge could take as long as 11 hours if there’s only a slight breeze.

That power curve, and its ability to operate at night, sets the turbine apart from solar panels. Of course, on a completely still day, the Shine as inert as a becalmed sailing ship but if the wind picks up even as little as a breeze, it gets to work making power. The turbine even automatically pivots on the included stand to face into the wind.

The Shine 2.0 looks like a thin space football and has a screw-off cap that reveals a hollow compartment for the stand and tie downs. The cap then doubles as a key to unlock the blades. It all weighs just three pounds, which is impressively light considering it also houses a 12,000mAh battery that can output up to 75 watts. This is the second version of the turbine and updates include a USB-C port instead of USB-A, as well as app connectivity.

The company claims you can set the entire thing up in around two minutes. I watched the Carr take the turbine from fully closed to unfurled and ready for the stand in about that long. Unfortunately, there was no wind rushing through the CES show floor so I couldn’t see it spin, but Carr was kind enough to spin it for me.

Possibly the most exciting part is Shine’s plan for more expansive power generation. Shine 3.0, which the company is working on now, will be a 100 to 300 watt system and grid-tied turbines are on the wish list.

Pre orders are now open for the Shine 2.0 through Indiegogo for $399 and units should begin shipping this spring.

Update, January 7 2026, 4:00PM ET: This story has been updated to correct the wattage output and include the co-founder’s name.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-shine-20-is-a-compact-wind-turbine-for-your-next-camping-trip-191000940.html?src=rss

ASUS and XREAL teamed up at CES to make gaming smartglasses with two important upgrades

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Sam Rutherford

The latest generation of smartglasses can create huge virtual screens without the need to lug around giant monitors are a real boon to frequent travelers. However, their specs aren’t often tailored to the needs of gamers, so at CES 2026, ASUS and XREAL partnered to make a pair with two very important features you don’t normally get from rivals.

The new ROG XREAL R1 AR glasses are based on the existing XREAL One Pro, so naturally they share a lot of the same components and specs including dual micro-OLED displays with a per-eye resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, three degrees of freedom (natively), 700-nit peak brightness, 57-degree FOV and built-in speakers tuned by Bose. However, the big difference on the R1s is that instead of maxing out with a 120Hz refresh rate, ASUS and XREAL’s collab goes all the way up to 240Hz. That’s a pretty nice bump, especially for people with older hardware or anyone who might not have access to a high refresh rate display or just doesn’t want to lower their standards while traveling.

The ROG XREAL R1 AR smartglasses deliver 1,920 x 1,080 resolution to each eye with a 240Hz refresh rate and 57-degree FOV.

The other big addition is the R1’s included ROG Control Dock, which from what I’ve seen is slightly better suited for home use. It’s designed to be a simple hub with two HDMI 2.0 jacks, one DisplayPort 1.4 connector and a couple of USB-C slots (one is for power), so you can quickly switch between multiple systems like your desktop and console with a single touch. That said, depending on the situation you might not even need the dock at all because the R1s can also be connected to compatible PCs or gaming handhelds like the ROG Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally X (see the synergy there?) directly via USB-C.

When I got to try them out at CES, the R1s delivered a very easy to use and relatively streamlined kit. At 91 grams, they are barely heavier than the original XREAL One Pro (87g) so they don’t feel too weighty or cumbersome. I also really like the inclusion of electrochromic lenses, which allow you to change the tint of the glasses with the touch of a button. This lets you adjust how much or little light you want to come in through the front to best suit your environment. And thanks to support for three DOF, you have the ability to pin your virtual screen in one location or let it follow you around.

Of course, ASUS and XREAL couldn't resist putting RGB lighting on the ROG XREAL R1 AR smartglasses.

Now it is important to remember that in order to get 240Hz on the smartglasses, you need hardware capable of pushing the kind of performance. So depending on the title, when the R1s are connected to something like a gaming handheld, you might not be able to get there. Luckily, I had the chance to use the specs when connected to a PC as well, which let me really appreciate the smoothness you get from faster refresh rates. General image quality was also quite good thanks to the glasses’ 1080p resolution, so I had no trouble reading text or discerning small UI elements.

The ROG Control dock makes it easy to connect multiple devices to the ROG XREAL R1 AR smartglasses, but it may be a bit too bulky to pull out in tight situations like on a plane.

My one small gripe is that I kind of wish its 57-degree FOV was a tiny bit bigger, but that’s more of a limitation of current optical technology as there aren't a ton of similarly sized specs that can go much higher (at least not yet). That said, even with its current FOV, you can still create up to a 171-inch virtual screen at four meters away, which is massively bigger than any portable screen you might entertain carrying around.

Unfortunately, ASUS and XREAL haven’t announced official pricing or a release date for the R1s yet, but hopefully they won’t cost too much more than the XREAL One Pro, which are currently going for $649.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/asus-and-xreal-teamed-up-at-ces-to-make-gaming-smartglasses-with-two-important-upgrades-190500897.html?src=rss

Brunswick’s latest boats at CES 2026 feature edge AI, self-docking capabilities and solar power

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Tim Stevens

If you've never docked a boat before, consider yourself lucky. There are plenty of popular TikTok channels devoted to shaming those who bring their craft back home clumsily or berth them with something less than finesse. Tricky crosswinds, unpredictable surf and even the jeers of passersby can make it a stressful experience at the best of times.

Brunswick, which owns more than 50 water-borne brands like Sea Ray, Bayliner and Mercury Marine, has a solution. It's demonstrating some self-docking tech called AutoCaptain at CES 2026 that makes this process a cinch, plus a fleet of other innovations that, in some cases, leave some of the smart cars on the show floor looking a bit remedial.

One of those technologies is edge AI. While in-car AI is an increasingly common feature, those agents are exclusively running remotely, relying on cellular connections to offload all the processing power required to drive a large language model.

Sadly, that won't always work on a boat.

"One of the things about AI for boats is you don't have connectivity, so there is some edge compute required," David M. Foulkes told me. He's chairman and CEO of Brunswick.

Many of the company's boats do have active cellular connectivity, but head far enough offshore, and you're on your own unless you're packing Starlink or the like.

To solve that, Brunswick is running advanced SoCs from NVIDIA and other providers that enable running a limited agent offline — on the edge, as it were. When offline, Misty, as the on-boat AI assistant is called, won't be able to make dinner reservations or craft a 3,000-word treatise on the history of America's relationship with Greenland. It can, however, help with navigation or boat settings.

"It'll help answer the kind of questions that you might need to take out a manual to understand and maybe act as an assistant to make your boating a bit smoother," Foulkes said.

When the company's smart boats are connected, they offer some degree of remote control. No, you can't drive it around the docks and freak out your pier-mates, but you can check on the boat remotely to make sure nobody's trying to stow away. You can even precondition it to get the cuddy cabin nice and cool before you come aboard.

Power for that, and a variety of other onboard systems, can come from an integrated power system called Fathom, which has a lot in common with modern smart home tech. Solar panels on the roof (nicely disguised beneath a black mesh) collect power to recharge an onboard battery, with various sizes upwards of 30 kWh depending on the boat's size. That battery can also be recharged by the onboard motors, like the three 425-horsepower V10s the Sea Ray SLX 360 drydocked at the Brunswick booth at CES 2026.

The juice in that battery can then be used to power a variety of onboard systems, even charging a pair of electric hydrofoils, which another of the company's boats, called the Navan C30, had strapped on the roof.

You'll also find cameras on the roof of these boats. That's how the AutoCaptain feature works, numerous fisheye lenses scanning the water in every direction. Approach a pier and the AI assistant asks if you'd like some help docking. Just tap the button on the touchscreen, then kick back and let Misty do the driving.

Between automated docking, the in-cabin AI assistant and the smart power distribution system, Brunswick's boats offered some impressive tech. But then they'd have to, given the cost. The Sea Ray SLX 360 Outboard has a starting price of $586,000. The smaller Navan C30 is a rather more attainable, but still extreme, at $227,500. That’s still probably cheaper than hiring a real captain, though.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/brunswicks-latest-boats-at-ces-2026-feature-edge-ai-self-docking-capabilities-and-solar-power-185500213.html?src=rss

Niko is a robotic lift for people with limited mobility that doesn’t require a caregiver’s help

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Cheyenne MacDonald

A startup called ReviMo has developed a robotic system that provides a way for people with limited mobility to lift and transfer themselves — like from a bed to a wheelchair, or to the toilet — without the assistance of a caregiver. ReviMo's Niko has two sets of arms: one that forms a "scooping seat" that slides underneath the person to lift them up, and the other encircling their torso and providing a backrest. It can be operated both by remote and using the controls on its dashboard. Niko in its current iteration can carry up to 250 pounds, but the team says it's working on a version that can support up to 400 pounds.

In addition to aiding in transfers, Niko can lift the rider to a standing level and offers retractable handlebars for support. It also has the potential to be a big help to caregivers, who in many cases assist with multiple transfers every day. Even in a situation where a person isn't able to operate it by themselves, Niko facilitates a transfer that requires much less physical exertion than today's common methods, like sling-based mechanical lift systems. At CES, founder Aleksandr Malaschenko gave a demonstration of its lifting capabilities, using it to scoop him up from a chair and bring him out into the aisle.

Niko is designed to work with most wheelchairs and be compact enough to navigate small bathrooms. It can position a person right above a toilet, and there are disposable seat covers. The goal is to help people with limited ability achieve more independence.

It is the kind of device that, if it delivers on its promises, could be a game-changer for people with limited mobility and paralysis, and their loved ones. My dad was diagnosed with ALS when I was a kid, and I learned how to operate a Hoyer lift by the time I was in middle school. This strikes me as something we would have really appreciated having around. Malaschenko has said the inspiration for the robotic system came from being a caregiver for his grandfather following a stroke.

Niko will cost about $15,000, though the team said it's working to get it covered by insurance. The company is also offering lower prices for customers who sign up for one of its premium waitlists, and there are options to rent it for those who would only need a lift and transfer system temporarily.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/niko-is-a-robotic-lift-for-people-with-limited-mobility-that-doesnt-require-a-caregivers-help-184500703.html?src=rss

Ubisoft is shutting down a studio 16 days after it unionized

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Will Shanklin

Ubisoft is closing a Canadian studio just over two weeks after it unionized. In a dizzying claim, the company told GamesIndustry.biz that the closure of Ubisoft Halifax was part of "company-wide actions to streamline operations" and unrelated to the unionization.

On December 22, Ubisoft Halifax announced that 61 of its workers had joined the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada. At the time, the studio's lead programmer, Jon Huffman, told CTV News that 73.8 percent of employees voted in favor of unionizing. Ominously in hindsight, he had described the decision as a "huge relief." The studio was working on mobile titles within the Rainbow Six and Assassin's Creed franchises.

Ubisoft's official statement framed the shutdown as part of a broader pattern of financial belt-tightening. "Over the past 24 months, Ubisoft has undertaken company-wide actions to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs," the company said. "As part of this, Ubisoft has made the difficult decision to close its Halifax studio. 71 positions will be affected. We are committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance."

In October, Ubisoft announced that Massive Entertainment, developer of The Division series, Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, was offering buyouts to some employees. The company framed that move as a "voluntary career transition program." Over the past few years, Ubisoft has closed offices and laid off workers in San Francisco, London and Leamington. In 2024, the company's headcount dropped by eight percent.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-is-shutting-down-a-studio-16-days-after-it-unionized-183000983.html?src=rss

LG’s CLOiD robot can fold laundry and serve food… very slowly

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Karissa Bell

When LG announced that it would demo a laundry-folding, chore-doing robot at CES 2026, I was immediately intrigued. For years, I've wandered the Las Vegas Convention Center halls and wondered when someone might create a robot that can tackle the mundane but useful tasks I despise like folding laundry. With CLOiD (pronounced like "Floyd"), LG has proven that this is theoretically possible, but probably not likely to happen any time soon.

I went to the company's CES booth to watch its demonstration of CLOiD's abilities, which also include serving food, fetching objects and fitness coaching. During a very carefully choreographed 15-minute presentation, I watched CLOiD grab a carton of milk out of the fridge, put a croissant in an oven, sort and fold some laundry and grab a set of keys off a couch and hand them to the human presenter.

Throughout the demonstration, LG showed off how its own appliances can play along with the robot. When it rolled over to the fridge, the door automatically opened, as did the oven. When the LG-branded robot vacuum needed to move around a hamper, CLOiD helpfully cleared the path. But the robot also moved very slowly, which you can see in the highlight video below.

The appliance maker is selling the setup as a part of its vision for a "zero labor home" where its appliances and, I guess, robotics technology can come together to take care of all your chores and household upkeep. Maybe I'm jaded from a decade of watching CES vaporware, but I left the slick demo thinking the concept is unlikely to amount to much anytime soon.

On one hand, it is exciting to see robots competently performing tasks that would actually be useful to most people. But this technology is still far from accessible. Even LG isn't making any firm commitments about CLOiD's future as anything more than a CES demo. The company has instead said that CLOiD is a signal of its interest in creating "home robots with practical functions" and "robotized appliances," like fridges with doors that can open automatically.

That may be a more reasonable target for the company (and yet another way for LG to sell us more appliance upgrades). But it's still pretty far from anything approaching the fantasy of a "zero labor home."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/lgs-cloid-robot-can-fold-laundry-and-serve-food-very-slowly-181902306.html?src=rss

These robotic sneakers gave me a surprising boost at CES

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Karissa Bell

I'll admit that I've always kind of taken walking for granted. Other than a knee injury more than a decade ago, my ability to walk long distances has largely been limited only by my own choices. That's not the case for everyone, though. And robotics company Dephy has created a pair of robotic sneakers, called the Sidekick, that are meant to help people who want to walk more than their bodies might otherwise be capable of.

The system consists of two parts: an ankle-worn exoskeleton and a special pair of sneakers that attach to it. The exoskeleton hooks onto the back of the shoe and is secured with a strap around your calf. The battery powered device is equipped with sensors that can detect and adapt to the wearer's gait in order to deliver an extra "boost" with each step.

The whole setup is pricey, at $4,500, but Dephy is betting that people who have "personal range anxiety" might be willing to pay for the extra confidence the Sidekick can provide. "This is a device that's kind of like [having] an extra calf muscle," Dephy CEO Luke Mooney told me.

I was able to take the Sidekick for a spin around the CES showfloor and it was a truly surprising sensation. The best way I can describe walking with the Sidekick powered on is that with every step forward there's a noticeable upward push from under your heel. It wasn't enough to throw me off balance, but it did feel a bit strange.

The Sidekick has adjustable power levels based on how much help you might need. At the highest level, it definitely felt unnecessarily pushy. The lower levels were still noticeable but felt less disruptive. I just felt… bouncy. Later, when Mooney turned off the power entirely, I noticed that my feet felt weirdly heavy in a way they hadn't just a few minutes before.

Mooney was quick to tell me that I'm not Dephy's target demographic. "A lot of times people who are fit, or like athletes, actually struggle to adopt to the technology because their body's so in tune with how they move," he said. "Whereas folks who are not as physically active and fit, their body's ready to accept help."

The company's technology will be used in products more focused on athletic performance, however. Dephy has partnered with Nike on its upcoming robotic sneaker currently known as Project Amplify. Mooney declined to share details on the collaboration, but the shoemaker has claimed that some early testers have been able to improve their mile times by two minutes.

I tried the Sidekick early in the day. Several hours later, though, when I was walking between the Las Vegas Conventions Center halls for the third or fourth time, I started thinking about those robotic sneakers again. I was getting close to 10,000 steps and hadn't sat down for hours. My feet were sore. I remembered that strange, bouncy boost and thought it sounded kind of nice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/these-robotic-sneakers-gave-me-a-surprising-boost-at-ces-174500005.html?src=rss

Spotify now lets you share what you’re listening to in real time via chat

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Lawrence Bonk

Spotify is rolling out more social features to keep people on the platform. It's adding a new tool to its messaging platform that lets users see what their friends and family members are listening to in real time.

Once activated, a user's listening activity will be displayed at the top of the chat. The other person in the chat can tap the bar to play a particular track, save it or react with an emoji. People can also, of course, comment directly to either praise or rag on the song selection.

There's another little addition to Spotify's messaging system. Users will now be able to invite chat participants to start a Jam, which is the app's collaborative listening feature. Premium users will find a "Jam" button in the top right corner, which sends an invite. This lets two people add tracks to a shared queue and listen together. Free users can join one of these sessions, but cannot initiate.

It's worth noting that the messaging platform is currently just a one-on-one affair. There's no option for a group chat, so users won't be able to spy on multiple people simultaneously. These tools are rolling out gradually for iOS and Android right now, but won't be broadly available for a few weeks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-now-lets-you-share-what-youre-listening-to-in-real-time-via-chat-173749120.html?src=rss

IKEA’s first CES appearance included a $6 Matter smart bulb

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Amy Skorheim

I know IKEA is all about small, efficient spaces, but their meeting room inside the Venetian during the company’s first-ever CES was the same size as my (not large) living room. Plenty of people were as excited as I was to see what the Swedish designers brought with them to the show and the room was thick with humans. A bowl full of BELÖNING bars helped ease my mounting claustrophobia and I was able to check out the new smart home lineup.

Like most things IKEA, the 21 Matter-compatible smart home devices are simple, sleek and silly affordable. They include a $6 smart bulb, an $8 smart plug, a $6 smart remote and a slew of home sensors. A slightly pricier ($15) globe bulb is a direct answer to my longstanding wish for more attractive (but affordable) smart bulbs.

One of my favorite of the new devices was the BILREA remote control. It’s a smooth, riverstone-like object that either comes with two simple buttons or a button and a scroll wheel. It pairs up with and controls IKEA’s smart devices and lamps but what I really love is the magnetic mount integrated into its body. You can either attach the remote to any ferrous surface or use the small metal chip and included adhesive to give the remote a home on a wall or elsewhere. Why have so few other companies come up with a way to neatly and simply organize these tiny yet crucial controllers?

The whole suite is Matter-compatible and, as such, it needs a hub to function. IKEA has its own, DIRIGERA, but, true to the Matter principles of interoperability, you can also use a Matter hub you already own. The new line of smart home devices should start showing up in IKEA stores and on its website sometime in January.

Lamps and speakers from the TEKLAN smart home collection.

Apart from the egalitarian and utilitarian items, the Swedish brand also brought a new collection of products, TEKLAN, designed in collaboration with designer and photographer Tekla Evelina Severin. These include circular Bluetooth speakers in color-saturated patterns and solids ranging from eight to 18 inches. There are also two new speaker lamps, called KULGLASS, that have glass lampshades inspired by soft serve ice cream. Those devices went on sale on January 1 this year.

Finally, I made my way (three feet) over to the curious, donut-shaped lamps. This is the smart version of the store’s popular VARMBLIXT lamp that debuted three years ago. It’s controllable through the app or the remote I mentioned above and gently cycles through a rainbow of color patterns, shifting slowly from shade to shade. I got lost for a while watching it morph from white to pink to red and back again. For a moment I forgot I was wedged into a room too full of people. I figured those around me probably wanted a look at the lamp for themselves, so I took a longing glance back at the BELÖNING bowl and squeezed out of the room.

The popular VARMBLIXT donut lamp is now smart.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ikeas-first-ces-appearance-included-a-6-matter-smart-bulb-172623474.html?src=rss

Samsung says RAM costs will likely lead to price hikes soon

Posted on 07/01/2026 by Will Shanklin

Samsung says AI data center-fueled RAM scarcity could raise the company's prices. Wonjin Lee, Samsung's global marketing leader, sounded the alarm in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday at CES 2026. As recently as early December, Samsung told Reuters that it was monitoring the market but wouldn't comment on pricing. So, the change of tune can be seen as a deliberate signal to soften the ground ahead of an official announcement.

"There's going to be issues around semiconductor supplies, and it's going to affect everyone," Samsung’s Lee said. "Prices are going up even as we speak. Obviously, we don't want to convey that burden to the consumers, but we're going to be at a point where we have to actually consider repricing our products."

Marketing image of Samsung HBM RAM against a black background — Samsung appears to be softening the ground ahead of an official announcement.

The global RAM shortage is the result of AI data centers gobbling up high-bandwidth memory. Memory manufacturers have shifted their output priorities to meet that demand, leading to a snowball effect where even the low-bandwidth RAM found in automobiles is affected.

"AI workloads are built around memory," Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO of Greyhound Research, told NPR in late December. "AI has changed the nature of demand itself. Training and inference systems require large, persistent memory footprints, extreme bandwidth, and tight proximity to compute. You cannot dial this down without breaking performance."

It's been more than three years since ChatGPT launched and kicked off the AI craze. During that time, companies have hyped chatbots and other generative AI tools as a technology that will take us to the promised land, making life easier as machine learning automates our daily lives. It isn't yet clear if an AI bubble is set to burst, but some financial forecasters have sounded the alarm. Regardless, it's hard to see how consumers and workers are getting anything but the short end of the stick so far.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/samsung-says-ram-costs-will-likely-lead-to-price-hikes-soon-170653524.html?src=rss

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