Founded by Bill Gates, Heliogen is a startup company that’s been working on a new solar technology under the radar — until now.
The company’s long-term goal is to provide around the clock low-cost renewable energy that can replace C02-heavy energy needs in most major industries.
SAVE $270: As of Jan. 5, the ECOVACS Deebot N8 Pro+ Robot Vacuum and Mop is on sale at Amazon for just $559.99. When you add an on-screen coupon, you’ll save an additional $30, which means you’ll pay $529.99. That’s a discount of over 33% from its original price of $799.99.
Top-of-the-line robot vacuum and mop combos can cost a lot, but they can also be good investments long-term. Think of the money you spend replacing stained carpets and the time you spend mindlessly running a handheld vacuum over ever corner of the house, let alone the cost of a regular cordless stick vacuum.
The ECOVACS Deebot N8 Pro+ is self-emptying and features 2,600Pa suction, LiDAR navigation, surface detection, multi-floor mapping, and personalized cleaning recommendations and plans. This means, basically, that you can let the Deebot N8 Pro+ do its own thing for 30 days at a time. (Its self-emptying station holds a month’s worth of debris without needing to be taken out.)
TrueDetect technology provides obstacle detection and avoidance, so even though seeing a robot vacuum bump over and over again into things can be cute or hilarious, you won’t have to worry about the Deebot N8 Pro+ frequently needing rescue at inopportune times. It also knows where it’s going: TrueMapping tech uses the aforementioned LiDAR to generate a map of your home, which it uses to calculate the most efficient path to clean.
The vacuum will also detect the type of surface it’s running on and automatically change its approach for the most effective clean. It can run for 110 minutes before returning to its charging dock to juice up and get back to where it left off. Plus, it has all the other standard trappings of nicer robot vacuums/mops: smart home integration, custom boundaries, cleaning reports, etc.
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CES TV launches are known mostly for huge screens and crazy graphics. A new feature LG announced this year is a little less flashy, but potentially just as gimmicky.
LG shared Monday that owners of its 2021-2022 TVs will be able to download a telehealth app called Independa. Billed as a “health hub,” the app is geared toward seniors with an interface it claims is easy to use and understand. It even comes with streaming service inside the hub featuring shows it claims older adults “will know and love.”
Beyond letting your grandma watch re-runs of The Andy Griffith Show, Independa LG users can make and take video calls within the app, and will get notified of calls or messages even when they’re using the TV as just a TV.
It also has the ability to connect the users to telehealth providers all in one place. This sounds potentially useful: A big headache with telehealth is that every doctor seems to have a different app or system that is hard to keep track of even if you don’t qualify for the early bird special.
However, the telehealth offerings are extremely limited. Independa users can find access to “Dentulu (online dental consultation), Capital Rx (discount pharmacy platform), Coverdell (dental insurance benefits), WebMD (medical grade educational videos) and Sprio100 (fitness programs for seniors), among others.” The “others,” according to the partner section on the company’s website, include an urgent care network called MediOrbis, the streaming service mentioned above called SaltboxTV, and a wellness video channel called HealthClips.
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Other than making or taking a call with a doctor as you would anyone else in the Independa app, it does not appear that there’s any platform someone could use to actually connect with their doctor. Unless your doctor’s office or elder care provider has a specific contract with Independa — which, judging by Independa’s “for business” page advertising the ability to “create top line growth, bottom line efficiencies, and brand benefits”, Independa and LG are probably really hoping those providers will get. Dontcha just love the healthcare industry?
It’s refreshing to see a technology service specifically intended for seniors to use. Often, companies like Apple or Amazon advertise older people using their Apple Watches to monitor health or tablets to communicate with loved ones and doctors — but personally, neither of my grandmas can make heads or tails of these devices. Experts in elder care say there are many hurdles older people have to overcome to use most tech, including things as simple as remembering to charge a device. So a TV could potentially be a good solution (even if one of my grandmas is skeptical of her smart TV, and even Netflix).
Unfortunately, it looks like Independa and LG’s options are far too limited to be useful to most people right now. Telehealth might not sound like the sexiest gimmick, but for now, this feature is more marketing than substance.
OnePlus’ next flagship is almost here, and we have the pictures and specs to prove it.
A day after showing off some official images of the OnePlus 10 Pro, the company followed up with a list of specifications. We don’t have every single detail yet – the company will share more about the phone and its camera soon – but we pretty much know what we’re dealing with here.
The OnePlus 10 Pro has a 120Hz AMOLED display, it’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 1 chip, and it has a triple, Hasselblad-branded camera on the back. The rear camera setup comes with a 50/48/8-megapixel resolution and dual optical image stabilization; on the front we have a 32-megapixel selfie camera.
Other details of note include a 5,000mAh battery with 80W super-fast wired charging and 50W wireless charging, as well as reverse wireless charging. The phone has dual stereo speakers and support for both VoLTE and VoWiFi.
As OnePlus itself puts it, the phone is more than a list of specs, so we’re eager to find out more about those cameras. But for now, it appears that the OnePlus 10 Pro will be a worthy successor to the company’s flagship line. More is coming in a few days, so stay tuned.
After a four-month trial, and seven days of jury deliberations, Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy Monday. Prosecutors were partially successful in their bid to prove that the former Theranos CEO intentionally misled investors and patients about the viability of her blood testing business. The San Jose-based jury decided that she did at least bilk some investors, couldn’t decide about others, and found Holmes not guilty of defrauding patients. She still faces up to 20 years in prison.
But while the judge’s sentencing remains to be seen, the verdict is in on the trial itself: It was the kind of courtroom spectacle you can only imagine in the 21st century. Given the numerous tellings of Holmes’ story — in book, podcast, documentary, and soon-to-be feature film form — a seat in the gallery became the hottest tickets in Silicon Valley. Tickets which Holmes’ wealthy friends hired TaskRabbits to secure.
The trial attracted fans, critics, even performance artists. The jury and judge faced mountains of online evidence printed out in massive binders, baffling moments of drama, and reporters who were apparently typing too loudly. Here are seven of its strangest aspects, starting with the kind you’d associate with a rock concert or Black Friday sale:
Getting a seat to one of the biggest Silicon Valley trials ever involved a lot of waiting around in the dark, according to to harrowing and hilarious reports like those from New York Times reporter Erin Woo on what covering the Holmes trial was like. Woo woke up every day at 3 a.m. to snag a chance at a good spot, while avoiding the overflow room. Those lines diminished over time, but were back with a vengeance when Holmes herself took the stand in November.
At the beginning of the trial, multiple reporters clocked a strange phenomenon: Groups of blonde women in plain black suits, apparently Elizabeth Holmes lookalikes. When asked by Law360 reporter Dorothy Atkins what the deal was with the messy buns and business ensembles, the women responded: “we’re fans.”
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Other Holmes fans went to some Silicon Valley-esque lengths to attend the trial. Woo noticed she was waiting in line alongside people hired via TaskRabbit. The TaskRabbits were apparently holding spots for Holmes’ friends.
Members of the press were mostly successful in getting those courtroom seats, and that meant a lot of open laptops during the trial. According to Woo, the judge reprimanded the gallery from typing too loudly — apparently at the request of a juror who was having a hard time hearing over them.
Reporters also spotted what appeared to be vendors selling black turtlenecks, Holmes’ signature look when she was Theranos CEO. Except they weren’t actually selling the clothes, according to Woo. The whole scene was a very Bay Area-style piece of performance art. Signifying what? Nobody knows for sure.
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In building their case against Holmes, prosecutors referred to 20 million pages and four terabytes’ worth of video evidence. Wading through it all is reportedly part of why it took years for the government to build its case. The emails that flashed up on courtroom screens were so detailed, and their text so tiny, some reporters brought binoculars in order to view them.
Ultimately, prosecutors entered 931 exhibits into evidence, and handling it all resulted in what Verge reporter Elizabeth Lopatto termed “binder confusion.” Lopatto frequently tweeted about the lulls in court when the prosecution had to find the right binder with the right piece of evidence to show witnesses on the stand.
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Deep voice, black turtleneck, singular confidence: That was the Elizabeth Holmes the world saw in the story of Theranos. But the Holmes in court was someone else entirely. As Lopatto pointed out, Holmes presented herself in court surrounded by friends and family. There was nothing weirdly notable about her voice, which some claim she intentionally lowered during the Theranos years. Holmes cried on the stand, and claimed she did not have control or knowledge about the goings on at Theranos.
On a surprising last day of her testimony, Holmes said she had been in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship with former Theranos president and COO Sunny Balwani. All in all, the picture of Holmes the criminal defendant was entirely different from Holmes the wunderkind CEO. And that, in the end, might have been the strangest courtroom spectacle of all.
BMW revealed its first electric SUV, the iX, earlier this year to much fanfare after taking a concept car and turning it into the real thing.
Now BMW is upping the ante with a performance version of the iX. The iX M60 model introduced at the CES technology conference on Tuesday will still boast the iX’s dual motors and range of over 300 miles, but it’ll go a lot faster. Its max speed will now be 155 mph, compared to the iX’s 125 mph peak.
BMW’s Johann Kistler called it “BMW’s most powerful battery EV” during a press briefing on the car — with the term “battery EV” presumably distinguishing it from BMW’s line of hybrid and hydrogen-powered cars. The M in any BMW model is the brand’s sports car designation, meaning the iX M60 is equipped with features like a sports quality suspension in addition to being able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, shaving off a second from its predecessor’s record. In the briefing, Kistler practically purred when he called the iX M60 “top of the line.”
Before the iX was unveiled last year, BMW’s EV line only included the electric compact sedan, the i3. Now it’s ramping up its EV clout with the i4 sports car and different versions of the iX. More EVs are planned for BMW in the next few years, including an all-electric 7 Series.
And yet, the iX M60 (like the iX before it) has the look of a classic BMW SUV, with the recognizable kidney grille that the German brand is known for. The M series EV will still have the self-healing surface that removes all dents, scratches, and nicks with enough heat (just some California sunshine is sufficient, BMW reps said).
The first electric performance BMW is supposed to arrive later this year. The iX is priced at $84,195 but BMW still hasn’t announced what it will cost to get the extra oomph of the M60.
Headphones are great for keeping yourself entertained without bothering anyone around you, but they aren’t perfect. Earbuds can be uncomfortable for long listening sessions and over-ear headphones can mess with your hair.
What if you could listen to music privately without any headphones at all?
That’s the question the Noveto N1 wants to answer. One of the most intriguing audio products to surface at CES 2022, the Israeli tech company’s device looks like a little soundbar that you place on a desk in front of you. Unlike a soundbar, however, it’s not meant to fill a room with audio. Instead, Noveto claims it can transmit ultrasound through the air and place it near your ears, giving you a private listening experience that shouldn’t bother your coworkers or roommates.
The N1 is supposed to launch sometime in 2022, but no price was given at CES.
Noveto also says it has face-tracking tech which allows the sound to adjust to your head movements, theoretically providing three-dimensional audio. It can connect to devices via WiFi, Bluetooth, USB-C, or a 3.5mm headphone jack, so pretty much anything you use to listen to music should be compatible with the N1.
There’s one gigantic caveat to this: Mashable didn’t send anyone to CES this year due to the whole pandemic thing, so none of us have been able to test the N1. Beaming audio directly from a speaker to someone’s ears without annoying other people nearby is a lofty, futuristic promise that we haven’t really seen take off in mainstream audio hardware. If it works, it could be incredible. But if there are even tiny issues, like if the audio takes too long to adjust when you move your head or if the private listening isn’t so private after all, the entire experience could be disappointing or even outright useless.
But hey, if you’re sick of headphones, just know that someone out there is trying to do something about it.
If your dog could text you, what would they say?
This week coinciding with CES, FluentPet, the maker of those viral talking buttons all over TikTok, launched FluentPet Connect, a new version of its button system, now equipped with WiFi and data capturing. The FluentPet Connect app automatically captures when a dog presses a button allowing owners to track their progress and get messages in real time.
Teaching your dog to use the FluentPet system — hexagonal tiles or “HexTiles” with buttons that are customized to say different words like “outside” or “play” when pressed — is all about patience, repetition, and close observation, according to the experiences of many in the community forum started by FluentPet. Now users don’t have to worry about missing a hard-earned milestone when they’re out.
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“When people are in another room, they can get a text message from their dog [saying], ‘I really need to go outside right now’ you probably want to come get me,” said Leo Trottier, CEO of FluentPet.
The new version was influenced by a motivation to capture what some claim are remarkable discoveries happening as dogs learn to communicate verbally with their humans. An example of these animals using sound buttons to communicate with their humans was told to Trottier by Alexis Devine, who has 7.2 million followers on TikTok for her videos of Bunny, the famous talking dog. “Alexis was totally perplexed because Bunny was saying ‘sound walk’ or ‘sound tug.'” But Bunny didn’t seem interested in playing tug o’ war or going for a walk, but kept insistently pressing the buttons for “sound” and “walk” and “sound” and “tug.”
“It occurred to us, well maybe ‘sound walk’ is Bunny pressing buttons and ‘sound tug’ is kind of like a conversation between Alexis and Bunny.”
Alexis Devine and Bunny are part of a 5,000-person study that gathers and reports data to FluentPet on a biweekly basis. But now, if users of the new version choose to opt in, their data can be automatically gathered and reported. Inspired by Christina Hunger’s work, the goal of the study is to research how dogs (and cats) can learn to express themselves using such devices.
Does this mean humans finally discovered a way to talk to animals? “I mean, people should be skeptical. Alexis [Devine] is skeptical. I’m skeptical. There are lots of times when Bunny does things that don’t make any sense at all,” said Trottier.
With any experiment, however, that’s to be expected, says Trottier. Just watching one of Bunny’s videos shows the deliberate intent behind each communication. He’s not just pushing buttons at random.
But not everyone is convinced. “You stand a much better chance of teaching people to speak dog than you do to teach dogs to speak human,” Dr. Clive Wynne, founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University Wynne told Mashable in November.
In addition to WiFi connectivity, the new FluentPet Connect tiles also have improved sound quality, are more durable, and are more customizable for fitting the individual needs of each dog.
The FluentPet Connect Base HexTile ($69.95) and Expansion HexTiles ($49.95) can be reserved here and will begin shipping Spring 2022.
NASA achieved a groundbreaking feat Tuesday when it finished unfurling the enormous sunshield protecting the James Webb telescope from light and heat in space.
But if you’re looking for photographic evidence of this or any other Webb deployment, you’ll come up short.
That’s because there are no surveillance cameras mounted anywhere on the observatory, which has the world’s largest and most powerful telescope ever built. And you’ll be photo-starved from Webb for half of 2022: The first photos of space from the telescope aren’t expected until June.
“Nobody would love to see Webb doing its thing right now (more) than us,” said Keith Parrish, NASA’s commissioning manager for the observatory.
The lack of cameras wasn’t a mission oversight — it was too complicated, Parrish said during a NASA Live broadcast Tuesday. If cameras were incorrectly designed, they could have jeopardized the $10 billion telescope’s ability to get never-before-seen snapshots of stars and galaxies billions of light-years away.
Using infrared technology, the telescope can peer through gas and dust and detect light waves that have stretched with the expansion of space. But infrared is a type of invisible light that can be sensed as heat, so the telescope needs to be extra cold to pick up faint heat signals coming from far away. Cameras, and the artificial light they’d need to illuminate the observatory, would add heat behind the sunshield — the very place they want to limit it, Parrish said.
What’s more, any camera on the cold and dark side of Webb, blocked by the sunshield, would have to be specially designed “from the ground up” to survive that extreme environment.
“It would fall apart, if not,” Parrish said, “And we’d have debris floating around, possibly.”
To watch Webb, which is undergoing many different configurations as it unfolds its antennas, sunshield and mirrors, NASA would require several cameras in various locations. That need compounded the engineering burden, giving NASA one more reason not to pursue building them.
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But the command center isn’t flying blind. In the absence of pictures or a live video feed, NASA pulls data from all of the observatory’s instruments, telling the scientists exactly what they’re doing at all times. The readings are synthesized with a visualization tool that puts a real-time animation on their screens. It’s the next best thing to having eyes on Webb, Parrish said.
In terms of the breathtaking space photos expected to eventually come from the telescope, those won’t begin for another six months, said Laura Betz, a NASA spokeswoman.
After Webb has completely opened this month, the observatory will gradually cool down to its operating temperature, less than -380 degrees Fahrenheit. NASA will also align the mirrors and calibrate the instruments to collect scientific information.
Artists’ renderings abound on the Internet of what the telescope looks like in space — some could even fool the layman into thinking they’re the real deal.
One spectacle is authentic: a picture of the observatory pulling away from its rocket, shortly after its Christmas launch. The image (which is above) was captured by the cameras on the rocket’s upper stage, the part that transported it into space. Earth can be seen hovering above it.
“This was one of these things that I could hardly believe was real when it was happening,” said Michelle Handleman, a NASA public affairs specialist. “It was an absolutely gorgeous shot.”