Virtual reality seems like it’s undergone a dramatic refocusing over the past year: away from PCs, and toward do-it-all self-contained headsets like the groundbreaking Oculus Quest. A very Oculus Quest-like standalone VR headset ended up on my face at CES in Las Vegas, one of a number of VR demos I tried at the show. …
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iPhone 11’s new multicam app lets you shoot video with two cameras at once
Your phone is studded with cameras. You’re probably only using one at a time, though. That could change in the near future: imagine shooting video with two, or even someday three or four simultaneously. I’ve gotten a brief taste of what that weird phone future will feel like. I spent some of the weekend trying out two-camera simultaneous recording on …
Read More »Amazon’s first
Earlier this month, CNET’s David Carnoy praised Amazon’s first-ever true-wireless earbuds, the Echo Buds, but suggested you “wait for a sale.” Because while he liked the hands-free Alexa features and Bose-powered noise reduction — the latter putting the Echo Buds on the same playing field as Apple’s AirPods Pro — he felt the sweet spot would be more like $99. …
Read More »What’s Modern Standby and why you want it on your next laptop
When you wake up your phone, it’s instantly ready to work and your email, texts and notifications are all up to date because, even with your phone asleep, it’s still connected and updating itself — and it’s doing it without a big hit to your battery life. Modern Standby is Microsoft’s effort to bring that instant-on, ready-to-go feel to PCs …
Read More »Google’s Nearby Sharing feature looks like its own version of Apple’s AirDrop
AirDrop, or the concept of it anyway, might not be just for iOS users anymore. Google is reportedly working on its own version of Apple’s file transferring program, calling it Nearby Sharing. XDA Developers says it was able to test out the unreleased feature by doing a wireless transfer between a Google Pixel 2 XL and the new Pixel 4. …
Read More »Galaxy Fold’s bendable screen is still flawed. Is diamond glass the solution?
Foldable phones like the Galaxy Fold have a big problem — the screen. Today’s phones use plastic cover materials, but bendable glass is the Holy Grail of foldable phone design because of its ability to repel the damage from casual scrapes sustained by polymer. Without a rigid top layer, the phone’s internal workings are susceptible to breaking. One company I spoke …
Read More »AMD delivers the details on the Radeon RX 5600 XT
Like the stairways at Hogwarts, the competitive field of graphics cards keeps shifting under our feet. When AMD introduced its newest GPU at CES, the Radeon RX 5600 XT, it claimed a noteworthy performance advantage — anywhere from 5 to 33%, depending on the game — over the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, which is Nvidia’s competitor in the top-quality 1080p …
Read More »The smart glasses that could be ready for my eyes
This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon. I saw a pair of smart glasses that looked almost like my own regular pair. I tried them on. I wish I had a photo to share with you, but North’s Focals 2.0 were in total stealth mode in Las Vegas …
Read More »Samsung’s Neon ‘artificial humans’ are confusing everyone. We set the record straight
This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon. A robot that brings you more toilet paper when you run out. Samsung’s softball-shaped robot named Ballie. Of all the digital pals shown off at CES last week, none were quite as uncanny as Neon, the humanlike “life form” funded by a Samsung lab …
Read More »Las Vegas does 5G its own way, looking to win big as a smart city
This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon. Welcome to Las Vegas, city of smart lights, self-driving shuttles and startups. Away from the glittering, casino-strewn area known as the Strip is a far more pedestrian-looking area. It’s just a 15-minute drive from Las Vegas Boulevard, but it feels like …
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