Technology

Samsung now makes the biggest, curviest, you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it PC monitors out there; two Verge editors recently replaced their multi-monitor setups with a single 49-inch Samsung Odyssey G9 when it went on sale for $999 the other week. But the company’s not satisfied simply filling your horizontal field of view with 49 inches of real estate — today at CES, it’s revealing an even bigger 55-inch curved screen with a special stand that lets you flip the gigantic monitor vertically, so the screen curves right over your head. It’s called the Samsung Odyssey Ark, and the company is pitching it as a real product that it’s planning to bring to the United States in the second half of the year. We don’t have a price or firm release date, though the panel apparently features quantum dot co...

Belkin is adding the Immerse earbuds to its existing Soundform true wireless lineup. The earbuds come with hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) technology, which should deliver audio free of background noise. Image by Belkin In case you haven’t heard of the “hybrid” form of ANC, SoundGuys describes it as two microphones located on the inside and outside of each earbud, which detect and cancel out sound coming from your environment. The other forms of ANC put the mic on the inside or outside of the earbud, which isn’t always as efficient for filtering out noise. The Immerse earbuds have a pretty long battery life as well. Each earbud is supposed to get eight hours of play time on a single charge, and when combined with the charging case, that rises to up to 36 hours. They also support apt...

And then there were three… At CES 2022 this week, Wemo announced the immediate availability of the Wemo Smart Video Doorbell, a HomeKit video doorbell that works with HomeKit Secure Video. It joins the Logitech Circle View and Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell camera as the only currently available residential HomeKit video doorbells. The $250 wired doorbell from the Belkin smart home brand is a short, chunky black device measuring 4.9 inches high. It has a 178-degree vertical field of view, 4MP high-resolution camera with “enhanced night vision and optimal zoom clarity,” according to the press release. It also features IP55 weatherproofing and works on 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. The Wemo Smart Video Doorbell is a chunky little fellow.Image: Wemo The buzzer is HomeKit only, working with the Hom...

Dell’s new 32-inch UltraSharp videoconferencing monitor supports 4K in more ways than one — the first, obvious for a display, is its 3840 x 2160 panel. But it also has a built-in 4K webcam, perfect for the age of Zoom meetings and working from home. Better still, you can connect to the monitor with a single USB-C cable, which will provide a video signal to the screen and send 90W of power back to your laptop. The monitor’s official name is the U3223QZ (Dell’s naming is catchy as ever), and its webcam uses a Sony 4K HDR STARVIS CMOS sensor. That’s similar to the imaging tech that Dell uses for its $200 external UltraSharp webcam, but unlike that device, the monitor has two built-in microphones. Dell also says that you’ll be able to adjust the camera’s tilt by 20 degrees and switch between 6...

Robinhood has introduced a new experience geared towards trading noobs, and the company says its personalized stock recommendations could help beginners get a sense of the technical side of trading. If you’re a new user and haven’t added anything to your Investment Profile, you’ll get the option to choose “Get help with your first investment” from the Investing tab. Robinhood will then present you with a questionnaire that asks what your investment goals are, how long you plan on investing your money, and more. Based on those answers, Robinhood will recommend a personalized portfolio containing four diverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with additional information about each fund and why Robinhood picked it for you. Once you’ve reviewed all of the funds, you can choose whether or not you w...

BMW announced the iX M60, the German automaker’s latest performance electric vehicle, and the second EV to be released under its racing-inspired M branding. When it comes out in the summer of 2022, the iX M60 will feature two electric motors, 610 braking horsepower, and will get up to 280 miles of range on a single charge. There are other impressive specs to note, including 811 lb-ft of near-instantaneous torque when in Launch Control, and a 0 to 60mph acceleration time of 3.6 seconds. BMW says that the power delivery of its M-specific electric drivetrain continues into high load ranges, “so acceleration remains almost constant up to the electronically-limited maximum speed of 155 mph when properly equipped.” “acceleration remains almost constant up to the electronically-limited maximum sp...

General Motors is no longer the top seller of vehicles in the US as reported Tuesday by CNBC. The Detroit powerhouse lost the crown to Toyota, which reportedly sold about 114,000 more vehicles than GM in 2021. GM reported Tuesday that total sales were down almost 13 percent last year due to semiconductor shortages. Vehicle and technology companies worldwide have been faced with production difficulties due to chip shortages, and GM has had to cut features from some vehicles, such as wireless chargers and HD radios, due to supply issues. But things are looking up for GM — the parent company of Chevrolet and GMC says the chip situation is improving. “In 2022, we plan to take advantage of the strong economy and anticipated improved semiconductor supplies to grow our sales and share. We will al...

At CES 2022, Sony unveiled its Master Series A95K, the world’s first consumer QD-OLED 4K TV, which will arrive in both 65-inch and 55-inch sizes later this year. The company promises that the new TV will provide improved color and viewing angles in comparison to existing, conventional OLED TVs, which are currently known to produce the best picture quality. While typical OLED display panels rely on a yellow and blue OLED composition to produce “white” light, the A95K uses an updated manufacturing method that melds a blue OLED base layer with quantum dots in red and blue, which gives the device its “QD” name. The updated system primarily provides deeper and more saturated coloring in bright areas, according to the company, whereas OLED TVs typically breed whiter and less vibrant colors in th...

Earlier today, Verizon launched the “5G Ultra Show,” offering a look at the impressive ways that 5G Ultra Wideband, which is available in more cities, will transform how stadiums, airports, retail stores and even cities operate. The event, hosted by Elizabeth Banks, demonstrated how the technology benefits various aspects of culture and everyday life, from streaming and hotspot safety to gaming and entertainment. Elizabeth Banks was joined by Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg to showcase what 5G Ultra Wideband can do, heading to different locations to display the real world applications of the technology. For starters, it increases speed and allows for higher definition audio and video. That means everyday tasks — video calls, sharing files, streaming — are all noticeably crisper, cleaner and fast...

Qualcomm and Microsoft are partnering to develop a new, customized Snapdragon augmented reality chip that’ll power future AR glasses within Microsoft’s ecosystems. The new partnership was announced at Qualcomm’s CES 2022 keynote. “We’re announcing that we’re developing a custom augmented reality Snapdragon chip for next-generation, power-efficient, very lightweight AR glasses for the Microsoft ecosystem,” said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. “And we’re integrating into that chip platform software from both companies: the Microsoft Mesh platform, and the recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Spaces XR development platform. Snapdragon Spaces will be fully integrated into Microsoft Mesh, and this platform will be available for next-generation lightweight glasses.” The partnership isn’t too surp...

The day after New Year’s, the CEOs of the two biggest wireless carriers in America sent a very angry letter to Pete Buttigieg. The companies had been working for years to launch a new portion of their 5G networks, a launch that had been scheduled for December and then unexpectedly pushed back due to vague air safety concerns. Now, the Department of Transportation was asking for more time, just days before the scheduled launch. “In addition to the tens of billions of dollars we paid to the U.S. Government for the spectrum and the additional billions of dollars we paid to the satellite companies to enable the December 2021 availability of the spectrum,” the CEOs wrote, “we have paid billions of dollars more to purchase the necessary equipment and lease space on towers. Thousands of our emplo...