Eliana Willis

Kerry Wan/ZDNETSamsung is everywhere in January, from Las Vegas for CES to San Jose for the upcoming Unpacked event, where we expect to hear more about the company’s plans for Galaxy AI and the latest S series of smartphones. The phone maker confirmed today that the San Jose event will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22 — only two weeks after CES.Also: The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 phones may come with this major AI upgrade for free”Get ready for AI that is more natural and intuitive. The next evolution of Galaxy AI is coming, and it’s going to change the way you interact with the world every day,” says Samsung in its Monday press release. What exactly the new AI features will entail is up for grabs, but the idea of a more burdenless, meet-you-where-you-already-are approach to software sounds promising.What we can make an educated guess about has to do with Samsung’s continuous partnership with Google in popularizing Android. As previously reported, the search giant is rumored to give Samsung users a year’s worth of Gemini Advanced access for free when they preorder the upcoming Galaxy S25 series. That’s $200 in value alone. More

Hisense Today at its CES 2025 press conference in Las Vegas, Hisense announced a big-screen TV with a new twist on Mini LED technology.  The company says its 116-inch TriChroma LED TV (aka, the 116UX) signals a new benchmark among large consumer model screens due to RGB local dimming technology, which serves as “a bridge between today’s […] More

SanDisk Smartphones have proven invaluable tools for making videos, music, or other forms of content. They’re widely available and possess the necessary hardware and features to help people succeed in various pursuits. These devices are also cheaper than studio-grade tech, but they have a flaw — storage. Also: CES 2025 ICYMI: The 6 most impressive products […] More

Swift Go 16 AI Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETToday at CES, Acer announced a handful of updated laptops across its flagship Swift, Swift Go, and Vero lines, including new all-in-one desktop computers and additional Copilot+ PCs.Also: This Thunderbolt 4 cable alternative offers the same speed and longer sizes for 40% lessIt’s broadening its offering of Copilot+ PCs, introducing an Intel device (the Acer Aspire 14 AI) and an AMD device (the Acer Swift Go 16 and 14 AI). Both feature updated external designs and come with sleeker, more lightweight form factors and additional OLED display options — all in the mid-range price point to round out Acer’s accessible product portfolio. Along with the laptops, it also announced a few connectivity accessories, including a dongle that lets older devices connect to Wi-Fi 7, and a portable 5G hotspot that you can bring with you anywhere and use as a connection for your laptop. Here’s a summary of what was announced. Acer Swift Go 14 and 16 The Swift Go 14- and 16-inch with Intel’s Series 2 Core Ultra 9 processor brings a new level of performance to the lineup, matched with an Intel Arc GPU and the improved battery performance we’ve seen from the processor family. Additionally, Acer upped the ante with 3K OLED displays and support for Wi-Fi 7. More

Circular/ZDNETFrench tech brand Circular is stepping up its smart ring game with the unveiling of its Circular Ring 2, the brand announced on Sunday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Also: CES 2025 ICYMI: The 6 most impressive products so farThe second-generation smart ring is all-in on heart health monitoring and upgrades many of its features to keep up with the industry competition. There’s an FDA-cleared Atrial Fibrillation detection algorithm to monitor arrhythmia included within the ECG capability for “real-time heart health insights,” according to the press release, and improved sensors that reportedly boost the accuracy of data captured. More

Getty Images/Stefano Madrigali The HDMI Forum, responsible for developing HDMI technology standards, has officially revealed its new HDMI 2.2 specification at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The new specification will feature new display transfer wizardry that should provide higher bandwidth and a wide range of higher resolutions and refresh rates. For example, […] More

ZDNETIn September 2024, United Airlines announced its partnership with SpaceX to offer faster, more reliable, and free access to Wi-Fi for all MileagePlus members sometime this year. Now, it appears the airline is fast-tracking its program, targeting the second quarter of 2025 to mark its debut for customers.Testing begins next monthIn fact, United plans to begin testing the service next month, with the first commercial flight on an Embraer E-175 expected sometime between March and June. By the end of the year, the airline aims to equip its entire regional fleet with Starlink technology. Regional flights typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and have inferior amenities compared to “mainline” aircraft, which carry more than 100 people and have longer-haul flights between major cities and international destinations.Also: I just experienced actual high-speed internet on a plane – for free, thanks to StarlinkUnited claims at least one mainline aircraft will also offer the new service within the same timeframe. The goal is to eventually equip all of United Airlines’ more than 1,000 aircraft with Starlink. Currently, United’s Wi-Fi service varies by aircraft and is not free. This new partnership will standardize the service across the fleet, offering a breakthrough upgrade for many flyers.’Living room in the sky’Grant Milstead, United VP of Digital Technology, described Starlink’s capabilities as enabling a “living room in the sky” experience. The service will allow passengers to perform tasks like accessing work documents, checking home security cameras, and playing games with low latency, marking a substantial improvement over its current capabilities. United promises to roll out seatback screens across all its mainline aircraft, which will, of course, be integrated into the new Wi-Fi system. More

TCL QM6K TV at CES 2025 Kerry Wan/ZDNETToday at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, TCL unveiled its latest QM6K series of TVs. The most important thing to know here is that TCL is bringing it’s high-end Mini LED technology to it’s entry-level product line at very aggressive prices. And for the first we can ever remember at CES, the QM6K TV is immediately available to pre-order More