Eliana Willis

Kerry Wan/ZDNETWhile this week’s CES marks only my fourth stint at the most coveted consumer electronics trade show, I was fully prepared for Samsung’s new lineup of 8K TVs to wow me for a few minutes and then be left forgotten for the rest of the event.That’s because the company has been pushing the 8K envelope for a few years now, and at this point, the technology has hit a bit of a plateau — peaking in resolution output, remaining unattainable for most people.Also: Every Samsung TV announced at CES 2025: Best features coming to OLED, QLED, 8K modelsThings are mostly the same this year, but what’s changed is the reason why I’m writing this article in the middle of a casino. Of all the new TVs Samsung is announcing — which there are quite a few — the Neo QLED 8K TVs feel more purposeful and refined than ever. And the best part is that it has nothing to do with the actual sharpness and visual fidelity of the sets. Instead, these three new features impressed me in ways I didn’t expect.1. Bye-bye, glare!The first big change with the QN990F and QN900F models is the glare-free technology, carried over from last year’s  Samsung S95D OLED model 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. The annual trade show is where tech brands from across the world unveil the year’s new innovations.Also: CES 2025: What is it, what to expect, and how to tune inThe 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.Digital ring sizing via your phoneMost smart ring brands send customers a ring sizing kit to try on the correct ring size before committing to a smart ring. Circular is changing this process with its Digital Ring Sizing, which users can try out on their phones — no physical kit needed. The Digital Ring Sizing uses a smartphone’s camera to determine a user’s ring size. This is the first smart ring brand, to our knowledge, that uses a smartphone camera for ring sizing.Also: The best smart rings you can buy Circular extends the new smart ring’s battery life to eight days, compared to the six-day battery life of its Circular Ring Slim. This battery life extension is on par with other smart rings in the space, like the Oura Ring 4. The app will also get a redesign for a more “intuitive and refined” look and user experience. More

Withings/ZDNETWhat if your mirror could show you more than just how you look? On Sunday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, health tech brand Withings unveiled Omnia, the company’s conceptual mirror and smart scale device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the figure it’s reflecting, interpret data, and provide historical insights and health trends. Also: The Even Realities G1 are unlike any other smart glasses you’ve seenOmnia uses AI to interpret a person’s heart health, nutrition, body composition, lung function, activity, and sleep, according to the press release. It’s equipped with voice commands, a 3D body model, and multiple health sensors at its base. It seems like a user will step onto the part-mirror-part-scale, get scanned by the device, and view all kinds of data, including their resting and overnight heart rate, blood pressure, muscle-to-fat ratio, water mass, pH, and more. While some of this data is collected through Omnia alone, lots of it will be collected by a Withings wearable device, like a smartwatch, blood pressure monitor, or sleep tracker users own and wear around the clock. That data is projected onto the smart mirror for interpretation.  More

Lymow Lymow, a yard technology company, just launched the Lymow One robot mower at CES 2025. The new mower features wire-free installation and can handle large and complex lawns. It has a two-blade cutting system instead of the traditional small blades typically used in robot mowers and advanced navigation technology to help it expertly avoid […] More

ZDNETSamsung and Google are officially rolling out an alternative to Dolby Atmos, the leading spatial audio format in consumer audio. Samsung and Google first announced their partnership in creating an alternative three-dimensional audio format in 2023, promising that the technology would be open-source and accessible to many.Also: CES 2025: What to expect and how to watchIt’s called Eclipsa AudioThe 3D audio technology is called Eclipsa Audio, and Samsung and Google hope to make high-quality 3D audio more accessible to consumers. Despite that wish, it is only available on Samsung’s 2025 lineup of Crystal UHD to Neo QLED 8K TVs and the 2025 lineup of soundbars.Also: Hisense’s new laser projector is so sharp and color-accurate, it may just replace your 4K TVAdditionally, creators on YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, can upload audio in the Eclipsa Audio format, but only viewers with a compatible Samsung device can access it. Samsung says the companies are working with the Telecommunications Technology Association to establish a certification for devices using Eclipsa to ensure quality playback. More

Qualcomm Having multiple monitors connected to a desktop PC can greatly improve your workflow, and I can say that with some authority. My second screen saves me the trouble of jumping between windows just to glance at or shift info around. Portable monitors can let you have a similar setup with a laptop, but one […] More

LG G5 OLED at CES 2025 Kerry Wan/ZDNETAt CES 2025 today in Las Vegas, electronics giant LG unveiled its new OLED Evo line of 4K TVs — namely, the M5 and G5 models. In addition to some noteworthy AI and connectivity features, both these flagship panels come with some stirring innovations to improve picture quality and brightness, as well as a processor optimized for fast-paced sports viewing and gaming.LG OLED M5 and G5 advancementsA complete list of specs isn’t yet available for both models, but an overall takeaway is that the M5 and G5 OLED TVs feature brighter panels, faster VRR for gaming, and a new remote. These two models essentially offer the same capabilities, with the M5 presenting a more futuristic, wireless design. Also: The best 65-inch TVs of 2025That’s because the M5 comes with a Zero Connect Box, making it what LG calls the world’s first “true wireless” OLED TV, capable of wirelessly transmitting at up to 144Hz without latency or quality loss. This is an improvement over the M4’s iteration which required line-of-sight signaling. The M5 should present far more flexibility in where you can position the hardware — great news for anyone whose PC gaming rig is set up in the next room over.With LG’s latest α11 AI processor Gen2 running the webOS, the company promises better upscaling of low-res content. It also upgraded its Brightness Booster Ultimate technology, enhancing light control architecture for brightness up to three times higher than conventional OLED models. While last year’s G4 Evo was impressively bright for an OLED, the G5 is reportedly up to 40% brighter, potentially making it the brightest TV available. Also: Is your live TV streaming service still worth it? I reassessed the options for us bothAlso new for 2025, the Evo 4K TVs support Filmmaker Mode with Ambient Light Compensation. This formula detects the lighting conditions of your viewing area and automatically adjusts the picture settings to maintain the filmmaker’s original intent and a more consistent HDR experience. Touting itself as the industry’s first 4K 165Hz VRR TV manufacturer to receive a ClearMR 10000 certification by VESA and certified Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, LG promises tear- and stutter-free gameplay with minimal input lag. A native refresh rate of 165 frames per second is stellar. But keep in mind that, for the M5, VRR is limited to 144Hz at the expense of its zero-wire connectivity. That is, the M5’s Zero Connect Box is fantastic for wirelessness, but it doesn’t offer the full-speed, 165Hz potential of the G5. With most console games running at 120Hz — and with the option of a wireless home theater setup — we shouldn’t expect many complaints. More

Hyper Products Accessory brand Hyper just announced a handful of products ahead of CES 2025, but one of the standouts is its new premium trackpad for Windows devices, the HyperSpace Trackpad Pro — a haptic touchpad with loads of customizable features that could finally convince me to ditch my mouse. Hyper’s Trackpad Pro is designed […] More