Robotics

An important consideration for air purifiers is filter replacement. Some models require regular replacements of expensive filters, which could end up costing you hundreds of dollars per year. Before you purchase a model, look into what type of replacement filters you’ll need, how much they cost, and if you can afford to replace them as required. Otherwise, choosing not to replace filters as recommended could reduce the air purifier’s efficiency. After all, they are capturing and trapping harmful particles, such as mold spores and bacteria. Some air purifiers feature washable filters, which make maintenance easier. However, the most effective air purifiers include HEPA filtration and carbon filters, which need to be replaced. You can find the manufacturer’s requirements in the manual.Some modern purifiers have an indicator light that warns you when it’s time to replace the filters. As a rule of thumb, plan on replacing carbon air filters every three months, and other filters every six months.  More

Hypershell PRO X exoskeleton Ant Pruitt / ZDNETI’m a content creator first, but I do enjoy the world of consumer technology. Especially when I see tech that moves from the B2B world down to B2C for everyone to enjoy, such as the 2025 CES Innovation winner Hypershell X-series exoskeleton. What a fascinating piece of tech.Also: CES 2025: The 22 most impressive products you don’t want to missLike many in the media, prior to CES, I was flooded with thousands of emails from various vendors asking me to check out their products. I recall seeing an email from Hypershell and laughing briefly. “Exoskeleton? C’mon, man,” I thought. I visualized the contraptions we’ve seen over the last few decades that, although they help many people become more mobile, still make them look like a sidekick to Marvel’s Iron Man. Upon opening the email, I saw that this wasn’t the case. Not only was the exoskeleton streamlined, but it also had great tech specs and pricing, making it available for more people. More

If you need to build a website, there are dozens of web hosting providers you can turn to, but working out what service is right for you can be challenging. At the most basic level, you’ll need a domain name that pairs with a reliable host. Your web host must be able to securely store your content, manage your data, and provide a backend file management system or FTP access. Preferably, there will be inbuilt security update functions.Also: The best VPNsMany web providers offer far more than just hosting. You can also opt for a content management system (CMS), SEO assistance, website templates, AI assistants for chat or even website building, security add-ons, and much more. These features often make web hosts stand out from their competition, and even if you don’t need it now, it also helps if their services are scalable.Below, you will find our top recommendations for web hosting services, ranging from providers that give you a quick and easy way to build your website all the way up to companies that provide full data center infrastructure capabilities as a service.What is the best web hosting service right now?ZDNET has conducted extensive research and hands-on testing with many of the top web hosting services. Our pick for the best web hosting service overall is Hostinger More

Jada Jones/ZDNETWhile walking through the evening shows at CES 2025, I was on the hunt for the latest audio products. So when I walked by the Bebird booth, I thought I spotted a new pair of over-ear headphones. To my surprise, they were actually advanced ear cleaners. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this takes it to another level.The Bebird EarSight Flow ear cleaner uses small pods of water placed in one ear cup to supply water to a small spout in the other cup that gently shoots water into your ears to clean them. The spout includes a camera, and users can download the companion app to watch the EarSight Flow clean their ears in real time.Also: CES 2025: The 22 most impressive products you don’t want to missAccording to Bebird, the camera is a specialized optical lens with an adjustable ball axis to adjust the viewing angle in their ears during the cleaning. Additionally, there are over one million pixels to contribute to the high-resolution picture.After the water is streamed into the ear to clean it, the same spout employs a drying cycle to decrease the remaining moisture inside the ear. The device also includes an intelligent warming system that automatically adjusts the temperature of the liquid to ensure it’s not too hot or cold for the sensitive parts of the ear. More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETAs ZDNET’s Maria Diaz reported, the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas revealed some interesting innovations in the realm of robot vacuums. Roborock’s new flagship model, for example, has a robotic arm that uses precision sensors and a camera to pick up socks.Also: We have named the 12 winners for the official Best of CES 2025 awardsAccording to Dreame, its new flagship model, the X50 Ultra, can “literally climb stairs.” That marketing claim is technically accurate — if the stairs are less than two inches tall.A step forward for robot vacuumsIt’s surely a step forward in robot vacuum engineering, but let’s not envision a bot that can clean your ground-level living space, empty itself, clean your staircase, and then continue sweeping your bedrooms on the second floor. Not just yet.Still, the X50 Ultra’s ability to cross harmlessly over cords and more efficiently surmount the threshold of a doorway makes it an eye-catching addition to Dreame’s portfolio. Many budget robot vacuums stutter at the challenge of moving from one room to another if the entryway presents an elevated barrier, like a transition strip. More

ZDNET/Raspberry PiAre you a power user wishing you could get a Raspberry Pi 5 with even more RAM? Well, now you can pick up one with a whopping 16GB of RAM.This capability means there are now 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB boards for everything from the lightest tasks to more demanding, memory-intensive workloads.Also: The best Raspberry Pi alternativesIf you’ve been keeping up with the Raspberry Pi 5 news, there isn’t much in this release to surprise you. These boards all run the new optimized D0 stepping of the Broadcom BCM2712 processor, which includes support for memory capacities greater than 8GB.The 16GB Pi is possible because RAM maker Micron has supplied a single package containing eight of its 16Gbit LPDDR4X die, allowing the 16GB of RAM to be placed on a single chip. More

ZDNETTrying to use Siri on an iPhone or iPad can be a frustrating experience. That’s because Apple’s voice assistant too often fails to understand or correctly respond to your requests. And in this age of generative AI, Siri can’t handle the same types of tasks easily tackled by advanced AI bots. To skirt Siri’s limitations and add a dose of AI, you can now use ChatGPT directly on your iPhone and iPad.Also: Apple’s $95 million Siri settlement could mean a payout for you – here’s how muchAvailable in iOS/iPadOS 18.2, OpenAI’s chatbot will take over from Siri to respond to certain questions and requests — just as if you were using the ChatGPT website or app. The difference here is that ChatGPT is integrated via Apple Intelligence. That means the AI can automatically pop up to help you when Siri is stymied.Before you proceed, keep in mind that you need the right type of device, one that supports Apple Intelligence. That means any iPhone 16, an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, any iPad model with an M1 or later chip, or an iPad mini with an A17 Pro chip.With a supported device, you can ask Siri to call on ChatGPT to respond to specific types of requests, particularly those geared toward generative AI. Beyond submitting general requests, you can use ChatGPT with Apple’s AI-powered Writing Tools to write and revise text based on your descriptions. On an iPhone 16, you can use ChatGPT with Visual Intelligence, which taps into the camera to provide details on the places and objects around you.Also: Every iPhone model that supports Apple’s AI features (including the new Siri)You don’t need your own ChatGPT account to use the AI through Apple Intelligence. However, if you do have an account, you can simply connect to it. This means you’re able to access a history of your requests. Plus, those of you with ChatGPT Plus subscriptions can take direct advantage of the premium features. But even if you have an account, you may still want to use ChatGPT anonymously since by default your conversations won’t be used for AI training.OK, let’s get ChatGPT on your iOS device.How to set up and use ChatGPT on your iPhone or iPad More

ZDNETAs the new year begins, it’s a great time to refresh your personal life and digital devices. If your Android phone or tablet has become sluggish, you’re not alone. Over time, many devices can slow down, but the good news is there are simple ways to improve performance. One quick fix is restarting the device, which can solve many common issues. Another effective solution for speeding things up and freeing storage is to clear cached data from apps and websites.Also: The best tablets (aren’t all iPads) In this guide, I’ll show you how to clear cached data, with easy instructions to help you find the right settings on Android devices. The steps outlined may vary slightly depending on your Android device’s manufacturer and software customization. However, the general process is the same and this tutorial should help you get on the right track.If you’re an Apple user, here’s how to clear the cache on an iPhone. More