Robotics

Netgear Orbi 870 Netgear If you have a large home or office space and want to blanket it with fast Wi-Fi, a mesh system is the way to go! This system consists of a series of satellites that create a single Wi-Fi network throughout the entire area. As people move from room to room, their […] More

Audio-Technica/ZDNETAudio-Technica has added a new item to its wireless earbud lineup: the ATH-CKS50TW2. The company promises a competitive battery life of up to 65 hours, combining the battery life of the earbuds and the charging case.When fully charged, the earbuds last up to 25 hours, with an additional 40 hours from the case. However, turning on noise-canceling mode reduces this number to 15 hours with the earbuds and 25 additional hours with the case. A five-minute charge can provide up to 90 minutes of use.Also: CES 2025: The 13 most impressive products so farThe buds are designed to achieve a comfortable and firm fit, with a rounded shape and customizable fit, as well as touch control buttons on the side. The eartips are made with a hard and soft silicone hybrid, helping them stay in your ears. With an IP55-equivalent rating, they are waterproof and dustproof. There is also a dual or single-ear mode for any way you like to listen.The buds feature a high-performance MEMS microphone and beamforming technology for high-quality calls. Their newest feature is Audio-Technica’s Magnetic Switch technology, which turns the device off when not in use, preserving power.”The ATH-CKS50TW2 earbuds feature Audio-Technica’s new patented Magnetic Switch™ technology allows the earbuds to turn off when joined by built-in magnets, helping to preserve power when you’re out and about without the charging case,” said Audio-Technica’s official press release. More

ZDNETDo you like the concept of AI but dislike the idea that a third party could have access to your content and data for the training of their LLMs? I, for one, avoid any instance of AI that could have access to the novels I write, which is why I stopped using Google Drive for that purpose and do not use a word processor with built-in AI.If that sounds like your stance on the technology (but you still wish you could use the tool), let me introduce you to Ollama. Ollama is an LLM you can install on your local machine and use it from there. This way, you don’t have to worry about anyone using your content, queries, or information for other purposes.Also: What is an AI PC exactly? And should you buy one in 2025?Sounds hard, doesn’t it?It’s not.It’s actually easier than you might think.I will say this: What you will end up with is an AI that you access via the command line. There is a GUI that can be installed, but it’s web-based, and most of the other GUIs are either quite challenging to install or shouldn’t be trusted. Don’t worry. If you can use a chat app, you can use the Ollama terminal.Also: How I easily added AI to my favorite Microsoft Office alternativeLet’s get this installed.How to install Ollama on your MacOS deviceWhat you’ll need: To install Ollama, you’ll need an Apple device running MacOS 11 (Big Sur) or later. That’s it. More

Nina Raemont/ZDNETFrom Reddit to ChatGPT, health hacks, advice, and information are everywhere on the internet. That doesn’t mean any of it is true — or scientifically proven. Movano Health, maker of the Evie Ring, the smart ring for women, aims to provide its ring wearers with accurate health information.EvieAIOn Wednesday, Movano Health launched EvieAI, the Evie Ring’s virtual wellness assistant, which is located in the Evie app, and users can consult for health information. The AI tool is trained on articles published in over 100,000 medical journals to improve the accuracy and complexity of the bot’s query responses.Also: CES 2025: The 13 most impressive products so farSoon, the health data Evie collects as it’s worn, like heart rate, sleep data, stress, and activity metrics, will be integrated into EvieAI for personalized results and recommendations to users’ questions. The wellness assistant can answer questions concerning symptoms, diseases, or procedures, Movano says.Accurate health informationOther AI tools, like ChatGPT, are trained using public data, Movano Health points out in a press release. This makes this data stream far more unreliable, as it takes in scientifically unproven advice from people outside the medical field. Movano claims that its EvieAI tool, by comparison, is 99% accurate.Also: The best wearable tech we’ve seen at CES A recent survey by the Health Misinformation and Trust Initiative found that only 29% of adults trust AI chatbots to provide reliable health information. “About one in five adults (23%) say AI is doing more to hurt those seeking accurate health information, while a similar share (21%) say it is doing more to help those efforts,” the survey states.Several wearables use AI to answer user questions or provide health suggestions. Oura, Whoop, and Ultrahuman all have some sort of AI coach or recommendation functionality that assesses user data and makes contextual recommendations based on provided input.AvailabilityEvieAI is available on the Evie app for smart ring users to try out now. More

Jada Jones/ZDNETThe second day of CES 2025 has officially begun, and companies from all over are showcasing their best audio products. So far, we’ve seen over-ear headphones, open-ear earbuds, wireless home audio systems, and more. Some products are available for purchase now, while others will hit the shelves later this year.Also: CES 2025: The 13 most impressive products so farNo matter what kind of audio gear you’re looking to pick up this year, CES 2025 has something for everyone. Here are the highlights we’ve seen so far.1. Hisense HT SaturnBest home audio system of CES 2025 More

ZDNETThe Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is the place to be if you want to learn about new smart home devices. While many of the devices showcased at CES are years away from reaching the market, 2025 has delivered some of the best smart home tech actually coming to physical and virtual store shelves this year.Also: CES 2025: The 13 most impressive products so farAs ZDNET’s smart home reviewer, I’ve been walking the trade show floors in search of the best products released this year. But dozens of outstanding smart home devices have made this the hardest year to narrow down the list. Read on to find my picks for the best smart home tech at CES 2025.1. Roborock Saros Z70Best robot vacuum at CES 2025 More

SJVN/ZDNETI travel a lot for business. How much is a lot? Last year, I flew more than 70,000 miles and attended technical and business conferences in Hong Kong, Seoul, Seattle, San Francisco, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York City, and Atlanta. Along the way, I earned  Diamond status on Delta, Platinum on Marriott Envoy, and Diamond on Hilton. I’ll travel at least that much this coming year.Also: CES 2025: The 13 most impressive products so farWhen you do this kind of business travel, you soon realize that besides watching your airline and hotel points carefully, you need to carry exactly what you need in your laptop bag — and not one thing more.Here’s what’s in my kit and alternatives, depending on exactly what I’ll be doing on any given trip.Laptop bagHeritage Travelware 16-inch Laptop Portfolio More

Accenture/ZDNETResearch from 2025 finds that 77% of executives believe unlocking the true benefits of AI will only be possible when it is built on a foundation of trust, according to the Accenture Technology Vision 2025 report.The Accenture Technology Vision 2025 explores how the future is being shaped by AI-powered autonomy. As adoption of AI accelerates across all businesses and society at a rate faster than any prior technology, 69% of executives believe AI brings new urgency to reinvention and how technology systems and the processes it enables are designed, built, and operated. The ripple effect of AI and its impact will be felt across multiple dimensions, including technology development, customer experience, the physical world, and the workforce. Also: AI agents might be the new workforce, but they still need a managerAccenture identifies four key emerging trends in AI, autonomy, and trust, focused on the following: what happens when AI acts autonomously at the center of enterprise technology, speaks on behalf of your brand, inhabits robotic bodies, and collaborates on behalf of employees.The Binary Big Bang: When AI expands exponentially, systems are upended – As generative AI becomes central to enterprise tech, development costs plummet, new systems abound, and digital agents gain autonomy — transforming applications as we know them.Your Face, in the Future: Differentiating when every interface looks the same – AI agents can personalize customer interactions at scale, but brands must protect their unique voice to avoid becoming generic.When LLMs Get Their Bodies: How foundation models reinvent robotics – Robots with embedded LLMs have generalist versatility, enabling them to take on new tasks in human spaces beyond today’s highly programmed use cases.The New Learning Loop: How people and AI are defining a virtuous cycle of learning, leading, and creating – When generative AI is diffused through an organization, every employee has the full power of their organization behind them, which expands the autonomy of both people and AI over time. More