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It turns out that Roborock isn’t the only company that brought a robot vacuum with a mechanical arm to CES 2025. Rival company Dreame, which unveiled its stair-climbing robot vacuum earlier in the week, is also working on a robot vacuum with an arm for picking up objects.

The device is still a prototype, according to the company, but the as yet unnamed robo vac was on full display at Dreame’s CES booth. Considering it’s still a prototype, the actual arm looked far more substantial compared to the one on Roborock’s Saros Z70. It was much thicker and had a bigger “claw” that looked like it might be able to pick up slightly heavier objects. (Roborock says its vac can pick up object that weigh up to 300 grams.) 

Unfortunately, Dreame wasn’t showing it actually grab anything, but I was able to watch the arm extend and retract several times. It appeared to be on a similar device as the X50 as the prototype vacuum also rocked up onto “legs,” much like Dreame’s stair-stepping X50.

A Dreame rep at the booth told me that the company has been working on the prototype for a while, but decided to accelerate its plans for the vacuum at CES. After a quick glance up, I knew exactly what he was referring to: Dreame’s booth is positioned directly across from Roborock, which was displaying a massive replica of its arm-wielding Saros Z70 on top of its booth.

Maybe next year we’ll see the two robot vacuum arms wrestle. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/more-than-one-company-brought-a-robot-vacuum-with-a-mechanical-arm-to-ces-2025-014056459.html?src=rss 

Surprising no one, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang isn’t too worried about a future filled with robots and superintelligent AI. In fact, he welcomes it. During a CES Q&A session with media and analysts, Huang was asked if he thought intelligent robots would ultimately side with humans, or against them. “With the humans, because we’re going to build them that way,” he replied confidently.

“The idea of superintelligence is not unusual,” Huang continued. “I have a company with many many people who are superintelligent in their field of work. I’m surrounded by superintelligence. And I prefer to be surrounded by superintelligence than the alternative.”

Given that the hype around generative AI has been huge for NVIDIA’s business — it’s currently vying with Apple and Microsoft for the largest valuation in the world — it makes sense that Huang would be all for a future where we’re more reliant on smarter AI. He falls short of proclaiming the arrival of god-like artificial general intelligence (AGI) like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla’s Elon Musk, instead Huang’s vision sounds more task-focused. 

“That’s the future, you’re going to have superintelligent AI that will let you write, analyze problems, deal with supply chain planning, write software, design chips,” he said. “The technology, of course, can be used in many ways, but it’s humans that are harmful. I think machines are machines.”

During the morning Q&A session, which came after Huang’s lengthy CES keynote to a mostly unenthusiastic crowd, he admitted that he did a poor job of conveying his vision for AI in the real world. Huang thinks the combination of NVIDIA’s Omniverse technology for visualizing 3D routines, as well as NVIDIA Cosmos for generating photorealistic environments for AI training, will make it easier to train robots for real-world work. That could end up being one small step towards AI superintelligence — or, at the very least, slightly more capable robots.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-welcomes-the-rise-of-superintelligent-ai-at-ces-2025-002827074.html?src=rss 

Pebble unveiled the Pebble Flow all-electric RV trailer at last year’s CES. At this year’s show, they’ve finalized both design and price for the Pebble Flow. Pebble announced that the RV trailer will be go into production at the start of 2025, with deliveries of expected to begin in the spring of the year.

The final design of the trailer includes some new additions to what Pebble introduced in Las Vegas in 2024. The interior has been revised for improved access to cabinets, additional side and rear windows, a bigger door, and larger storage space. The Pebble Flow has also gotten some tweaks to the exterior and the drivetrain system has been re-engineered.

The Pebble Flow is equipped with a 45 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery and a 1.1 kW solar array. According to the company, this can support up to seven days on the road from solar recharging and regenerative braking.

The base model will cost $109,500. The Magic Pack upgrade option adds a dual-motor drivetrain that enables advanced automation features; this model costs $135,500. The Founders Edition model, with a limited-edition color and the complete set of available upgrades, will cost $175,000.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/pebble-flow-all-electric-rv-trailer-will-begin-deliveries-this-spring-003024921.html?src=rss 

You probably didn’t have X CEO Linda Yaccarino praising Meta and Mark Zuckerberg on your CES 2025 bingo card, yet here we are. Speaking during a keynote address in Las Vegas, Yaccarino described Meta’s decision to end its longtime fact checking program and implement community notes as “exciting” and “validating.”

Yaccarino and and X owner Elon Musk have both championed the crowd-sourced fact-checking feature that Meta now plans to emulate on its own services. “I think it’s really exciting when you think about community notes being good for the world … and it couldn’t be more validating than to see that Mark and Meta realize that,” Yaccarino said. “Mark, Meta, welcome to the party.”

Meta and Zuckerberg may find themselves in dubious company at the “party,” however. While X often touts the number of users who contribute to Community Notes, some researchers have pointed out flaws in the feature. A report last year from misinformation researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) noted that many misleading posts, including prominent posts from Musk himself, can rack up billions of views without receiving a correction.

It’s not surprising at all that Yaccarino would praise Zuckerberg’s move to cut ties with the media institutions that have been its longtime partners for fact-checking content on Facebook and Instagram. Like her boss Musk, she’s made no secret of her disdain for “legacy media,” and she spent a significant portion of her time onstage railing against “legacy news that is designed to make you think a certain way.”

Zuckerberg’s move to loosen its content moderation standards is the latest sign of just how far the Facebook founder is willing to go to realign himself with the political right as Donald Trump prepares to take office. He also added a prominent Trump backer, UFC CEO Dana White, to Meta’s board and elevated the company’s most prominent Republican executive to run global affairs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/linda-yaccarino-on-meta-ending-fact-checking-welcome-to-the-party-231304753.html?src=rss 

The Lenovo Legion Go is sort of like the SUV of gaming handhelds. It’s big, beefy, comes with a lot of extra equipment like detachable controllers and it supports vertical mouse functionality that lets it adapt to all sorts of situations. All of that versatility is great, but it makes the device kind of bulky. But for CES 2025, Lenovo is announcing a slightly more portable version called the Legion Go S with support for not one but two different OSes: Windows 11 and SteamOS.

That said, the specs on both variants are nearly identical. They feature either an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip or the Z1 Extreme APU Lenovo used on the previous model, with up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and a 55.5Wh battery. You also get a microSD card slot for expandable storage, two USB 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The main difference is their color (and release date, but more on that later) as the Windows 11 Legion Go S comes in white while the SteamOS model will be available in black.

Compared to the original Legion Go, the S features a smaller but still large 8-inch 120 Hz OLED display (down from 8.8 inches) with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and VRR instead of 2,560 x 1,600 144Hz panel like on the original. It also doesn’t have detachable controllers or a kickstand. The benefit of this is that the whole system feels much sturdier, which should make you feel better about tossing it in a bag before your next trip. It’s also noticeably lighter at 1.6 pounds versus 1.9 for its older sibling.

Notably, you still get analog sticks with Hall Effect sensors, which you don’t get on rivals like ASUS’ pricey ROG Ally X. Lenovo also moved to a new pivot-style D-pad, though I’m not sure that counts as a true upgrade as I tend to prefer the classic cross-style ones. Another nice bonus for tinkerers is that on the inside, the Go S comes with a shorter 2242 SSD module even though it can accommodate desktop-size 2280 sticks.

Initially, I got a chance to check out the Windows 11 version, whose performance felt quite snappy thanks to the drop in resolution to 1,920 x 1,200, which feels like a more suitable match for its components. Lenovo has also made some improvements to its Legion Space app, so it functions much better as a general game launch and a place to tweak performance and settings. I also appreciate little touches like how even though it’s much smaller, the Legion Go S still has a touchpad in front, which is such a huge help when you need to exit Legion Space and navigate around in Windows. I’d even say that despite its size, the pad on the Go S is more responsive, as it feels more like a trackball than a tiny touchpad. And around back, there’s a small toggle for adjusting how far you can pull the shoulder buttons.

As for the Legion Go S powered by SteamOS, I found it remarkable how similar it felt to the Steam Deck despite not being made by Valve. The UI is almost identical, the only differences are some subtle tweaks Lenovo added to support things like the handheld’s RGB lighting and higher 30-watt TDP. In person, the SteamOS models’ casing looks more like a dark purple than pure black, which is a nice subtle touch. However my biggest takeaways is that Valve’s OS felt slightly more responsive that it does on the Steam Deck, which I’m attributing to the Legion’s newer APU.

The small hiccup is that a higher-end version of Legion Go S running Windows 11 is expected to go on sale first sometime later this month starting at $730 with an AMD Z2 Go processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Unfortunately, that means anyone who wants one of the more affordable models with 16GB of RAM or running SteamOS will have to wait a bit longer, as those variants won’t be available until May. On the bright side, the Legion Go S powered by SteamOS will have a lower starting price of $499 compared to an equivalent Windows model which will start at $599.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/ces-2025-the-lenovo-legion-go-s-is-the-first-third-party-steamos-handheld-160001642.html?src=rss 

According to Wikipedia, the first instance of the phrase “post-truth” was written by Steve Teisch in 1992 when referencing political scandals post-Watergate. Clearly, ol’ Stevie never visited CES, where the standards for saying things that are provably true are slightly laxer than in the rest of civil discourse. Apropos of nothing, a company called Rictor, which makes and sells one e-bike, the Rictor K1, is advertising the Skyrider X1. A moped-cum-quadcopter that you can use to zoom through the streets one second, and through the skies another. Which, as you all know, is a totally achievable thing for any consumer electronics company to be able to achieve by its promised launch date of 2026.

The Skyrider X1, its theoretical makers claim, is an electric moped with an enclosed cabin that, when things get too congested, will transform into a quadcopter. All you’ll need to do is pop out the four arms, each with two fanblades, and you’ll be able to ascend up to a maximum of 200 meters above the ground. Rictor says safety is its top priority, including plenty of redundant systems and, should all else fail, a built-in parachute. Plus, the Skyrider X1 is capable of automatically taking off and landing, and can plan its optimal route when it’s up in the air. And on the company’s website, it says the X1 SL, with a 10.5kWh battery will have a flight time of 25 minutes, while the X1 SX, with its 21kWh battery, will stay in the air for 40 minutes.

That’s pretty exciting, not to mention the company says that it’s aiming to sell the Skyrider X1 for $60,000, far below what you might expect to pay for a mop-copter in this class. You could buy one and use it to speed up your DoorDash deliveries and earn some sweet money in tips. Perhaps, when the pre-order page opens, you can lay down that cash before heading over to my new venture, where I’ll sell you a bridge. Seriously, one of London’s many bridges, that you’ll own, all to yourself, but you will need to arrange delivery and pay for shipping with a third party I haven’t yet invented.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/rictors-skyrider-x1-is-equal-parts-moped-quadcopter-and-fantasy-220802108.html?src=rss 

Afeela is coming back for a curtain call. After dominating the Sony press conference on the opening night of CES 2025, the debut EV from Sony Honda Mobility (a joint venture between the two Japanese concerns) is getting its own breakout event today. 

What to expect at Afeela’s CES 2025 press conference

We know a lot more about the Afeela 1 than we did 24 hours ago, thanks to Sony’s earlier presser. The Afeela 1 Origin and Afeela 1 Signature are priced at $89,900 and $109,900, respectively. Customers in California are now able to reserve a Signature trim for a refundable fee of $200 and the first deliveries are planned for mid-2026. The Origin variant is set to arrive the following year. Both variants factor in three years of access to services including Level 2+ driver assistance, the Afeela Personal Agent and a range of entertainment options.

At the Afeela keynote, we should learn much more about the Afeela 1. Expect a closer look at a near-final version of the EV, which is packed with tech.

Watch the Afeela CES 2025 livestream

You can watch the Afeela CES 2025 press conference live right here. The keynote starts Tuesday, January 7 at 7:30PM ET.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sony-honda-mobility-ces-2025-keynote-learn-more-about-the-afeela-1-ev-live-here-212536780.html?src=rss