Samsung Display is the part of its giant parent company that makes OLEDs, LCDs and other screens for both Samsung devices and anyone else that can afford them. This year, it’s going all-in on OLEDs of the future. And that meant things like foldable displays with invisible creases, robots hurling basketballs at supertough OLED panels, and OLED screens packed into baffling form factors for no good reason.

Creases

The “seamless” foldable display that might be a part of a future foldable iPhone disappeared from the booth during our tour, reappearing when it was time to leave. (This is an image provided by Samsung Display.) The device was labelled as an R&D concept, but it somehow disguised the crease in the center of the main display, making the (unlabelled) Galaxy Z Fold on the left look like a messy first-iteration foldable. There’s still a crease there Will it actually form part of Apple’s foray into foldables, or just part of the Z Fold 8?

Why not both?

Put an OLED on it

This isn’t a record player you’ll ever buy. You don’t need an OLED display on the side of your wireless headphones, but you could have them. I liked the cute OLED pendants; a customizable near-future button badge, but a lot of this is just devices for the sake of making them.

The booth tour had a small segment dedicated to portable gaming OLED, adding more possibilities whether that’s an eye-sight for FPS games or extra HUD for the most important info.

The world’s brightest OLED TV

Reaching 4,500-nit brightness, I had to squint when sat in front of this beastly OLED. For reference, consumer-level TVs typically peak at around 2,700 nits. Compared to other display technologies, OLED can achieve deeper contrast and more accurate color reproduction, but it often lacks the brightness of rival TV technologies. Not for this prototype. Let me get my sunglasses.

Kobe!

I didn’t consider OLED displays to be more fragile than other display technology, but that didn’t stop Samsung Display from installing a robot arm that throws a basketball at a hoop with a backboard made of 18 foldable OLEDs. With a bang, making Samsung Display execs and engineers nearby increasingly anxious as the days of CES go on.

Foldables have come a long way

After Samsung finally solved the problem of weight and thickness with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, it made life hard for itself again with the TriFold, with 50 percent more foldable screen. But it’s worth seeing how Samsung’s foldables have evolved over the past few years. A solid reminder that the first Galaxy Fold (2019) was beefy.

The next big thing in gaming displays

Samsung Display has begun mass production of its 360Hz QD-OLED panel, with new “V-Stripe” RGB pixel structures. Inside each pixel, subpixels are vertically aligned, which appears to improve the clarity of text edges and other small contrast objects. While it was framed at the booth as a boon for office workers, a corner was dedicated to gaming applications.

Screens across your sedan

Digital cockpits are the lifeblood of a CES showfloor, and Samsung Display’s version is predictably loaded with yet more OLEDs. The centerpiece is a “Flexible L” display that flows into the dashboard. A dedicated 13.8-inch display on the passenger side also slides out of the dash.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/samsung-display-ces-2026-playful-demos-and-mysterious-prototypes-220407696.html?src=rss 

CES 2026: A rocky year ahead of the PC industry

We’re halfway through CES 2026, and it’s clear that it’s going to be a rough year for the PC industry. In this episode, Devindra chats with Engadget’s Dan Cooper about Intel, AMD, NVIDIA and the sad state of the PC industry. We’ve got some new CPUs, but the volatile RAM market will likely make everything expensive this year. Also, they dive into Dell’s revival of the XPS brand, as well as iPolish’s smart nails and Subtle’s AI-powered VoiceBuds.

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Topics

The state of the PC industry in 2026 — 02:22

Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 3 chips —  12:41

Dell’s XPS lineup is back — 17:41

Our favorite products from  CES: 26:36

Credits

Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Dan Cooper
Producer: Devindra Hardawar
Music: Dale North

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-ces-2026-and-the-rocky-year-ahead-for-the-pc-industry-221500019.html?src=rss 

Fujifilm just revealed the Instax mini Evo Cinema camera, which looks suspiciously like a vintage Super 8. More specifically, it was designed to mimic the Single-8 from 1965, which was a rival unit to the Super 8. Fujifilm’s latest device captures video, just like its retro inspiration.

However, this is an Instax and the line has primarily been dedicated to snapping and printing out still images on the fly. The Evo Cinema can still do that, albeit in a slightly different way. Users shoot a video and the camera can convert a shot from the footage into an Instax print. That’s pretty cool. The bad news? It requires some kind of QR code tomfoolery.

The camera also comes equipped with something called the Eras Dial, which has nothing to do with Taylor Swift and everything to do with adjusting various effects and filters to create footage “inspired by different eras.” There are ten “eras” to choose from, including a 1960s vibe. The filter levels here are adjustable. We’ll have to take a look at some footage to see how everything translates.

Fujifilm is dropping the Instax Evo Cinema on January 30, but only in Japan for now. We don’t have a price yet.

This is just the latest nifty camera gizmo the company has thrust upon the world. It recently released an Instax model that has a secondary camera for selfies.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-latest-instax-camera-looks-like-a-vintage-super-8-194537863.html?src=rss 

Character.AI and Google have reportedly agreed to settle multiple lawsuits regarding teen suicide and self-harm. According to The Wall Street Journal, the victims’ families and the companies are working to finalize the settlement terms.

The families of several teens sued the companies in Florida, Colorado, Texas and New York. The Orlando, FL, lawsuit was filed by the mother of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who used a Character.AI chatbot tailored after Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen. The teen reportedly exchanged sexualized messages with the chatbot and occasionally referred to it as “his baby sister.” He eventually talked about joining “Daenerys” in a deeper way before taking his own life.

The Texas suit accused a Character.AI model of encouraging a teen to cut his arms. It also allegedly suggested that murdering his parents was a reasonable option. After the lawsuits were filed, the startup changed its policies and banned users under 18.

Character.AI is a role-playing chatbot platform that allows you to create custom characters and share them with other users. Many are based on celebrities or fictional pop culture figures. The company was founded in 2021 by two Google engineers, Noam Shazeer and Daniel de Freitas. In 2024, Google rehired the co-founders and struck a $2.7 billion deal to license the startup’s technology.

On one hand, the settlements will likely compensate the victims’ families handsomely. On the other hand, not going to trial means key details of the cases may never be made public. It’s easy to imagine other AI companies facing similar suits, including OpenAI and Meta, viewing the settlements as a welcome development.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/characterai-and-google-settle-with-families-in-teen-suicide-and-self-harm-lawsuits-201059912.html?src=rss 

Installing a virtual private network (VPN) on an iPhone or iPad is easy. The days are gone when Apple users had to be content with the leavings from the Windows ecosystem — in 2026, all the best VPN services have secure, user-friendly iOS apps on par with every other platform. If you’ve decided to add a VPN to your iPhone to stay anonymous online and change your virtual location, you’ve got plenty of great choices.

Since you’re here, chances are you’re familiar with the benefits of using a VPN, including security on public Wi-Fi and the ability to explore streaming libraries in other countries. But you may still be daunted by the process of actually choosing, installing and configuring a VPN on your iPhone.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps, including how to configure a VPN manually without going through a service. Check out my how to use a VPN piece for more general information.

How to choose an iPhone VPN

One of the trickiest parts of installing an iPhone VPN is picking the right service. That brings us to our first pro tip: Don’t just go to the App Store and search on “VPN.” That will simply front-load whichever vendor(s) are paying for top placement (note the little “Ad” icon) as well as a laundry list of free services that come with big caveats. There are dozens of mobile VPNs out there, and many of them don’t put the user first (for example, I reported last year on popular VPNs that failed to disclose shared security flaws). Choosing hastily can leave you stuck with an iOS VPN that’s either mediocre or actively harmful.

Before downloading an iPhone VPN, do some research into the provider’s background. A dependable VPN should have a well-written customer support page, a clear timeline of its history and a way to tell at a glance who actually owns and operates it. Check the reviews on the app store — it should have at least several hundred, almost all 4s and 5s.

iPhone users have a particular advantage here: several VPNs let you download their iOS app and start using it without paying. You can use this free trial period to put the VPN through its paces. Start by testing its speed using Ookla speedtest or a similar app. You should also use an IP address checker to make sure it isn’t leaking; to confirm this, just check your phone’s IP address before and after connecting to the VPN and make sure it’s different the second time.

To keep things simple, my top recommendation for all platforms is Proton VPN. Out of all VPNs, it strikes the best balance of solid security, fast performance, useful features and a commitment to user privacy. Other iPhone VPNs I love include ExpressVPN, Surfshark and NordVPN.

How to install a VPN on your iPhone

Installing an iPhone VPN is like installing any other app. Just go to the App Store, find the VPN you’ve chosen and download it onto your phone. When it finishes downloading, open the app to grant permissions and finish setup. However, since there are a couple of potential sticking points, I’ll run through the steps in more detail.

Proton VPN on the iOS app store.

Open the App Store.

Tap the search bar and type in the name of your chosen VPN. Hit Search and look through the list of results. Be careful to pick the right one — there are some “mockbuster” VPNs that try to snare people looking for well-known names. As a rule, the one with the most reviews is the service worth using.

On the page for the VPN app, tap Get. Enter your Apple ID and password to begin the installation.

Once installation is complete, either tap Open in the App Store or find the new VPN icon on your home screen.

Create a VPN account with a username and password. Most services let you do this within the app, but you may have to shift temporarily to a browser, so make sure you’ve got internet access.

Choose a subscription. If there’s a free trial, grab it and use it to test the VPN. If not, or if it’s already expired, choose a plan that fits your budget and needs. Longer-term plans tend to save you money on average, but cost more at the start.

On the VPN app, log in with your new credentials. You’re now ready to get started.

If you aren’t interested in paying for software right now, you can still get an iOS VPN. Check out my list of the best free VPNs, which all have iPhone apps. We also constantly update a curated list of the best VPN deals for bargain hunters.

How to configure and use a VPN on your iPhone

An iOS VPN is generally usable with the default settings. Even so, it’s a good idea to look through the options — you may not end up using all of them, but many of them are vital security checks or important quality-of-life boosters.

Proton VPN’s NetShield content blocker on iOS.

Here are some quick steps to make sure you’re getting the best performance. These settings are in different places on each VPN, but most can be found by clicking a button with a gear icon, or any page labeled “settings” or “preferences.”

Turn on the kill switch. This will protect you from broadcasting any data the VPN hasn’t encrypted. In the event the VPN suddenly disconnects, the kill switch also cuts off your internet connection.

Set the VPN to always reconnect automatically if it disconnects. The method for doing this varies between services, so check the VPN’s help page. Some (like Proton VPN) have an always-on VPN setting in the app itself, while others (like ExpressVPN) handle it through iOS settings.

Configure split tunneling. Not many iPhone VPNs have this option, but if yours does, you can use it to let certain apps or websites skip the VPN tunnel. Make sure to only bypass the VPN on sites and apps that share no sensitive information, or that refuse to work with a VPN active (some banks are like this).

If your VPN has a feature for blocking ads and malware domains, I recommend using it — the worst it can do is not work. Some also include parental controls, in case you’re setting up the VPN on your child’s phone.

Create shortcuts. Sometimes called Profiles, this relatively common feature lets you connect to the VPN and open a certain website with one tap.

Decide when and how you want the VPN to send you notifications.

Check available protocols. It’s almost always best to let the VPN pick for you, but if you want to choose for yourself, IKEv2 is generally the fastest.

Look over the server list to see what choices are available.

When choosing a VPN server, think about what you need the VPN for. If you’re just using it for privacy, pick the fastest server (or let the VPN app choose it for you). On the other hand, if you want to watch a movie or TV show that’s only on streaming in another country, choose the fastest server in that country. If you’re on a good VPN, it still shouldn’t slow you down too much.

If you have the address of a VPN server and the necessary credentials, iOS lets you set up your own VPN and connect directly. This is less convenient than using a provider app, since you need to know the details about every server you connect to, but it’s nice if you’re worried about trusting your privacy to a third party. It can also be convenient for quickly accessing a work or school VPN from your phone. Here’s how to do it.

Manually setting up a VPN connection on iOS.

Open the Settings app. Scroll down and tap General.

Scroll down again and tap VPN & Device Management. Tap the word VPN on the new page, then tap Add VPN Configuration. You should reach the screen shown above.

Make sure Type is set to IKEv2, then enter the Description, Server and Remote ID for the server you’re connecting to (plus the Local ID if there is one).

Your source for the server information should also have told you if it authenticates access with a username/password or certificate. Pick the correct option, then enter the credentials required.

Tap the Done button or the blue checkmark at the top-right of the screen.

You’ll arrive back on the previous menu with your new VPN option available. Toggle it on to connect. To turn it off, return to the same menu and deactivate the switch.

Do you need an iPhone VPN?

Whenever you get online, your internet service provider (ISP) assigns an IP address to your device — a unique fingerprint that follows you throughout the session. Your ISP may sell this knowledge to marketers to target ads at you, or in worse cases, collaborate with governments willing to violate their citizens’ rights to privacy.

When you use a VPN, though, your real IP address is hidden behind that of the VPN server, so nothing you do on the internet connects back to you. That’s why I always advise using a VPN on any device, including iPhones, that connects to the internet. It’s even more important on the unprotected public networks you sometimes find in cafes and hotels. On the fun side, you can also use a VPN to change your virtual location to show you different content libraries on Netflix and other streaming platforms.

One more thing: I often hear iPhone users ask whether they need a VPN, since iCloud Private Relay comes standard on iOS devices. Just to clear this up, iCloud Private Relay is not a VPN. As you can see from this support page, your ISP can still see your real IP address when it’s active.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/how-to-use-a-vpn-on-iphone-201743118.html?src=rss 

A startup called ReviMo has developed a robotic system that provides a way for people with limited mobility to lift and transfer themselves — like from a bed to a wheelchair, or to the toilet — without the assistance of a caregiver. ReviMo’s Niko has two sets of arms: one that forms a “scooping seat” that slides underneath the person to lift them up, and the other encircling their torso and providing a backrest. It can be operated both by remote and using the controls on its dashboard. Niko in its current iteration can carry up to 250 pounds, but the team says it’s working on a version that can support up to 400 pounds.

In addition to aiding in transfers, Niko can lift the rider to a standing level and offers retractable handlebars for support. It also has the potential to be a big help to caregivers, who in many cases assist with multiple transfers every day. Even in a situation where a person isn’t able to operate it by themselves, Niko facilitates a transfer that requires much less physical exertion than today’s common methods, like sling-based mechanical lift systems. At CES, founder Aleksandr Malaschenko gave a demonstration of its lifting capabilities, using it to scoop him up from a chair and bring him out into the aisle. 

Niko is designed to work with most wheelchairs and be compact enough to navigate small bathrooms. It can position a person right above a toilet, and there are disposable seat covers. The goal is to help people with limited ability achieve more independence.  

It is the kind of device that, if it delivers on its promises, could be a game-changer for people with limited mobility and paralysis, and their loved ones. My dad was diagnosed with ALS when I was a kid, and I learned how to operate a Hoyer lift by the time I was in middle school. This strikes me as something we would have really appreciated having around. Malaschenko has said the inspiration for the robotic system came from being a caregiver for his grandfather following a stroke. 

Niko is expected to be available before the end of this year. The system will cost about $15,000, though the team said it’s working to get Niko covered by insurance. The company is also offering lower prices for customers who sign up for one of its premium waitlists, and there are options to rent it, for those who would only need a lift and transfer system temporarily. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/niko-is-a-robotic-lift-for-people-with-limited-mobility-that-doesnt-require-a-caregivers-help-184500703.html?src=rss 

If you’ve never docked a boat before, consider yourself lucky. There are plenty of popular TikTok channels devoted to shaming those who bring their craft back home clumsily or berth them with something less than finesse. Tricky crosswinds, unpredictable surf and even the jeers of passersby can make it a stressful experience at the best of times.

Brunswick, which owns more than 50 water-borne brands like Sea Ray, Bayliner and Mercury Marine, has a solution. It’s demonstrating some self-docking tech called AutoCaptain at CES 2026 that makes this process a cinch, plus a fleet of other innovations that, in some cases, leave some of the smart cars on the show floor looking a bit remedial.

One of those technologies is edge AI. While in-car AI is an increasingly common feature, those agents are exclusively running remotely, relying on cellular connections to offload all the processing power required to drive a large language model.

Sadly, that won’t always work on a boat.

One of Brunswick’s tech-equipped boats

“One of the things about AI for boats is you don’t have connectivity, so there is some edge compute required,” David M. Foulkes told me. He’s chairman and CEO of Brunswick.

Many of the company’s boats do have active cellular connectivity, but head far enough offshore, and you’re on your own unless you’re packing Starlink or the like.

To solve that, Brunswick is running advanced SoCs from NVIDIA and other providers that enable running a limited agent offline — on the edge, as it were. When offline, Misty, as the on-boat AI assistant is called, won’t be able to make dinner reservations or craft a 3,000-word treatise on the history of America’s relationship with Greenland. It can, however, help with navigation or boat settings.

“It’ll help answer the kind of questions that you might need to take out a manual to understand and maybe act as an assistant to make your boating a bit smoother,” Foulkes said.

When the company’s smart boats are connected, they offer some degree of remote control. No, you can’t drive it around the docks and freak out your pier-mates, but you can check on the boat remotely to make sure nobody’s trying to stow away. You can even precondition it to get the cuddy cabin nice and cool before you come aboard.

Navan C30

Power for that, and a variety of other onboard systems, can come from an integrated power system called Fathom, which has a lot in common with modern smart home tech. Solar panels on the roof (nicely disguised beneath a black mesh) collect power to recharge an onboard battery, with various sizes upwards of 30 kWh depending on the boat’s size. That battery can also be recharged by the onboard motors, like the three 425-horsepower V10s the Sea Ray SLX 360 drydocked at the Brunswick booth at CES 2026.

The juice in that battery can then be used to power a variety of onboard systems, even charging a pair of electric hydrofoils, which another of the company’s boats, called the Navan C30, had strapped on the roof.

You’ll also find cameras on the roof of these boats. That’s how the AutoCaptain feature works, numerous fisheye lenses scanning the water in every direction. Approach a pier and the AI assistant asks if you’d like some help docking. Just tap the button on the touchscreen, then kick back and let Misty do the driving.

Between automated docking, the in-cabin AI assistant and the smart power distribution system, Brunswick’s boats offered some impressive tech. But then they’d have to, given the cost. The Sea Ray SLX 360 Outboard has a starting price of $586,000. The smaller Navan C30 is a rather more attainable, but still extreme, at $227,500. That’s still probably cheaper than hiring a real captain, though.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/brunswicks-latest-boats-at-ces-2026-feature-edge-ai-self-docking-capabilities-and-solar-power-185500213.html?src=rss