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The secret weapons in Arlo’s new security system are the all-in-one sensors

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Arlo has announced a new smart home security system. | Image: Arlo Arlo announced the impending arrival of its long-awaited home security system at CES 2022 this week, and the product even got a nod as a 2022 CES Innovation Award honoree. The company, known for its top-quality smart security cameras, also announced its support for Matter , a possible indication that a Matter specification for security cameras isn’t too far away. The DIY security monitoring solution is a natural expansion for the company that has a full suite of home security cameras. So natural that it actually announced one at CES 2019 . While that product never saw the light of day, the latest Arlo Security System is a complete redesign. The signature feature are the new, all-in-one multi-sensors with eight different functions, plus... Continue reading…

Go read this NYT investigation on the inaccuracy of prenatal blood tests

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Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Blood tests on pregnant people that look for rare and devastating developmental conditions in fetuses are often wrong, according to an investigation from The New York Times . The blood testing technology, called noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), works very well for more common disorders like Down syndrome. But The New York Times reported that a review of data from multiple studies showed that when NIPT is used to test for uncommon things like Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (which is found in one in 20,000 births) or Cri-du-chat syndrome (which is found in one in 15,000 births), positive results are wrong 80 percent of the time or more. These tests, made by companies like Natera and Sequenom, have become more popular in recent years.... Continue reading…

Acer’s new Chromebook Spin has a bigger screen but shorter battery life

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The Acer Chromebook Spin 513 has a battery life of up to 10 hours. | Image by Acer Acer announced that it’s updating its existing lineup of Chromebooks with three new devices at CES 2022, each of which comes with slight changes when compared to its predecessors. Image by Acer The new Spin 513 has a larger 13.5-inch display compared to its predecessor. The new Spin 513 comes with a 13.5-inch display, an upgrade from the 13-inch screen that the previously released Spin 513 had . It swaps the Snapdragon 7c Compute SC7180 in for the MediaTek Kompanio 1380, a new processor that also comes with eight cores. And like all Spin models, you can bend back the screen to use the Chromebook as a tablet or stand it up on a flat surface in a tent-like position when watching videos. However, there is a bit of... Continue reading…

L’Oreal’s newest gadget takes the mess out of coloring your hair

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The L’Oreal ColorSonic is meant to make at-home hair coloring more convenient. | Image: L’Oreal While you might not expect it, L’Oreal has been a regular at CES these past few years, launching everything from wearable UV and pH sensors to an AI-powered skin care gadget . This year, the company is back with yet another invention, the Colorsonic — a device meant to make dying your hair at home a hell of a lot more convenient. The Colorsonic doesn’t look too far off from other hair styling gadgets. The top half has a nozzle with bristles, while the bottom half stores a cartridge containing a “precise mix of developer and formula.” The device works by dispensing the correct amount of hair color and then the bristles oscillate over 300 times a minute at a specific angle to evenly apply the color. Basically, the idea behind the device is... Continue reading…

Comcast’s new router includes Wi-Fi 6E, Zigbee, and Matter

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Image: Comcast Comcast has announced that its xFi Advanced Gateway Wi-Fi router is getting an upgrade — the new version will support the Wi-Fi 6E standard and have support for the Zigbee and Matter IoT standards built in. Comcast says that the addition of a third, 6GHz band alongside the 2.4 and 5GHz bands found on its old gateway (and most modern, decent routers) should make the router ready for homes with dozens of wireless devices, including ones that use lots of bandwidth like VR headsets and gaming consoles. The selling point of the new (in terms of wireless standards, anyway) Wi-Fi 6E is that it can provide more bandwidth to power more devices, all with less potential for interference from other networks. Support for this standard should,... Continue reading…

Mercedes-Benz unveils sporty, ultra-long-range Vision EQXX electric concept car

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The German automaker claims improved aerodynamics and battery efficiency allows for 1,000 km of range Continue reading…

Samsung’s 2022 TV lineup has big software changes, smaller hardware upgrades

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Image: Samsung Samsung introduced its first TVs with Micro LED technology at CES 2021, and they wound up being perhaps the best sets that the company has produced yet — not counting the exorbitantly priced The Wall, that is. So this year, Samsung is opting for a different approach: it’s taking smaller strides in hardware and focusing more of its efforts on software refinement and new features. Samsung’s 2022 TVs will continue to run the company’s Tizen OS, but they’ll now come with a totally revamped home screen that’s described as “a testament to our vision for the future of TVs.” The first part of the new user experience is what Samsung calls the Media Screen. This will “put all of your streaming service content into one, easy-to-browse place” with... Continue reading…