LG is going to start selling a compact bipedal robot that can roll around your house freely. The AI-powered robot, which will debut at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, has a wide range of capabilities — from notifying you that you left the AC on while you're away to watching your pet while you're at work. Like stationary smart home aids, like Alexa or Apple HomePod, LG’s robot can also tell you the weather and remind you to take your medications on time.

The robot is powered by Qualcomm’s Robotics RB5 Platform, which entails a mix of hardware and software that run the bot’s AI program. Some of these include its ability to recognize faces and voices, process the emotions of those around it and engage in conversation. LG says the bot will be able to greet you at your door, analyze your emotions and play music to either boost your good mood or lull you to sleep. It can even “emote” by changing its posture thanks to its articulated leg joints. Although it's a cute feature, it might not have any practical use beyond making it approachable.

The robot is also equipped with a camera in its face, a speaker and various sensors throughout that give it the ability to navigate, speak and listen. It can also measure indoor air quality and temperature, however, it's unclear if it can actually be linked to a smart home system and control your thermostat. LG has not yet responded to comment on this and said the price of the robot will be announced at a later time.

Because the bot can move around freely, you can program it to look after your pets while you're gone and send your smartphone notifications “if any unusual activity is detected.” Using the same monitoring tools, the bot can act as a mobile “security guard” and send you notifications if there is movement in the house while you're away. Or more likely, just let you know you left the kitchen lights on.

LG just announced new entries in its gram series of laptops as part of an early CES 2024 reveal. These include two new LG Gram Pro laptops and standard refreshes of the pre-existing gram line.

The LG Gram Pro boasts impressive specs, with an Intel Core Ultra processor and a GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. These computers also ship with Intel’s AI Boost technology. LG says this upgrade allows the laptop to “handle AI workloads even without a network connection.”

This AI tomfoolery also extends to the company’s proprietary Link app, which now automatically shares files and photos between devices. Finally, this is the first gram laptop to feature a dual-fan cooling system. AI tools are notoriously power-hungry and this will help stave off excess heat. You can choose between 16-inch and 17-inch models here.

LG

The LG Gram Pro 2-in-1 offers similar specs to the standard Pro, but with a convertible form factor and a one-size-fits-all 16-inch OLED display. There’s a touchscreen, a 360-degree adjustable hinge and a “super-slim bezel design.” This hybrid laptop comes with Intel’s AI Boost tech and LG’s Link app. It’s also lightweight, at around three pounds, with the company boasting that it recently won the Guiness World Record for “lightest 16-inch 2-in-1 laptop.” Geeze. These records sure are getting highly specific. 

The standard LG Gram line’s also getting a nice refresh, with new iterations of gram 17, 16, 15 and 14 models. Each of these comes with Intel Core Ultra processors and IPS panels with anti-glare coating. The 17 and 16 models boast WQXGA resolution displays, while the smaller SKUs get FHD or WUXGA resolution displays. These laptops are intended for regular business and school use, so they come with FHD webcams and a “variety of user-friendly software.” They also boast the same Mirametrix privacy tech as previous generations.

If you find yourself in Las Vegas in two weeks, all of these laptops will be on display as part of LG’s presence at CES 2024. The company hasn’t announced pricing or availability yet, but has stated that each will show up on store shelves at some point during 2024.

As part of our year-end story package, we tasked ChatGPT with writing a guest post about the future of generative AI. The prompt asked for a 1,200 word article (a number it undercut by quite a margin) that explored both the potential negative and positive outcomes of the technology. We then asked it to include real world examples, which is apparently beyond its capabilities. We also asked it to include a section on the recent Sam Altman debacle which, as you will soon read, was also not a topic it was particularly capable at describing. Below is the unedited output with light changes for formatting.

Navigating the future of Generative AI: Balancing exciting possibilities and potential pitfalls

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful force, reshaping the technological landscape with its ability to create content autonomously. From language models like GPT-3 to image-generating algorithms, generative AI holds immense promise for the future. However, this promising future is not without its challenges. In this article, we will explore the potential negative outcomes and the most exciting possibilities of generative AI, aiming to strike a balance between optimism and caution. Additionally, we'll address the recent leadership shift involving Sam Altman at OpenAI, shedding light on the ethical considerations associated with AI development.

Sam Altman's Leadership Shift: Lessons in ethical AI

In recent months, the AI community witnessed a significant leadership shift at OpenAI involving Sam Altman. The CEO, known for his influential role in steering OpenAI's initiatives, faced a period of controversy surrounding his firing and subsequent re-hiring. This incident underscored the challenges associated with ethical considerations in AI development and management.

Addressing ethical concerns: Sam Altman's leadership shift prompted a reevaluation of ethical considerations in AI development and organizational decision-making. The incident raised questions about transparency, accountability, and the need for robust ethical frameworks to guide the development and deployment of AI technologies.

Transparency and accountability: The leadership transition emphasized the importance of transparency in organizational decision-making, especially in contexts where AI technologies with widespread implications are involved. It highlighted the necessity of holding leaders and organizations accountable for their actions and ensuring that ethical guidelines are followed.

Community involvement: The controversy surrounding Sam Altman's leadership shift also brought to light the significance of involving the wider community in decisions related to AI development. The call for more inclusive decision-making processes gained momentum, reinforcing the idea that diverse perspectives are crucial in navigating the ethical challenges associated with AI technologies.

Photoshop (AI prompt: "The future of generative AI in manga style")

The potential negative outcomes

Ethical concerns and bias

One of the primary concerns with generative AI lies in its susceptibility to biases present in training data. If the data used to train these models reflects societal biases, the AI may inadvertently perpetuate and amplify those biases in its generated content. Addressing this issue is crucial to prevent AI systems from unintentionally reinforcing and spreading harmful stereotypes.

Security threats and Deepfakes

The ability of generative AI to produce highly realistic and convincing content raises serious security concerns. Deepfakes, for instance, are AI-generated images or videos that manipulate and superimpose content onto real footage. This technology can be exploited for malicious purposes, such as creating fake news, impersonating individuals, or spreading misinformation. As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, the challenge of distinguishing between real and fake content becomes increasingly difficult.

Privacy invasion

The advancements in generative AI also raise concerns about privacy invasion. The ability to generate realistic images and videos of individuals who never participated in such content creation poses a risk to personal privacy. Protecting individuals from the unauthorized use of their likeness in AI-generated content will be a pressing issue in the coming years.

Unemployment and Economic Disruption

The automation capabilities of generative AI may lead to workforce displacement in certain industries. Jobs that involve routine and repetitive tasks, such as content creation, could be at risk. Striking a balance between technological advancement and societal well-being will be a challenge to ensure that AI complements human labor rather than replaces it.

Moral and Ethical Dilemmas

As AI systems become more proficient in generating content that mimics human creativity, ethical questions arise. For instance, who owns the rights to AI-generated art or literature? Determining the legal and moral implications of creations produced by non-human entities challenges our conventional understanding of authorship and intellectual property.

Photoshop (AI prompt: "futuristic AI utopia")

The Most Exciting Possibilities

Enhanced Creativity and Productivity

Generative AI has the potential to amplify human creativity and productivity by automating mundane tasks, allowing individuals to focus on more complex and strategic aspects of their work. In fields like content creation, design, and marketing, AI can assist and inspire, leading to a surge in innovation and efficiency.

Revolutionizing Healthcare

The future of generative AI promises breakthroughs in healthcare, from drug discovery to personalized medicine. AI models can analyze vast datasets, identify patterns, and propose novel solutions, significantly accelerating the pace of medical research and improving patient outcomes.

Customized User Experiences

As generative AI continues to evolve, it can provide highly personalized and tailored experiences for users. From adaptive learning platforms to content recommendations, AI systems can understand individual preferences and behaviors, offering a more seamless and engaging user experience.

Human-AI Collaboration

Instead of replacing human roles, generative AI is likely to enhance collaboration between humans and machines. AI tools can serve as creative partners, aiding professionals in various fields to achieve outcomes that wouldn't be possible with traditional methods alone. This collaborative approach can lead to unprecedented levels of innovation.

Innovations in Art and Entertainment

Generative AI is already making waves in the art world, creating unique pieces that challenge traditional notions of creativity. In the entertainment industry, AI-driven content creation can open new avenues for storytelling, virtual worlds, and interactive experiences, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in these fields.

Conclusion

The future of generative AI is a double-edged sword, offering both exciting possibilities and potential pitfalls. As we navigate this technological landscape, it is crucial to acknowledge and address the ethical concerns and negative outcomes associated with generative AI. Striking a balance between innovation and responsible development is imperative to harness the full potential of AI while mitigating its risks.

By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, implementing ethical guidelines, and investing in research to address biases and security threats, we can pave the way for a future where generative AI enhances human creativity, productivity, and well-being. The recent leadership shift involving Sam Altman serves as a reminder of the importance of ethical considerations in AI development, urging the industry to learn from past mistakes and collectively shape a future where AI benefits humanity responsibly.

We’re just over a year since it burst onto the scene and OpenAI’s ChatGPT program is somehow even more everywhere than it was in February. Our capability to regulate generative AI and mitigate its myriad real-world harms, on the other hand, continues to lag far behind the technology’s state-of-the-art. That makes 2024 a potentially pivotal year for generative AI in particular and machine learning in genera. ill AI continue to prove itself a fundamental revolution in human-computer communication, on par with the introduction of the mouse in 1963?, Or are we instead heading down yet another overhyped technological dead-end like 3D televisions? Let’s take a look at how OpenAI and its chatbot have impacted consumer electronics in 2023 and where they might lead the industry in the new year.

OpenAI had a great year, all things considered

“Meteoric” doesn’t do justice to OpenAI’s rise this year. The company released ChatGPT on November 30, 2022. Within five days, the program had passed 1 million users; by January, 100 million people a month were logging on to use it. It took Facebook four and a half years to reach those sorts of engagement numbers. ChatGPT outpaced the launches of both TikTok and Instagram to become the most quickly adopted program in the history of the internet in 2023. Heading into 2024, OpenAI (with billions in financial backing from Microsoft) stands at the forefront of the generative AI industry — whether the company can stay there, while billions more are being poured into its rivals’ R&D coffers, remains to be seen.

The company’s sudden success this year also launched its CEO Sam Altman into the media spotlight, with the 38-year-old former head of Y-Combinator basking in much of the praise formerly heaped upon Elon Musk. For a while, Altman was everywhere, repeatedly making appearances before Congressional committees and attending the Senate’s AI Safety Summits. He also conducted a 16-city world tour to Israel, India, Japan, Nigeria, South Korea, across Europe and to the UAE to help promote ChatGPT to developers and policy makers.

Even his termination at the hands of OpenAI’s board of directors in November ended up being a net positive. Fired on a Friday, Altman’s ouster set off 72 hours of panic in Silicon Valley with multiple OpenAI leaders resigning in solidarity, some 95 percent of rank and file staff threatening to walk without his reinstatement, the installation and removal of two interim CEOs in as many days and, ultimately, an indirect intervention by Microsoft. In the end, Altman is still CEO of OpenAI, now with a more compliant and agreeable board, and the tacit understanding throughout the industry that if you strike him down, Sam Altman will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Keeping pace proved a challenge for OpenAI’s competition

A significant contributor to ChatGPT’s immediate and overwhelming success is that it was the first AI of its kind to market. Image generators like DALL-E and Midjourney were already popular diversions, and the public had long acclimated to more mundane machine learning tasks like language translation, but OpenAI was the first with a generative AI program that conversed naturally with its user. That novelty proved an invaluable advantage as even tech titans like Google and Amazon with their massive R&D budgets were caught unprepared for such demand and were slow to respond with competing products of their own.

Google was the most ignoble example of such imitators this year. Following ChatGPT’s debut, Google dedicated the vast majority of its I/O Developers Conference in March to a raft of brand new generative AI models and platforms, including the debut of the Google Bard chatbot. Bard was Google’s answer to ChatGPT, just not a particularly reliable one to start. Even before its public release, Bard made an embarrassing first impression when in February it confidently recited incorrect information about the James Webb Space Telescope in a Twitter ad.

Throughout the year, Google steadily added features, capabilities and access to Bard, eventually shunting the entire platform in December to its newly released foundational model, Gemini, which had been billed as Google’s “most capable and general model” built to date. Google was, of course, then immediately caught misrepresenting the system’s capabilities during a video demonstration. Even without once again getting caught in an easily disprovable lie, Gemini’s demo did little to quiet critics of Google’s stilted and frantic response to ChatGPT.

As a recent Bloomberg op-ed points out, yes, Gemini beat out ChatGPT in a majority of the industry’s standard performance benchmarks. However, Google used the as-yet unreleased Gemini Ultra model to earn its scores and the model only bested GPT-4 so by exceedingly narrow margins. GPT-4 came out nearly a year ago and Google’s best effort barely topped it in middle school-level algebra tasks. That’s not a great look from a corporation that boasts research budgets which rival the GDP of small nations.

Bing is doing just fine, thanks for asking. Microsoft dropped $10 billion on OpenAI in January as part of an ongoing multi-year partnership so now Bing — and literally everything else in the MS ecosystem — is being augmented with algorithmic intelligence. If there was one company that had a better 2023 than OpenAI, it’s Microsoft, which is reportedly set to receive 75 percent of all OpenAI’s profit until those invested billions are recouped.

Amazon placed its $4 billion generative AI bet on Anthropic’s Claude LLM, and made significant headway in leveraging the technology for use in its sprawling empire in 2023, from its Echo Frames smart glasses to Alexa with Generative AI to NFL Thursday Night Games. The company introduced its Bedrock foundational model platform (which will offer AI-generated text and images as a cloud service), launched a series of free AI Ready developer courses and an accelerator program to fund genAI startups, debuted generative tools for filling backgrounds and product listings and now offers a standalone image generator AI to rival DALL-E.

"Inside Amazon, every one of our teams is working on building generative AI applications that reinvent and enhance their customers' experience," CEO Andy Jassy said during the company’s Q2 earnings call in August. "But while we will build a number of these applications ourselves, most will be built by other companies, and we're optimistic that the largest number of these will be built on [Amazon Web Services]. Remember, the core of AI is data. People want to bring generative AI models to the data, not the other way around."

We’re still not ready for the age of AI

Even when it's not being used for obviously nefarious purposes like defrauding the elderly and amplifying political misinformation, generative AI technology has proven immensely disruptive to numerous industries and institutions from logistics and manufacturing to education and healthcare. It has been touted as a replacement for humans in professions ranging from medical imaging, computer programming and accounting to journalism and digital visual arts — in many cases, layoffs have been quick to follow.

This year also saw labor strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, in part, to prevent their works and likenesses from being used to train future AI models. Independent artists, whose intellectual property has been shamelessly scraped by disreputable firms for model training (looking at you, Stability AI), have had far less success in protecting their works — leading some creators to take drastic and damaging countermeasures.

Data privacy has proven a sticking point for AI companies in 2023. A ChatGPT bug found in March had apparently been sharing chat history titles (and potentially payment data). A trio of Samsung employees inadvertently divulged company secrets when they used ChatGPT to summarize the events of a business meeting in April. Microsoft AI researchers accidentally uploaded 38TB of company data to an open access Azure web folder in September, right around the time it was discovered that Google had been unknowingly leaking users’ Bard conversations into its general search results. As recently as November security researchers were finding that even “silly” attacks like telling ChatGPT to repeat the word “poem” ad infinitum would trick the system into revealing personally identifiable information.

The institutional response to these growing issues was tepid to start the year, mostly school districts, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies restricting use of chatbot AIs by their employees (and students). These initial efforts proved largely ineffective, due to the difficulty in actually enforcing them. The federal government's regulatory efforts are expected to have far more teeth.

The Biden White House has made AI regulation a centerpiece of its administration, developing a “blueprint” for its AI Bill of Rights last October, investing millions into new AI R&D centers for the National Science Foundation, wringing development guardrail concessions from leading AI companies and launching an AI Cyber Challenge, among other efforts. The administration’s most ambitious action came in October when the President issued a sweeping executive order establishing broad protections and best practices regarding user privacy, government transparency and public safety in future AI development by federal contractors. The US Senate and House have both been busy as well this year, holding congressional hearings on federal oversight rules for the AI industry, hosting a pair of AI Safety Summits and drafting legislation (which has yet to receive a vote).

Looking ahead to OpenAI’s 2024 and beyond

It’s OpenAI’s lead to lose heading into the new year. CEO Sam Altman holds firmer control over the company than ever, all dissenting voices on the board calling for caution have been silenced and the company is poised to further expand its operations in 2024 as the technology continues its global advance. I expect to see OpenAI’s competitors make a better showing in the new year with Google, Meta and Amazon spending freely on AI research in order to catch up and surpass the GPT platform.

And even though the entire ChatGPT craze got started with individual users, Paul Silverglate, vice chair of Deloitte LLP, sees the largest gains in 2024 coming from enterprise applications. “Expect to see generative AI integrated into enterprise software, giving more knowledge workers the tools they need to work with greater efficiency and make better decisions,” he wrote in a recent release.

A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimates that the current generation of conversational AI systems “have the potential to automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time” thanks to rapid advancements in natural language processing technology with “half of today’s work activities" potentially being automated away from human hands "between 2030 and 2060." That’s a decade sooner than previously estimated.

LG is best known for its OLED range when it comes to TVs, but it's expanding its 2024 QNED-branded LCD lineup as well. For CES 2024, the company has unveiled a 98-inch QNED LCD TV, while updating the previous models including its 8K lineup with a new version of its webOS smart TV system, built-in Chromecast, AI-enhanced video and more. 

This year, LG has four QNED ranges (QNED = quantum dot and nanocell): the 8K miniLED QNED99T, 4K miniLED QNED90T, QNED85T LCD, and the QNED80T range at the bottom. The top QNED99T models will use LG's Alpha 9 processor that can enhance video and audio using AI, while the the QNED90T and QNED85T lineup will feature an updated Alpha 8 processor with improved processing, graphics and AI performance. The QNED80T will use LG's lower-end Alpha 5 Gen 7 chip. 

All models offer LG's webOS 24, with individual profiles that allow for personalized recommendations and voice recognition for each individual user. It also has Chromecast built in, so you'll be able to watch content from Android and iOS devices via AirPlay 2 and Chromecast, respectively. And starting next year, all of LG's QNED TVs will receive 4 years of webOS upgrades. In addition, some of its previous high-end models (namely, the 8K models launched in 2022 and some others yet to be named), will also get webOS updates for free.

The 98-inch model is part of the LG QNED85T lineup, which means it's a mid-range 4K LCD set with local dimming but not miniLED tech. That means it's likely to be priced more reasonably than miniLED TVs, but will lack the precise dimming found on those models. It will have the latest webOS 24 smart TV features, but LG didn't reveal any other specs or the price. LG will also offer 50-, 55-, 65-, 75- and 86-inch models in that range. 

LG will offer two 8K models (QNED99T) in 75- and 86-inch sizes. No specs or prices are available, but the previous models (that are no longer stocked in the US) cost around $4,800 and $6,500 at launch, respectively. You can also expect very high brightness levels up to 3,000 nits, Dolby Vision HDR support, Dolby Atmos and 120Hz or higher refresh rates for gaming. The QNED90T 4K TVs will also use miniLED and come in 65-, 75- and 86-inch sizes. 

The bottom end of the lineup (QNED80T) will appeal to budget minded buyers, but still offer the latest smart TV features, Dolby Vision, etc. It'll be available in 43-, 50-, 55-, 65-, 75- and 86-inch sizes. Expect more details and pricing for the new lineup sometime next year.

It was an amazing year for games. While there were no new consoles,we did get new VR headsets and a wave of new handheld PCs offered even more options for playing games on the go (or at least on the couch). That’s reflected in many of our picks for best games of the year, with several PC-only choices.

The year kicked off with a fantastic remake of space horror Dead Space and the breakout success, Pizza Tower. But there were so many more. Obvious selections? Yes: the latest Zelda epic is there, as is Baldur’s Gate 3. If you’ve got some time between Christmas and New Year, there may be no better way to spend it than with one of these games. I’ve got Cocoon waiting for me.

— Mat Smith

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The first EV with a lithium-free sodium battery hits the road in January

The Apple Watch import ban is paused — for now

What happens next depends on the ITC's response.

Urgh, tech news whiplash. A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. has allowed Apple to continue importing the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models. This was just a day after Apple filed its appeal against the International Trade Commission’s decision to ban imports of both models of the Apple Watch due to a patent dispute. But you probably read all about that – multiple times.

Continue reading.

The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement

The AI companies used the newspaper's articles for training.

The backlash on AI companies and their tools continues to grow – these AI models need information from somewhere. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for using its news articles to train its artificial intelligence chatbots without an agreement that compensates it for its intellectual property. It alleges more than 66 million records, ranging from breaking news articles to op-eds, published across the NYT websites and other affiliated brands were used to train the AI models. The NYT also says these AI products can generate output that “mimics its expressive style.” This mirrors complaints from comedians and authors like Sarah Silverman and Julian Sancton.

Continue reading.

Swedish Researchers develop ‘electronic soil’ that speeds up plant growth

‘eSoil’ is here.

Thor Balkhed/Linköping University

Researchers from Linköping University in Sweden have developed a ‘bioelectronic soil’. It can apparently speed up the growth of plants in hydroponic spaces, or farms that grow plants in environments made up of mostly water. After integrating the engineered ‘eSoil’ into the framework where seedlings grow, researchers discovered that sending electrical signals through the soil made barley plants grow 50 percent more on average.

This is done through a conductive polymer within the soil and applying a voltage as small as 0.5V on the eSoil to stimulate the roots electrically.

Continue reading.

Russia and the United States have had a strained relationship, at best, in recent years. However, the pair are still working together in one regard: getting crews to the International Space Station (ISS). Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency, has announced that the two countries will continue partnering on "cross-flights until 2025 inclusive."

Cross-flights involve putting crews from multiple countries onto the same spacecraft. Roscosmos intends always to have at least one of its own representatives in the Russia section of the ISS and at least one NASA representative in the US section. The agency added that the decision was made "to maintain the reliability of the ISS as a whole." The ISS, launched in 1998, is a symbol of US-Russia cooperation after the Cold War and the space race ended.

The news follows NASA's April 2023 announcement that Russia will remain aboard the ISS until 2028. The Director General of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, had previously said Russia would pull out of the ISS "after 2024" to focus on creating its own space station. NASA had been preparing for Russia's departure with plans ranging from pulling astronauts from the ISS to figuring out how to control the ISS if Russia took away its thrusters. The US agency has committed to maintaining the ISS until at least 2030.

A bundle of four Apple AirTags is currently on sale at Amazon for a price that's even lower than what it sold for during the website's Black Friday sale. You can get the four-pack right now for only $79, 20 percent lower than its retail price of $99 and just a few bucks more than its all-time low. It's a great buy if you've been looking to grab a few AirTags to keep track of several belongings, such as bags and suitcases that airlines could accidentally leave at your connecting airport, or your wallet and keys that you could misplace.

AirTags can link up with your iPhone and iPad in one tap, and you can use it to find the items it's tracking through the Find My app. It can help you find lost items by sending out Bluetooth signals that can be tracked by nearby Apple devices also connected to the Find My network. Since some of the top-selling phones in the world are iPhones, you'll have more than a decent chance of finding any lost belongings.

If you think the item you're tracking could be nearby, you can play a sound through the AirTag's built-in speaker so that you could easily locate it. On the latest iPhone models, you can even use the Precision Finding feature to get the direction to and know the distance between you and your AirTag. But if it has truly been lost or misplaced, you can put your AirTag in lost mode so that you can instantly get a notification when it's been detected by devices on the Find My network.

At the moment, a single AirTag will set you back $24 at Amazon, where it's also selling for 17 percent less than its retail price. It's a good deal if you really only need one AirTag, but the bundle price is unbeatable if you think you may need a few. 

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The new year is almost here, and not many purchases say fresh start more than an upgrade to your smart home tech. Thankfully, getting one of the latest smart home gadgets won't cost too much right now, thanks to a 40 percent discount on Amazon's new third-generation Echo Show 8. The device is down to $90 from $150 — an all-time low. 

Amazon announced the third-gen Echo Show 8 at an event in September, showing off the device's new edge-to-edge front glass and nice, softer curves. The latest model has quite a few upgrades, but one of the most notable is an Adaptive Content feature. When you're far away from the device — say, sitting across the room — it will display information like the weather and time in a large font. However, the Echo Show 8 will show more personalized content like playlists or news articles when you step closer. Amazon also designed this feature for the second-gen model and other Echo Show devices. 

As for the third-gen Echo Show 8, it has spatial audio and room calibration, which should be especially obvious through bass and clarity. It also handles Alexa requests on-device with a new processor and should give you a 40 percent faster response time. Amazon also gave the device a 13MP camera and microphones that are more effective at minimizing background noise.  

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Xiaomi, a Chinese brand once synonymous with affordable smartphones, is now attempting to make an even bigger splash with its first-ever electric car. Unveiled at a Beijing event earlier today, the Xiaomi SU7 — pronounced "soo-chee" in Chinese — is a sedan based on the company's very own Modena Architecture with HyperEngine electric motors. The line will come in two flavors: the dual-motor all-wheel-drive SU7 Max, and the single-motor rear-wheel-drive SU7.

It'll be a few more months before Xiaomi announces the prices, but it's already claiming that the SU7 Max has a range of up to 800km (497 miles; according to China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle aka CLTC), as well as a 0-100km/h acceleration of just 2.78s, both of which apparently beating Tesla's Model S and Porsche's Taycan Turbo. This is partly thanks to battery maker CATL's generous 101kWh 800V high-voltage platform, which offers a 220km range with just a 5-minute charge, or 390km in 10 minutes, or 510km in 15 minutes.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi hired talents from the auto industry to realize this project. Most notably, CEO Lei Jun claimed that Tianyuan Li, formerly of BMW's iX series and iVision concepts, offered himself to Xiaomi's auto design team. Li was also joined by James Qiu, who had previously worked on Mercedes-Benz's Vision EQXX design. They later recruited Chris Bangle, a BMW veteran, to be their design consultant.

The SU7 is about the same size as the BMW 5 series, coming in at 1,440mm tall, 1,963mm wide and 4,997mm long. You get three color options: the signature "aqua blue," gray or olive green. In his event, Lei highlighted the seemingly generous leg room as well as trunk spaces — 517L in the back and 105L in the front.

At the launch event, Lei highlighted details like the "water droplet" head lamps, each of which resembled the Chinese character for "rice" (which is the "mi" in "Xiaomi"), as well as halo rear brake light consisting of 360 LEDs. The exec also pointed out that his team went with the half-hidden door handles, because the more flush handles are apparently harder to use in cold weather.

Xiaomi

Just as Xiaomi teased earlier, the SU7 offers a HyperOS in-car entertainment system, which is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8295 processor and takes just 1.49 seconds to boot. You can access your media, adjust your seats or even control your Xiaomi home appliances via the 16.1-inch 3K central screen, as well as optional Xiaomi Pad tablets which can be mounted on magnetic ports (up to 22.5W output) behind the two front head rests. The UI on the central screen allows for up to three split windows for multitasking, and you can even cast your Xiaomi phone's screen to it for a seamless experience. As for music and video entertainment, it'll be complemented by the 23 internal Dolby Atmos speakers.

Much like Volkswagen, Xiaomi already knows that car owners still prefer to have some physical buttons, so it's kept a few for climate control, as well as two extra buttons — one for toggling the spoiler (Lei said this is largely for showing off), and one for adjusting the body height (to avoid scratching the bottom, if needed). You can also get an optional row of buttons mounted beneath the central display.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi has yet to share prices for the SU7 line, though Lei already hinted that they will be expensive — which is subjective, of course. We shall find out in a few months' time, and hopefully by then we'll know about availability outside China as well, but we wouldn't count on a US launch any time soon, if ever. Meanwhile, you can get the Xiaomi 14, 14 Pro smartphones and the Xiaomi Watch S3 eSIM in their limited edition colors — either aqua blue or olive green — to match the upcoming SU7.

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