January has arrived, and with it, new entries to Netgear’s long list of wireless routers for both gamers and professionals. This year, the major talking point is likely to be the new Nighthawk RAXE300, which sits a little below the flagship RAXE500 in the company’s high-end line. The RAXE300 offers a combined top WiFi speed of 7.8Gbps, plus the benefit of being able to leverage the 6GHz band for faster connectivity. Netgear promises that you’ll get around 2,500 square feet of coverage from the device, plus enough gigabit ethernet ports to connect the rest of your smart home to.

At the same time, Netgear wanted to take the opportunity to remind the world of the Orbi 5G WiFi 6 Mesh NBK752, which was released late last year. It’s the first 5G tri-band mesh system, which can leverage the 5G modem inside for always-on mobile broadband or as a backup should a standard wired connection fail. Not to mention that, as like many of Netgear’s tri-band products, the backhaul network between the router and its satellite(s) should ensure a stronger, more reliable connection.

Rounding out the list is the Orbi Pro, SXK50, the company’s new mid-range device for small businesses and professional types working from home. It’s a little behind the top-tier SK80, with a cap of 75 concurrent devices, down from 100 for the flagship, as well as a slightly slower WiFi 6 speed, but it’s likely to be an ideal option for some businesses looking for faster and more reliable connectivity.

Netgear

Rounding out the announcements for this year is Game Booster, a paid-for add-on service for Orbi users so that they cam get the same lag-banishing features found in the Nighthawk routers. That includes the ability to track pings and pick the fastest server for specific online games, as well as a built-in ad-and-tracking blocker. Unfortunately, such features will set you back $50 per year after a 30-day free trial, and only if you currently own the Orbi series 750, 850 and 960.

The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 will be available in the first quarter of 2022, and will set you back $400, while the Orbi 5G is already available, priced at $1,099.99. The Orbi Pro SXK50, meanwhile, will be available in the US at some point in January 2022, and can be pre-ordered now for $450.

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It’s been the better part of two years since Y-Brush started shipping, offering people a different way to clean their teeth. The retainer-shaped device is filled with nylon bristles which you put into your mouth, promising to sanitize your chompers in just 10 seconds. Now, at CES 2022, the company is showing off the concept for its second-generation device that’ll offer a lot more than its predecessor ever did.

The new Y-Brush concept has bristles on both sides of the retainer, meaning that users don’t need to pull the device out and flip it over to do the bottom half of their mouths. Instead, you’ll just need to move it to the sides a bit to ensure perfect coverage. More importantly, however, is that rather than just one program, this proposed new model will offer six vibration modes, including Gum Care, Whitening and Polishing.

A beefier base both enables inductive charging and helps reduce toppling while sat on the countertop, while a companion app will help you set different programs based on your brushing habits. Although given that the whole point of this thing is to shove in your mouth and not do much at all, we’re not sure how useful that would be.

For now, this second-generation Y-Brush is little more than a concept that the company wants to show off here at CES. But the thought is that this initial idea can be refined ready for the second-generation Brush, whenever that turns up.

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First out of the gates in 2022, OnePlus has a new flagship for anyone already looking for a smartphone refresh. The company is holding back from revealing absolutely everything (well, most things), but that hasn't stopped leaks and rumors of a 6.7-inch display with high refresh rates, and the very latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. 

We're intrigued to hear more about the camera array, which will combine three camera sensors. Also, written on the fourth element of the camera unit, what does P2D 50T mean? 

The big challenge could be balancing price, specs and features so that it offers enough go up against the high-end phones of Apple and Samsung. At the same time, it has to offer tangibly more than its cheaper Nord phone series.

The OnePlus 10 Pro will launch first in China on Tuesday January 11th. With that timescale in mind, expect to hear all the other details very soon.

OnePlus

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Elizabeth Homes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, has been found guilty on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison for defrauding investors in her blood testing startup. The verdict comes after a months-long trial, and more than three years after she was first charged and forced to step down as CEO in 2018.

During the trial, Holmes’ lawyers tried to portray her as a young and inexperienced entrepreneur. “Elizabeth Holmes worked herself to the bone for 15 years trying to make lab testing more affordable,” one of Holmes’ attorneys said in opening arguments. “She failed … but failure is not a crime.”

Holmes, who testified during the trial, said she hadn’t intended to mislead the public or investors, and had been advised to protect the company’s “trade secrets.” As The New York Times pointed out, she “spent much of her testimony arguing that others at Theranos were responsible for the company’s shortcomings.”

The prosecution alleged that Holmes knew about serious flaws in the company’s technology and hid the issues from investors. Former patients who had received inaccurate blood tests also testified, including an Arizona woman who received an incorrect result for an HIV test, and a woman who was misdiagnosed with a miscarriage.

Holmes’ story has been a source of widespread fascination even for those outside of Silicon Valley. At its peak, Theranos was valued at more than $9 billion, and had a board of directors filled with former high-ranking government officials, including two former Secretaries of State, Henry Kissinger and George Shultz. Holmes, who had dropped out of Stanford to start the company, regularly appeared on magazine covers and was often compared to Steve Jobs and other iconic founders. (Holmes herself was reportedly infatuated with Jobs and adopted his signature black turtlenecks.)

Former Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou was the first to report on issues with Theranos’ technology in 2015, and his coverage prompted multiple investigations and lawsuits that ultimately resulted in criminal charges for Holmes and former COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. (Balwani’s trial is scheduled to begin in February.)

Since then, there has been no shortage of pop culture depictions of Holmes. After Carreyrou’s best seller, Bad Blood, there was an HBO documentary and several podcasts about Theranos’ rise and ultimate downfall. Hulu is set to debut a new miniseries about the saga, with Amanda Seyfried starring as Holmes, in March. And Apple recently nabbed the Jennifer Lawrence-led film adaptation of Bad Blood.

Developing…

Apple's Find My tech is making its way into more products, including a backpack from Targus. The Cypress Hero Backpack has a built-in location tracker that could help its rightful owner find it through the Find My network if it goes missing. Conversely, if you misplace your iPhone, you can press a button on the backpack to ping your phone, as long as you've set things up in the Targus app.

Targus says the tracker is "highly integrated" into the backpack, which should offer some additional anti-theft protection. You can set up geofencing alerts, so if the backpack moves out of a certain area, you'll receive an alert. The tracker also has a built-in sound alert (which will likely be around as loud as an AirTag) that you can trigger remotely.

The tracker has a replaceable battery that you can top up via USB, though Targus says it will run for around a year before you need to recharge it. Targus crafted the backpack with sustainability in mind, as it's made with 26 recycled water bottles. The Cypress Hero Backpack, which has an IPX3 water resistance rating, should be available sometime in the spring or summer. It costs $150.

Targus

On top of that, Targus announced the DOCK720, a docking station that supports a single 8K monitor or up to four 4K monitors. The company says it's the "first biometric device and docking solution in one" — in other words, it has a fingerprint reader. You can expect an array of ports too, including USB-A, USB-C, Ethernet, HDMI and a combo audio jack. The dock will be available this month for $443.

The Targus Docking Display, meanwhile, is a 24-inch 1080p LCD monitor with a built-in 2MP webcam, microphone, speakers and USB-C docking station. You can daisy chain it to a second monitor and power both displays from your computer. The Docking Display will ship in February. The primary monitor costs $400 and the secondary monitor (which doesn't have a webcam) is $180.

In addition, Targus is expanding its lineup of antimicrobial products, which now includes backpacks, shoulder bags and protective sleeves for laptops. The company claims its DefenseGuard Antimicrobial Protection effectively prevents the growth of 99.9% of germ-causing microorganisms.

It will also release the UV-C LED Disinfection Light next month after debuting it at CES 2021. For five minutes every hour, the $300 device will bathe a surface (or, more likely, a keyboard and mouse) in ultraviolet light to effectively kill 99 percent of pathogens.

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Many security systems come with sensors you can attach to your home’s windows and doors to monitor for break-ins. One of the limitations of those devices is that they typically only include one monitoring function. In the long run, that’s something that can cost you extra money if you move and end up with too many of one sensor and not enough of another. Security camera maker Arlo may have an elegant solution for that problem.

At CES 2022, the company introduced a security system that includes an all-in-one multi-sensor with eight monitoring functions. It can detect motion (including door and window openings), water leaks, light and temperature changes, as well as sounds made by T3 and T4 smoke alarms. Each sensor is about an inch wide and connects to a modular hub that includes a backlit keypad and NFC connectivity so that you can use your phone to activate and disarm the system. The hub is also compatible with Arlo’s various security cameras and its Secure subscription service.

The Arlo Security System will go on sale sometime in the first half of 2022, according to a statement the company shared with The Verge. It promised to disclose more information, including details on pricing, closer to release. The company didn’t have anything to say about the Security System’s smart home integrations today, but it did announce that it will support the Matter standard moving forward. At its simplest, the promise of Matter is that you’ll be able to buy a device and use it with the voice assistant of your choice and easily connect it to your existing home network.

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Electric vehicles accounted for nearly two-thirds of all new car sales in Norway this past year, according to newly published data from the country’s Road Federation. In 2021, Norwegian dealerships sold 176,276 cars, 65 percent of which were EVs. That’s an 11 percentage point increase from the year prior when they accounted for 54 percent of all new car sales. 

The Tesla Model 3 was the most popular choice among new buyers followed by Toyota’s hybrid RAV4, the only car with an internal combustion engine to make the country’s top-ten best-selling list. Other notable cars to make the list include the Volkswagen ID.4 in third place and the Polestar 2 in the number 10 spot.

The Norwegian EV Association told Reuters electric vehicle sales could make up as much as 80 percent of the country’s total car market by 2022 — as long as chip shortages don’t cause further shipping delays. As in 2020, much of what’s driving EV adoption in Norway is the country’s generous subsidies. Car buyers don’t have to pay taxes imposed on traditional internal combustion engine vehicles when they buy an EV. In 2021, the country’s federal government missed out on approximately $3.41 billion in tax revenue to push forward on its plan to end all gasoline-powered car sales by 2025.

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a concept electric vehicle it claims would be able to run for more than 620 miles before needing to recharge. Should it come to fruition and live up to that promise, the Vision EQXX would beat the range of the Lucid Air Dream Edition by more than 100 miles and the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus by around 220 miles.

"The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars," Mercedes-Benz head Ola Källenius said.

Based on the automaker's simulations, the Vision EQXX would use less than 10 kWh to travel 62 miles on public roads, delivering an efficiency of more than 6 miles per kWh. Converted into fossil fuel consumption, Mercedes says that's around the "golden figure" of 1 liter of gasoline per 62 miles.

The battery is half the size of and 30 percent lighter than the one in the EQS. However, it still has a capacity of almost 100 kWh. What's more, there are ultra-thin solar panels on the roof that can add up to 25 km (15.5 miles) of range.

The Vision EQXX is a lightweight car (1,750 kg or 3,858 lbs) that has been aerodynamically optimized. The automaker says that, with a drag coefficient of cd 0.17, the EV is more aerodynamic than a football (which has a cd of 0.18 to 0.2). What's more, Mercedes claims that 95 percent of battery energy is directed to the wheels.

Teams from Mercedes' research and development centers worked with its Formula 1 and Formula E engineers on the concept. They harnessed digital tools to reduce waste and weight by cutting out excess material — the wheels are made with magnesium and the brake discs are built with aluminum alloy. The Vision EQXX uses recycled and plant-based materials too. 

Mercedes-Benz

As for the interior, the Vision EQXX's infotainment system has a single 47.5-inch, mini-LED 8K screen. Like the Hyperscreen in the EQS, it spans almost the entire width of the cabin, though this is a one-piece display. The automaker worked with NAVIS Automotive Systems on a navigation system with zoom and scroll functions that include a satellite view. The "Hey Mercedes" voice assistant is integrated into the infotainment system too.

Even if Mercedes doesn't bring the Vision EQXX to show floors, developing the stylish concept has proven a valuable endeavor. It's already integrating many of the EV's features and developments into production. Some are being used in the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture for compact and medium-sized cars.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

T-Mobile and Verizon have seemingly discontinued an iPad rebate program they offered in partnership with Apple. In a change spotted by MacRumors, the company’s website no longer lists a promotion that previously allowed customers to save up to $200 by activating a cellular iPad through either of the two carriers.

The program and similar ones Apple offered for iPhone and Apple Watch purchases was the subject of a story Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman published in December. The article recounts the lengthy process he had to follow to claim a $100 rebate on an Apple Watch 7. His initial request was denied by T-Mobile, and it was only after “multiple hourlong” phones calls and an eventual escalation that the problem was resolved.

“While my difficulties were with T-Mobile, Verizon users have been reporting similar problems, particularly around iPad rebates,” Gurman wrote at the time. In fact, you’ll find several people recounting their own frustrations with the program in his Twitter mentions. In short, it seems T-Mobile and Verizon were denying some rebate requests without providing much of an explanation for their actions. The terms of the promotion were also presented in a way that made them seem much simpler than they were in practice. 

However, it’s not clear if those complaints were what prompted Apple, T-Mobile and Verizon to discontinue the program. We’ve reached out to all three companies for comment. We'll update this article when we hear back from them. 

Following its HomeKit-only indoor camera, Eve has announced a model for the outside of your home. The company claims the Outdoor Cam is the first floodlight camera created exclusively for HomeKit.

The Outdoor Cam uses HomeKit Secure Video and when it detects activity, you'll receive an iPhone notification. It taps into the on-device intelligence of Apple TV or HomePod to automatically record movements, and it can tell the difference between people, vehicles, pets, and packages.

Eve says that, like its other products, the camera was designed with data security in mind. Recordings are stored on iCloud and you can view them for up to 10 days via the Home app on iPhone, iPad and Mac. There's end-to-end encryption, so only the owner can see live video and recordings.

The camera can record 1080p video at 24 frames per second. It has a 157-degree field of view and two-way voice communication. The Outdoor Cam can detect motion up to 30 feet away through infrared night vision.

It's not the only outdoor camera that works with HomeKit Secure Video. The Netatmo Outdoor Camera does so as well. Still, it's interesting to see a smart security camera that requires Apple devices to operate.

You can pick up the Eve Outdoor Cam on April 5th from Eve and Amazon. Apple will sell the $250 camera at a later date.

In addition, Eve announced that its Matter-ready motors for blinds and shades are now available from a number of retailers. MotionBlinds require an iPhone or iPad equipped with the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!