Author: News Room

We’ve known for a little while that Xiaomi is unveiling the 15T and 15T Pro smartphones in Europe this week during a Munich-based event with the tagline ‘far closer’ suggesting a photography focus. Rumoured prices suggest €649 and €799, both with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in addition to Android 15 (no Android 16 as yet it seems). It’s also been suggested that the Xiaomi Watch S4 and OpenWear Stereo Pro earphones will also appear. However, that’s not all Xiaomi is set to announce this week with the company’s president Lu Weibing confirming a 25 September event in China…

Bang & Olufsen’s latest Beo Grace earbuds offer a flashy aluminum design and the brand’s “most advanced” active noise cancellation for a staggering $1,500. These pricey new buds pump sound through 12mm titanium drivers, featuring ANC powered by six microphones that adjust audio based on ambient noise and the shape of your ear.The Beo Grace earbuds support Dolby Atmos spatial audio and the transparency mode inside the equally expensive Beoplay H100 headphones, which aim to recreate the sound of your environment “free from hiss or distortion.” Other features include tactile controls and “NearTap” technology that allows you to control volume…

Introduction Plenty of ergonomic office chairs offer back-boosting support – but how many of them are also your personal masseuse? The LiberNovo Omni is a Kickstarter success story that’s more than just a comfy place to park your posterior. Its electronically controlled lumbar support can give spinal stretches after a day of being desk-bound. With over 10,000 backers and $7 million raised, there’s more buzz about this desk throne than any bucket-style gaming chair I can remember. The firm’s comfort claims could even put names like Herman Miller on notice – but you’d hope as much, given that’s where LiberNovo…

Google Play is adding a new centralized user hub that makes it easier to find player account information and personalized content recommendations. In its blog announcement, Google describes the You tab as a “home base” that houses Google Play stats, rewards, subscriptions, and updates, alongside recommendations for “relevant content.”In addition to gaming recommendations, the You tab will also make other tailored content suggestions based on the users’ other interests and apps. Google says that this includes audiobook recommendations and will later allow Play users to jump back into content like novels and podcasts they’ve already started, making it easier to…

The mechanical keyboard world has undergone a renaissance. Thanks to increased competition and commoditized tech, features that used to be exclusive to limited-run DIY boards in the $300-plus range just a few years ago are now available in prebuilt boards in the $100 to $200 range — sometimes less. The DIY kit builds, limited-run group buys, and boutique boards made by artisans are still innovating and pushing boundaries, and they’re great if you’re looking for something extra adventurous or very specific. But if you just want a great keyboard for not much money, no assembly required, your options are better…

First revealed to me in a sneak peek earlier this year, the Century family celebrates the first 100 years of Philips audio. There are five new products – all with quirky music-related names (as well as boring product codes) – but really it’s about the turntables and headphones, which are all-in-one systems designed to take on brands like Victrola and Crosley. We now know they’ll appear in October and there’s also confirmed pricing too. Like those other companies, the aesthetic here is unashamedly retro, with wood finishes and 1950s-1970s styling. The Tina: (Philips V9000, main pic above) – is the world’s…

Smart lighting is one of the most useful and enjoyable smart home upgrades you can make. The convenience of turning lights on and off with a voice command or having them come on at precisely the right brightness when you walk into a room, adjusted for the time of day, is a huge quality-of-life upgrade that you can’t truly appreciate until you try it.The good news is that now is a great time to consider adding smart lights to your home.The costs of smart LED bulbs, fixtures, and accessories, such as switches, are starting to come down, just as compatibility…

There’s a lot to love about digital photo frames – namely that someone other than you gets to see the thousands of photos you have gathering digital dust on your smartphone’s camera roll. When it comes to making an impact with your images, we say bigger is best, which is why we’ve chosen the Aura Walden 15in and the Skylight 15in frames to go head-to-head. The Aura Walden costs £299/$299, has a 1 year warranty and unlimited cloud storage. We like that, in contrast to the SkyLight Frame, happily, Aura doesn’t charge subscriptions or fees for their frames. Instead, users…

Microsoft is starting to test experimental AI-powered features through a new Windows AI Labs program. Some Windows testers spotted references to the Windows AI Labs program in pre-release updates to Microsoft Paint last week, and Microsoft has now confirmed to The Verge that the program is designed to provide early access to new AI features across Windows.“The Windows AI Lab is a pilot acceleration program for validating novel AI feature ideas in Windows,” says Mike Harsh, partner director of product management at Microsoft, in a statement to The Verge. “The program focuses on rapid customer feedback on feature usability, customer…

Smart thermostat company Tado is launching new AI-powered features that aim to help users heat their homes more efficiently. Tado says the AI Assist update builds on the company’s existing Auto Assist options by introducing “advanced machine-learning” that “learns, predicts, and optimizes” heating in real time.AI Assist is available in Europe and the UK today for all Tado X owners at the same price as the company’s existing subscription (£29.99 a year or £3.99 per month). Existing Auto Assist subscribers will be upgraded automatically, though owners of older Tado hardware won’t get the extra AI. According to Tado’s press release,…

Hideo Kojima first announced he was teaming up with Xbox for a new game in 2022, before a teaser revealed the OD name and some cast last year. We’re now getting a better look at exactly what OD is, in a new three-minute teaser trailer that holds true to Kojima’s promise that the game will be unique and immersive.The trailer begins with Sophia Lillis’ character opening a red door, and then lighting candles — some of which look like Death Stranding babies. With rain pouring down outside and mysterious knocking sounds, it’s clear OD will very much lean into horror…

You can now buy TCL’s new QM9K series QD-Mini LED TVs, and they run Google TV, are the first to come with Gemini AI, and have a built-in mmWave presence sensor, as reported by 9to5Google. The TVs start at $2,999 for the 65-inch model at Best Buy, with the price going up even more for the bigger versions (up to 98 inches).Using the mmWave presence sensor, the TVs can automatically turn on or off when you get close to it, and they can show a screensaver or a widget “based on your proximity,” according to the description on the Best…