Yahoo Finance The Morning After: Samsung's new Mini LED TVs and solar powered remote
Yesterday, Twitter and Facebook suspended the president's social media accounts.
New year means CES, which means new TVs. LG already announced it’ll launch a line of QNED 4K and 8K screens with mini LED backlighting, and now Samsung revealed its Neo QLED TVs will feature its own Quantum Mini LEDs.
TCL has already used the tech in its LCD sets to great effect, and it’s good to see it rolling out in more displays. We don’t quite expect it to overtake OLED as the display champ, but as usual, Samsung will keep pressing. Perhaps more interestingly, Samsung also revealed its new SolarCell remote will be powered by ambient light (or USB) instead of disposable batteries and the TVs can use an optional camera attachment to run home workout software. We should hear more about all of this stuff over the next week or so.
— Richard Lawler
Twitter and Facebook suspend Donald Trump’s accounts
The Facebook ban is for 24 hours.
Twitter has temporarily suspended Donald Trump from the social network after the President tweeted his support for a violent mob that descended on the nation’s Capitol as Congress met to certify the results of the November election, yesterday. Trump’s account will be locked for 12 hours, and Twitter said he’ll have to remove three tweets it had previously labeled for inciting violence. The company added that future rule-breaking “will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”
Facebook also restricted the President’s ability to post for 24 hours, citing two unspecified policy violations. The President posted a video to both Twitter and Facebook that called the election results “fraudulent” and praised his supporters as “very special” people. Facebook removed the video, with the company’s VP of Integrity Guy Rosen saying they had done so because Facebook believed “it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
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Get your sweatpants ready, virtual CES 2021 is about to begin!
Livestreams and the Best of CES Awards are all coming over the next week.
The first ever virtual edition of CES doesn’t officially start until next week, but companies are already making announcements at a rapid pace. The remote coverage has already begun!
We’re once again in charge of the official Best of CES Awards this year, and submissions are open. We’ll announce the winners before the end of the 2021 virtual festivities, on Wednesday, January 13th, at 4:30PM ET.
We’re also replacing our usual stage show with a fully virtual experience. Each day of CES, we’ll offer a collection of press conference reactions, interviews and more, live from our virtual venue. You’ll be able to watch everything on Engadget.com, starting Monday, January 11th, at 7:30AM ET.
Follow all of the latest news from CES 2021 right here!
You can install Samsung’s latest MicroLED TVs yourself
Though you probably won't, if you can afford them.
After debuting on Samsung's enormous, expensive "The Wall" set, MicroLED TVs are finally ready for CES 2021 (yes we’ve started), with the previously announced 110-inch model aimed at consumers. Expect to see 88-inch and 99-inch versions later this year, too.
With these sets, you’ll be able to pick one up from the store and install it in your home, without any help from custom installers. That's in stark contrast to The Wall, which requires professional setup and potentially days of work to connect its modular MicroLED panels. There’s no pricing yet, as is CES launch tradition, but expect them, at this size and with this technology, to be pretty pricey, but cheaper than The Wall.
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LG's new stick vacuum automatically empties dirt while it charges
But you'll still need to take a bag to the trash.
We don’t cover many stick vacuums — we stick to the automated robotic ones that love to eat your cables — but LG’s new-for-CES vacuum borrows the auto-empty feature of some high-end robot vacuums. The ThinQ A9 Kompressor+ will deposit all your detritus into an attached bag when you holster it to charge. You’ll still have to take a bag to the trash, but shh progress! The existing A9 Kompressor sells for $799, so expect the new model to be around that or higher.
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OpenAI's DALL-E app generates images from just a description
And you can play with it online.
OpenAI has already mastered playing Dota 2 and the art of writing fake news. Now, DALL-E (a portmanteau of “Wall-E” and “Dali”) is an AI app that can create an image of nearly any description. Cat-shaped sushi, anyone?
It can create images based on a description of its attributes, like “a pentagonal green clock,” but can also draw and combine multiple objects and provide different points of view, including cutaways and object interiors.
Unlike past text-to-image programs, it even infers details that aren’t mentioned in the description but would be required for a realistic image. For instance, with the description “a painting of a fox sitting in a field during winter,” the app would apply a shadow to the image.
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But wait, there’s more...
LG refreshes its light Gram laptop lineup with Intel Evo certification
Looking Glass says it can turn any photo into a hologram
Netflix won't work on Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS after June 30th
Amazon pledges $2 billion toward affordable housing in three hub cities
Earin's A-3 true wireless earbuds have an open design with no ear tips
Google fixes a Pixel 5 bug that played system sounds at max volume
