Last year, frequent Apple collaborator Belkin released what might be the most over-the-top phone stand of all time, doubling as a cameraperson to track and record you as you move. The catch? It didnt come with a tripoduntil now.The Belkin Auto-Tracking Stand Pro is a $150 motorized MagSafe phone charger that, in addition to providing standard 15W wireless charging, also works with Apples DockKit framework to rotate 360 degrees and tilt 90 degrees so that it can always keep you in frame. Its intended for livestreamers and vloggers and can automatically follow you around as you present or act out a skit, making it easier to shoot while solo. (That said, you can also use it casually, say to make a FaceTime call).But at just under nine inches tall, its usability out of the box was severely limited. Its great for shooting from a desk, but if your videos require you to stand up or get further away from your phones microphones, it can be a bit trickier to place. That made it difficult to sell to its core influencer audience.You could get around this using third-party solutions, since the stand comes with a standard tripod screw hole on the bottom, but now Belkin is offering a more official answer. Announced during this years CES, the Belkin Stage Creator Bundle adds on to the Auto-Tracking Stand Pro with a 5.6-foot tripod and a pair of wearable clip-on microphones. It also comes with a magnetic phone mount, so technically, you could still use the bundle without the tracking stand as well, assuming you dont need your phones camera to follow you around. Credit: Belkin Theres still no word on Android support, although its probably not likely, given the tracking stands reliance on DockKit. Even if you put a MagSage sticker on your Android phone, it just wont play well with its software.Pricing is MIA for the moment, as are specs for those clip-on microphones, as the bundles release is a bit far out. (It's currently set for May.) Still, even if itll have to compete with third-party alternatives (tripods and wireless mics arent exactly new), the bundle will go a long way towards making Belkins motorized stand feel like a more complete product. Credit: Belkin Also set for May is the Stage PowerGrip, which is similarly still waiting on a price. This is a bit more of a novelty product, as its a MagSafe power bank that also makes your phone look a bit more like an instant camera. Completing the aesthetic (yes, it does come in multiple colors) is a grip for lining up your shots as well as a button for taking them, but where a camera viewfinder would be, youll instead find a small screen depicting the banks remaining battery percentage. Like some other MagSafe Belkin power banks, you can also stand up the PowerGrip vertically to use it as a sort of phone kickstand as well, and it has a built-in USB-C cable for wired charging. Credit: Belkin Belkin does also have some CES 2025 products with pricing already announced. In addition to a new BoostCharge Compact USB-C wall charger and new BoostCharge Power Bank with 20,000 mAh of capacity and an integrated USB-C cable, the BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad is a small wireless charging puck that should be great for travel. This small circular charger connects to the back of your phone using MagSafe (or a MagSafe style sticker) and is about as thick as a power bank, but takes up much less space overall. Because of its integrated kickstand, the idea is you can easily use it as your phone charger while on-the-go, propping your phone up overnight so it can work like an alarm clock. The only catch? Youll still need to plug its 6.6-foot USB-C cable into some kind of power source. Luckily, you can get a power supply with the unit, or forgo one for a supply already have, so you at least have options there.The BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad will release in the U.S. in April and will run you $20 without a power supply and $30 with one. If you do want to provide your own power supply, the BoostCharge Compact USB-C charger will work for that, and will release in March for $30, coming with 45W of max capacity and one USB-C port. A 65W version of the BoostCharge Compact will also start selling in March for $40, while the BoostCharge Power Bank with 20,000 mAh capacity and an integrated cable hits shelves in April for $50. The USB-powered products should work with any product that charges via a compatible port, while the BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad will work with any Qi2 compatible device.

Belkin has a new phone accessory at CES 2025 that somehow brings something fresh to the crowded field of magnetic charging accessories (in other words, MagSafe and non-Apple-certified alternatives). The companys Stage PowerGrip is a wireless power bank, camera-like grip and stand rolled into one. It even has a little screen and comes in several fun colors.Belkin pitches the PowerGrip as an accessory for creators and travelers. While modern smartphones are all most people need for photography, holding a candy-bar-shaped handset in landscape mode for long periods doesnt feel as comfortable or natural as the heartier grip of a dedicated camera. This accessory remedies that with a thick bulge similar to what youd find on a DSLR or mirrorless camera.BelkinInside that lump is its 10,000mAh battery, which offers 7.5W magnetic wireless charging. An LED on its backside gives you a quick way to check its battery level. And a retractable USB-C cable is tucked inside the accessory, so you dont need to remember to throw a separate one in your bag.Belkin says the PowerGrip will be available in powder blue, sandbox, fresh yellow, pepper and lavender (the companys press images show a sixth black option, too). Its scheduled to ship this May. Unfortunately, Belkin hasnt yet announced pricing.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/belkins-new-accessory-is-a-magnetic-power-bank-and-camera-grip-rolled-into-one-170057685.html?src=rss

Robot vacuums can remove the dust and dirt on your floor, but you still have to pick up stray socks and and any item strewn about your home. Now Roborock, a Chinese company that manufactures robot vacuums and other household cleaning appliances, has unveiled a new model that can pick up small objects so you don't have to. The Roborock Saros Z70 has a foldable robotic arms that the company calls the "OmniGrip." It has five axis and can lift objects under 300 grams like socks, light sandals and small dog toys to put them away.Apparently, the AI-powered vacuum marks objects it can lift while going about cleaning the floor and then circles back to pick them up when it's done. It then cleans the areas underneath the objects during its second pass. The OmniGrip uses its equipped precision sensors, camera and LED light to determine its position and whether an item is too heavy to pick up. Before you can use it, you will have to activate the arm through the Roborock app, where you can also set what kind of objects it can interact with and where they should be placed. While not quite Rosey the Robot, Saros Z70 has the potential to make tidying up a lot easier. And it's not just a prototype Roborock is planning to make it available for purchase this year.In addition to Saros 270, Roborock has also launched two more robot vacuums, a lineup of handheld wetdry vacuum cleaners, as well as three all-in-one washer-dryers. It will be showcasing its home cleaning products at CES this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/roborocks-new-flagship-robot-vacuum-has-an-arm-that-can-grab-small-objects-170020390.html?src=rss

Belkin just unveiled a unique bundle at CES 2025 thats being described as a comprehensive toolset designed to meet the needs of budding creators. The appropriately-named Creator Bundle comes with a bunch of useful accessories and offers everything needed for hands-free recording.So what comes in the bundle? It ships with a pair of tiny wireless clip-on microphones with a 100m transmission range. These mics are battery-powered and last up to 5.5 hours per charge. They operate via a handy push-button design, making it easy for folks to mute, record or make adjustments to the sound.The kit ships with a sturdy tripod and a magnetic mount for a smartphone. The tripod reaches 1.7m in height and the mount can be adjusted to suit different shooting angles. The Belkin Creator Bundle also comes with a USB-C cable for charging up those mics.The combo of a tripod, a mount and wireless microphones will indeed allow for hands-free recording. However, the camera wont track people as they move around the room, so creators will have to stay in the center of the frame. The company does note that the bundle has been designed to integrate with its Auto-Tracking Stand Pro, which does track movement, but that costs an extra $180.Speaking of pricing, Belkin hasnt announced how much this bundle will cost. Thatll likely come closer to the launch date, which is in May.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/belkins-new-creator-bundle-makes-hands-free-recording-easy-170006787.html?src=rss

The new Saros 10 and 10R are ready to bust dust in places other bots can't go.

OnePlus will beat most of its rivals with an IP68/IP69 phone when the OnePlus 13 is available worldwide.

The Saros Z70 doesn't just clean your floors, it'll tidy up for you first.

Take a close look at those Oscar-winning visual effects that come to life Godzilla Minus One. The legendary VFX team, Shirogumi, puts together a thorough artistry breakdown and technical details of how those jaw-dropping visuals came alive.From the ravages of sprawling cityscapes to simply being Godzilla, the breakdown displays just how well Shirogumi blended CGI with practical effects for a sense of reality that has never been seen. Intense texture work, lively lighting, and smooth animation help create a life of detail on the scale of the King of Monsters without sacrificing awe or terror.Godzilla Minus One rewrote the books on cinematic spectacle, and this VFX breakdown pays homage to the talented artists whose work has gained worldwide recognition and an Oscar. A true masterpiece of visual storytelling, the films effects continue to inspire and set a new benchmark for creature-based VFX.The post Godzilla Minus One VFX Breakdown by Shirogumi appeared first on Vfxexpress.

Designer Matthew Fisher has created a gallery and display space for his stoneware objects in New York City's Seaport neighbourhood, referencing ancient culture and contemporary performance design. The M Fisher Seaport Gallery is located at the southern tip of Manhattan, amidst the newly opened galleries and restaurants of New York City's transforming Seaport neighbourhood.Matthew Fisher has designed a gallery space for his stoneware objectsThe gallery hosts three main rooms dedicated to displaying Fisher's objects, which range from pieces made of metal and cotton cord but are predominantly vessels made of remnants of stone such as Victoria Blu and Paonazzo marble.To create the space, Fisher pulled from his background as a ballet dancer at the School of American Ballet, studies of ancient cultures and references such as the former Paris apartment of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and partner Pierre Berg and the opera house Palais Garnier.The interior features a circular space at the centre"The Seaport Gallery is conceived as a theatrical interpretation of the domestic interior, where the formality of antiquity seamlessly blends with the comforts of quiet luxury," said Fisher."Sharing my passion for stone was the earliest impulse behind the gallery. Stone radiates energy and embodies an inconceivable process of time when you stand amongst it."A large curtain calls to Fisher's theatrical backgroundThe entrance is an open space, flanked on either side by custom wooden cabinetry topped with stone countertops. On each wall, panels open to form silver-painted triptychs, while tiny, running lights sit in slim tracks cut into the countertops.A large wooden table sits in the centre, and like the surrounding cabinets, holds an assortment of vessels by Fisher.Read: Billy Cotton adds "new-age twist" to Bridges restaurant in ManhattanThe gallery then moves into a centre area topped with an oculus-like circular soffit, lined with lighting. Copper panels clad the various passageways that cut through the space.The furthermost room is outfitted with seating, additional display tables and "a nearly 600-pound carved igneous stone planter" that holds a large fern.Fisher's marble pieces are distributed throughout the spaceAt the back of the room is a curtain woven with metallic thread that is meant to resemble a theatre curtain."The brass chains and weights of my design, which shape the curtain, evoke the emotions I felt when first viewing the stage curtain at the Palais Garnier," said Fisher.A small courtyard sits at the back of the galleryA small courtyard sits on the other side through glass doors, fitted with a central marble table supported by two sea-faring cherubs.This is the first public space Fisher has designed."The Seaport Gallery took me nearly seven months to discover, yet I've dreamed of this space for far longer," he said.Nearby, designer Billy Cotton blended art deco, futurist andbrutalist references for a restaurant in Lower Manhattan and a floating pool for the East River is undergoing testing.The photography is by Stephen Kent Johnson unless otherwise notedThe post Matthew Fisher blends antiquity with "comforts of quiet luxury" in New York gallery appeared first on Dezeen.

MacworldTwenty-five years ago, Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld Expo in San Francisco and unveiled Mac OS X, ushering in a new era for the Mac and the world of desktop computing at large. That sounds like hyperbole, but after watching the keynote for a second timethe first time was from the front row, thank you very much!its remarkable what an enormous moment this was for Apple and the Mac.Its funny. Whats remarkable about the moment is actually how uneventful it seems. When I watch the video back, its almost surreal how Steve Jobs keeps doing utterly normal, boring things in Mac OS X while the crowd completely loses its collective mind. Viewed by someone without any historical context, it would seem like a cult being whipped into a frenzy by its leader.But I was there, and I can tell you that it wasnt that. This was the moment, after 16 years of classic Mac OSand lets face it, the last five of those were pretty roughwhen all the failings of the Mac were swept away and replaced with something modern, ready for the challenge of the 21st century.How did that work out for Apple? The keynote seems so weird now because almost everything in it is just how the Mac works, even 25 years later. Yes, interface styles have changed over time, but that moment on stage in January 2000 redefined the Mac for 25 years and counting.The thick of itLet me provide a little of that historical context. The original Mac OS, released in 1984, was revolutionarybut its underpinnings were from the earliest era of personal computers. Its revolutionary graphical interface was famously black and white, and it ran one program at a time. Fifteen years later, it was clear that modern operating systems should have protected memory, solid multitasking, and powerful graphics functionalitybut the classic Mac OS had been unable to achieve any of that. Apple had tried a few different OS update projects, but theyd all failed.The final Hail Mary was buying Steve Jobss NeXt, which was strugglingbut owned an operating system, NeXtStep, that had all of the features that the Mac didnt. And hey, Steve Jobs gets to work with Apple again! Not a bad package deal. Worth every penny, if you ask me.NeXtStep wasnt Mac OS, though. It had some features youd recognize today as being Mac-like, but for the most part, its interface seemed quite alien. It was built for a super niche audience, unlike the broad Mac audience that would need to be migrated over for the transition to be successful.During the three years between Jobss return and the unveiling of Mac OS X, Apples software effort was devoted to squaring the expectations of Mac users with what could be done with NextStep. At the same time, there was a culture clash, with former NeXtStep developers not necessarily understanding what those expectations were.The developers and designers at Apple had to go through every feature of both operating systems and decide what would happen: do it the Mac way, do it the NeXt way, let users choose from those two ways, or choose an entirely new path. Each of those decisions had huge consequences. If things werent familiar enough for Mac users, switching to Mac OS X would be as alien as switching to Windowsand during the late 90s, Apple couldnt afford to give any of its customers an excuse to join the rest of the world in giving in to Microsoft. But Apples development team couldnt reach the finish line if it didnt re-use large portions of what NeXt had built.Those decisions would affect the path of Mac users for the next quarter of a century.Lick itOne of the design goals was when you saw it, you wanted to lick it. And so we call it Aqua. And this is the architecture for Mac OS 10.Steve JobsApple managed to introduce Mac OS X numerous times, from the first Steve Jobs appearance on stage at Macworld 1997 through to the ship day of Mac OS X 1.0 in the spring of 2001. That makes it hard to celebrate an anniversary date, but the introduction of Aqua on January 5, 2000, is a pretty good one.So much of what we take for granted today is there in that initial Steve Jobs demo, getting rapturous applause. The Dock made its debut that day, complete with the genie effect for minimizing and maximizing windows. Of course, that Dock was kind of a messyou could drag files into it, and they disappeared from the Desktop! And you could drag them back off, and theyd reappear on the Desktop. (Files actually lived in the Dock folder in your user folder! But that Dock was rewritten a bunch before it ever shipped.)The OS X Finder itself was unveiled that day, as well. Some consider this a day that shall live in infamy, but its definitely the same Finder we use now! It offers the classic Mac icon and list views, as well as a column view imported from NeXt and favored by Steve Jobs. Jobs loved the new feature that let you navigate through your filesystem in a single window, rather than having every double-click of a folder spawn a new window, as well as the addition of a web browser-style back button.Its a bit of a head trip to watch Jobs explain how windows now have three buttons in the top left corner, colored like a stoplight, with symbols that appear when you roll the mouse pointer over them. Those buttons have become as much symbols of the Mac as the menu bar itself, but this was the first time anyone saw them.The list goes on. Jobss favorite NeXtStep app was an email client, and that explains his glee in introducing Mail, a brand-new (cough) Apple app that would be included free with Mac OS X. He seems especially giddy about the fact that the app knows who youve emailed with and will suggest names as you type, something else weve taken for granted the last 25 years.And, of course, underpinning all of this was the open-source Unix base that still runs the base of all of Apples platforms. Jobs got applause for things like dropping a menu while video continued to play and running a badly behaved app that crashed without bringing down the whole system. The audience gasps in amazement when a The app has unexpectedly quit alert appears, something that today would be a minor inconvenience at best. (Also, an amazing bit of trivia: the QuickTime movie Jobs uses to demo Mac OS X is the trailer for Mission Impossible 2. How does Tom Cruise do it?!)The original Mac OS X was a groundbreaking advancement of the Mac thats still felt today.AppleIts also worth noting the new, mind-boggling features that Jobs introduced that day that went nowhere. There used to be a button on the far right edge of a windows title bar that entered you into single-window mode, to simplify using the Mac. While modern Macs have a full-screen mode that performs that task, placing that mode on a windows title bar was weird and the feature was removed before OS X 1.0 shipped the following March.And then theres the strange case of the Apple logo. In Jobss demo, and indeed in the Mac OS X Public Beta released later that year, there was an Apple logo in the center of the menu bar. It didnt do anything. But by the time Mac OS X 1.0 arrived in 2001, the Apple menua standard of classic Mac OShad been revived and placed at the far left of the menu bar.However, the new Apple menu was not like the original one. (In the latter days of classic Mac OS, it was essentially a folder full of whatever you wanted to put there.) The new Apple menu more closely resembled the old Special menu in the Finder, which was where you could shut down or restart your Mac. Its pretty much the same to this day.25 years later, macos Sequoia still has elements of the first Aqua revealthough the Apple logo is no longer in the center of the menubar.AppleWelcome to the futureIts hard to believe that Mac OS X has been with us for a quarter of a century, a way longer run than the original Mac OS. From the interface design to the technical underpinnings, the longevity of OS X and all the operating systems it has spawnedmacOS, iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, even watchOS and tvOSis a tremendous endorsement of the decisions Apple made in the late 90s and early 2000s.This is our foundation for the next decade of Macintosh operating systems, and we are thrilled with it, Jobs said on stage 25 years ago. He undershot a little bit. What he introduced that day is still the foundation of the Mac and almost everything else Apple does. No matter what comes next, no matter where Apple and the tech industry go from here, theres no doubt that Mac OS X has exceeded all of the expectations we had for it back on January 5, 2000.