Health tech brand Amazfit unveiled its second-generation smartwatch, the Active 2, at CES. The smartwatch improves on accuracy, algorithms, and activity-tracking.

Amazfit kicks off the year with an affordable smartwatch that offers everything you need in a small package.

KOTORLucasfilmDisney Star Wars TV is drifting around rather nebulously at present, but it may take a big swing at something different if a new report is to be believed.This is from insider Daniel Richtman, where he says Lucasfilms developing a show set during Knight of the Old Republic era. This echoes something Kathleen Kennedy said back in 2019 acknowledging that something was happening with KOTOR, but we havent had any real specifics since then. Now I guess we havea report of a TV show, at least.As I said, Disney Star Wars TV is in a weird place. To recap:The Mandalorian is apparently about to end with the first actual Star Wars movie since 2019s Rise of Skywalker.Ahsoka is getting a season 2 but it is likely a full three years after season 1.Andor is returning for season 2 this year but thats a hard ending.Theres nothing in the works regarding new episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Book of Boba Fett.The Acolyte was cancelled without getting a season 2.Skeleton Crew is still ongoing and has received a lot of praise, but viewership appears low and it still has a $136 million budget. Its unclear if its performing well enough to return.A Knights of the Old Republic show may be able to bridge a gap between A) Disney needing to get out of the Skywalker era more and B) something that has more roots in Star Wars history and lore than the recently-created High Republic, the setting of The Acolyte.The AcolyteDisneyWhen you say Knights of the Old Republic to a long-term Star Wars fans, its a series of video games that come to mind, KOTOR 1 and 2 and eventually, The Old Republic MMO. The KOTOR games in particular are beloved by gamer fans, but theres nothing here that indicates this would be a direct adaptation of those, simply something set in that time period. And of course there are a lot of things that happen in that time period. Mainly, it would be the only time weve seen in Star Wars cinematic history where the Sith are running rampant rather than there just being a couple at a time.But how large scale for TV, exactly? Disneys budgeting has been an absolute mess for these series, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on projects that often do not garner the viewership to seem remotely worth that. A show like The Acolyte might have survived for a second season if it simply did not cost over $200 million for reasons that were not exactly evident onscreen.Read More: NYT Strands Hints, Spangram And Answers For Tuesday, January 7A KOTOR series sounds better than most other ideas, I suppose. Then again in terms of quality, the best Disney Star Wars TV projects have been much more unexpected like Andor and Skeleton Crew.Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra could deliver significant AI improvements over the Galaxy S24 Ultra ... [+] (pictured)gettyMuch has already leaked about Samsungs forthcoming Galaxy S25 series smartphones. However, according to one prominent tipster, Samsungs next-gen handsets will deliver a range of as-yet-unknown AI features capable of outsmarting even arch-rival Apple.Jan 07 Update below: Samsung confirms Unpacked event confirmed for Jan 22. More hints at Samsungs new AI capabilities.The report comes from the well-known tech insider Ice Universe, who recently claimed, Samsung Galaxy S25 will tell Apple what leading AI is. Many new AI functions of S25 have not been leaked so far, which is very surprising to me.In addition to the rumored free subscription to Googles Gemini Advanced AI platform, any significant improvements to Samsungs own Galaxy AI features should bring hope to current Samsung owners looking for a substantial upgrade over last years Galaxy S24 series model. This is especially true given current leaks surrounding the Galaxy S25 Ultras somewhat modest camera hardware improvements.Undisputed Leader In Device AIAt this stage, no further information is available about what new AI functions Samsung might introduce with the Galaxy S25 series or how the company might hope to outclass Apples Apple Intelligence. However, recent comments from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Jong-hee Han and DS Division Head Vice Chairman Young-hyun Jeon point to significant improvements. Documentation from Samsung partner and chip maker Qualcomm also provides clues.In an internal 2025 New Years Address, the two chairmen stated their aim to establish the company as the undisputed leader in device AI this year through advanced intelligence (machine-translated from the original Korean). Later, they added, I hope that this year will be recorded as a year of leap forward and growth in Samsung Electronics history.Read More: New Galaxy S25 Series Leak Reveals Samsungs Valuable Surprise OfferThe new Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, which offers significant performance gains over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, is expected to power the entire Galaxy S25 range. Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Elites hexagon NPU delivers a 45% AI performance improvement and 45% better performance per watt.What New AI Features Might Appear In The Galaxy S25 Series?Snapdragon 8 Elite also promises several AI-powered camera enhancements that will likely significantly improve the Galaxy S25-series cameras regardless of the level of any new camera hardware upgrades. These include industry-leading camera features like limitless Semantic Segmentation at 4K resolution, an on-device video object eraser, real-time AI-powered skin and sky adjustments, and ultra-low-light video capture.Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite is tipped to power the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.QUALCOMMSamsung will most likely use these new capabilities to elevate the Galaxy S25 series cameras beyond the capabilities of current models in ways that cant be achieved through software updates. While some new AI features introduced in One UI 7 will likely find their way into older smartphones, current devices cant be expected to match the Galaxy S25 series AI capabilities regarding performance or features.Well discover all the details when Samsung launches the Galaxy S25 series in its regular Samsung Unpacked event, which is expected later this month.Jan 07 Update: Samsung confirms Unpacked event confirmed for Jan 22 and hints at Galaxy S25-series AI capabilitiesPre-orders are now live for Samsungs next-gen devices which will be officially announced at the companys Galaxy Unpacked event on Jan 22. Accompanying the announcement is a short teaser video that begins with a woman working at a desk, before displaying the words A true AI companion is coming. Galaxy AI.Samsung teases a "true AI companion" launching with the Galaxy S25 seriesSAMSUNGThe text then fades from the screen before revealing the official launch date of January 22 and directing viewers to follow along live on samsung.com.Samsung announces its Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event for January 22SAMSUNGThis is the clearest indication yet that AI will feature very heavily in the Galaxy S25 series, along with a new true AI assistant. Well probably have to wait until January 22 to find out exactly what that means, but we can expect something big if Samsung is choosing to lead with that feature at this stage.You can new reserve your devices for Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event.SAMSUNGThose who reserve their devices before launch will receive Reservation Gifts of $50 in Samsung Credit, up to $1,250 additional savings, and entry into a $5,000 Samsung Credit sweepstakes (US residents only).See the official reservation page for full terms and conditions.Follow @paul_monckton on Instagram.

Blue Origin is targeting New Glenns inaugural mission (NG-1) for no earlier than Friday, January 10, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, the company announced on Monday.The three-hour launch window opens at 1 a.m. ET on Friday (10 p.m. PT on Thursday night).Recommended Videos Launch Alert | Were targeting New Glenns first launch no earlier than January 10 from LC-36. Read more: https://t.co/sqiw0t6qhp pic.twitter.com/B9ex8heWSc Blue Origin (@blueorigin) January 7, 2025Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe NG-1 mission will carry the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload, which will test Blue Rings core flight, ground systems, and operational capabilities as part of the Defense Innovation Units (DIU) Orbital Logistics prototype effort. The payload includes a communications array, power system, and flight computer, which will be evaluated during the six-hour mission while attached to the New Glenn rockets second stage.RelatedBlue Origin said that its key objective for the upcoming mission is to reach orbit safely.Similar to how SpaceX brings home the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket, Blue Origin will also attempt to land New Glenns first stage on a platform floating off the coast of Florida, an effort it described as ambitious.Jarrett Jones, SVP of New Glenn, said: This is our first flight and weve prepared rigorously for it. But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations are a replacement for flying this rocket. Its time to fly. No matter what happens, well learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.Editors Recommendations

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" PlayStation Productions showed up big at CES 2025. We not only got new looks at the second season of The Last of Us and the Until Dawn film, both releasing this April, but got confirmation of some other new video game adaptations during a Sony press conference.The first adaptation to be shown off was Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, a new anime series by Crunchyroll and Aniplex. Its based on the multiplayer mode of Ghost of Tsushima, which is getting a sequel later this year in Ghost of Yotei. A press release from Crunchyroll also confirms that the series will premiere on Crunchyroll in 2027, is directed by Takanobu Mizumo, is written by Gen Urobuchi, and will feature a soundtrack curated by Sony Music.Recommended VideosHead of PlayStation Productions Asad Qizilbash and President of Screen Gems Ashley Brucks then came on stage to reveal more. While speaking on stage, Qizilbash confirmed that PlayStation Productions is working on film adaptations of both Helldivers 2and Horizon Zero Dawn.SonySony Pictures will produce the Helldivers 2 film, while Columbia Pictures will produce the Horizon Zero Dawn one. Not much else about these projects was confirmed at this time, as they all seem to be fairly early in production. We also now have more details on the PlayStation Productions adaptations coming out very soon. First, Qizilbash and Brucks teased the film adaptation of Until Dawn before playing a video message recorded by Peter Stromare to hype up the film ahead of its theatrical release in April. A Lego Horizon Adventuresmusic video was also showcased.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThen, Neil Druckmann came out on stage to close out the press conference. He gave a shoutout to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which was revealed at The Game Awards 2024. Then, a new trailer for the second season of The Last of Us was aired, giving us our first look at Kaitlyn Devers Abby and Isabela Merceds Dina. It also confirmed that the second season will start releasing episodes via HBO and Max this April.The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Trailer #2 (HD) HBO seriesThose at CES 2025 will also be able to partake in an immersive The Last of Us themed experience. Its clear that PlayStation wants to build on the momentum it gained with the success of adaptations like The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, and Twisted Metal as it is now working to adapt even more of its biggest franchises into mediums other than video games.Editors Recommendations

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsA sleek design and quality displayMuch improved health/fitness featuresAmazfit Active 2 price and availabilityAmazfit is quickly becoming one of the more intriguing players in the smartwatch game. After impressing us in September with its Apple Watch Ultra competitor, the Amazfit T-Rex 3, the company has now announced the Amazfit Active 2 at CES 2025.The Active 2 is one of the more affordable options in Amazfits lineup, but it sure doesnt give off that impression. Ive had a chance to use the Active 2 ahead of its release, and so far, Im impressed with what Im seeing.Recommended VideosJoe Maring / Digital TrendsUnlike the T-Rex 3, which is a big and bulky watch designed for outdoor enthusiasts, the Active 2 is marketed as a lifestyle smartwatch with a much smaller and more approachable design. Compared to the first Amazfit Active, which had a square Apple Watch-like display, the Active 2 has a round design that looks more like a wristwatch than a fitness wearable. The matte aluminum frame looks good, as do the notches and numbers on the bezel around the screen. Theres no rotating crown like you get on the Apple Watch, but you do get two physical buttons, both of which can be mapped to custom shortcuts/apps of your choosing.Joe Maring / Digital TrendsThe display is a 1.32-inch AMOLED panel that can reach a peak brightness of 2,000 nits the same brightness level as the Apple Watch Series 10. Theres also an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustments, something that wasnt available on the Active 1.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe standard version of the Active 2 uses regular glass, though opting for the premium version of the watch upgrades it to sapphire glass. Ive been using the premium model for a couple of days, and while I dont have the standard version to compare it to, the sapphire glass feels fantastic. Its slightly domed in the middle and feels really nice to move your finger across. The screen quality is excellent, too displaying easy-to-read text, vibrant colors, and an always-on display mode.RelatedJoe Maring / Digital TrendsOn the health and fitness front, the Active 2 has a really robust offering. It can track 160+ different workout modes and auto-detect 25 workout types. Theres a new HYROX Race Mode plus a smart Strength Training mode that can automatically track sets, reps, and rest time perfect for doing strength workouts at the gym. The runner in me is particularly interested in offline map support, allowing you to download maps with route files for turn-by-turn navigation when youre out running and without your phone.Amazfit says the heart rate sensor in the Active 2 is much improved compared to the Active 1. The Active 2 has upgraded heart rate and sleep algorithms, matching the accuracy of the more expensive T-Rex 3. Also new is a barometer, enabling you to track sports like skiing.What else do you get? Amazfits Zepp Coach feature is present for personalized training and running plans, as is a daily Readiness score. Theres also sleep tracking, blood-oxygen tracking, cycle tracking, and a skin-temperature sensor.Making all of this better is the battery life. Amazfit promises up to 10 days of battery life with typical use. Whether it delivers on that 10-day promise remains to be seen, but even if it only gets halfway there, itll still be better than any modern Apple Watch and Wear OS smartwatch.Joe Maring / Digital TrendsThe Amazfit Active 2 is available for preorder now and will be widely available in February. The standard version costs $100 and, in addition to the regular glass over the display, comes with one silicone band in the box. Opt for the premium version, and youll get a vegan leather band anda silicone band in the box, plus the sapphire glass display all for just $130.The Amazfit Active 2 syncs with the Zepp companion app, which is available for both iOS and Android. In other words, whether you have an iPhone 16 or Google Pixel 9, you can use the Active 2 just fine.Ive not had enough time to fully review the Amazfit Active 2, but my first impressions of the watch are positive. The hardware is very nice, and the watch is incredibly comfortable. The display looks great, the interface is responsive, and the amount of on-board health features is legitimately impressive. How the watch fares throughout daily use still needs to be tested, but if Amazfit can deliver on what the Active 2 promises on paper, we could be in for something special.Editors Recommendations

Apple Intelligence Apple will update iOS notification summaries after BBC headline mistake It's unfortunately not possible for Apple Intelligence to make zero errors. Samuel Axon Jan 6, 2025 7:28 pm | 35 Apple Intelligence was unveiled at WWDC 2024. Credit: Apple Apple Intelligence was unveiled at WWDC 2024. Credit: Apple Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreApple plans to release a software update that is meant to help users understand better that its notification summaries are AI-generated and may contain errors, according to a recent BBC news story. The update is a response to reports that the summaries gave users misleading information about world events.For example, one false summary suggested to at least one user that Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had committed suicide. The notification in question was meant to summarize the most important tidbits from 22 BBC news app notifications, according to a widely circulated screenshot.Apple hasn't publicly specified exactly what will be changed to better inform usersonly that it will be a software change that will "further clarify" when the notifications have been generated via the feature that resides under Apple Intelligence umbrella.The notification summaries, which are generated for individual users and devices via a custom large language model (LLM) Apple has trained, already had a small icon on them to indicate that they were not normal, unaltered notifications from the apps in question.However, that icon's meaning may not be immediately apparent to most users.Users can disable the Apple Intelligence notification summaries by accessing the Settings app on their mobile devices.When contacted for a statement, an Apple spokesperson told Ars:Apple Intelligence is designed to help users get everyday tasks done faster and more easily. This includes optional notification summaries, which provide users who choose to opt in a way to briefly view information from apps and tap into the full details whenever they choose. These are identified by a summarization icon, and the original content is a quick tap away. Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback. A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence. We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary.This issue cant just be fixed entirelyThe BBC stories about the error-prone AI have often seemed to lack understanding of how the Apple Intelligence notification summaries work, saying that they came "from within Apple's app" (the summaries are a system-wide feature) and suggesting that all users received the offending notification about Mangione (the wording of the summaries varies on individual devices depending on what other notifications were received around the same time).Nevertheless, it's a serious problem when the summaries misrepresent news headlines, and edge cases where this occurs are unfortunately inevitable. Apple cannot simply fix these summaries with a software update. The only answers are either to help users understand the drawbacks of the technology so they can make better-informed judgments or to remove or disable the feature completely. Apple is apparently going for the former.We're oversimplifying a bit here, but generally, LLMs like those used for Apple's notification summaries work by predicting portions of words based on what came before and are not capable of truly understanding the content they're summarizing.Further, these predictions are known to not be accurate all the time, with incorrect results occurring a few times per 100 or 1,000 outputs. As the models are trained and improvements are made, the error percentage may be reduced, but it never reaches zero when countless summaries are being produced every day.Deploying this technology at scale without users (or even the BBC, it seems) really understanding how it works is risky at best, whether it's with the iPhone's summaries of news headlines in notifications or Google's AI summaries at the top of search engine results pages. Even if the vast majority of summaries are perfectly accurate, there will always be some users who see inaccurate information.These summaries are read by so many millions of people that the scale of errors will always be a problem, almost no matter how comparatively accurate the models get.We wrote at length a few weeks ago about how the Apple Intelligence rollout seemed rushed, counter to Apple's usual focus on quality and user experience. However, with current technology, there is no amount of refinement to this feature that Apple could have done to reach a zero percent error rate with these notification summaries.We'll see how well Apple does making its users understand that the summaries may be wrong, but making all iPhone users truly grok how and why the feature works this way would be a tall order.Samuel AxonSenior EditorSamuel AxonSenior Editor Samuel Axon is a senior editor at Ars Technica. He covers Apple, software development, gaming, AI, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and heis a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development. 35 Comments

Coloured transmission electron micrograph of H5N1 virus particlesScience Photo LibraryA person in Louisiana has died from a bird flu virus known as H5N1. This is the first known death related to the virus in the US. The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has not identified additional H5N1 cases in the state nor found evidence of person-to-person transmission, indicating that the risk to the general public remains low.The person was hospitalised for the virus in December, after contracting it from infected or dead birds in their backyard. They experienced severe respiratory symptoms. It was the first serious case of H5N1 in the US. The LDH announced their death on 6 January and said that they were older than 65 and had underlying health conditions. AdvertisementIn total, 66 people in the US have tested positive for H5N1, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of them developed mild symptoms, such as eye redness, and worked with infected cows or chickens.H5N1, which has killed tens of millions of wild and domestic birds worldwide, has been circulating in dairy cows across the US for almost a year now. Genetic analysis of samples collected from the person in Louisiana indicate that the person was infected with the D1.1 genotype of the virus, which is similar to the viruses recently detected in wild birds, but distinct from the version spreading in cattle. There is no evidence that the virus can transmit between people.The analysis also identified several changes that may improve the virus ability to bind to cells in the upper airways of humans, which largely lack receptors for most bird flu viruses. According to the CDC, it is likely these changes happened after the person was infected any time someone contracts a bird flu virus, it gives it a chance to evolve and become better at spreading between us. One of the changes was also seen in a person who fell severely ill with H5N1 in Canada in November. Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.Sign up to newsletterTopics:

Consumer tech spending could hit $537 billion in 2025, the Consumer Technology Association said.However proposed tariffs by President-elect Donald Trump could cut into that projected revenue.The CTA said tariffs could increase tech prices and lower consumer purchasing power by billions.Consumer spending on tech could hit a record high of $537 billion this year, according to a new report from the Consumer Technology Association.But those projected retail revenues might not be met if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on promises of sweeping tariffs.The CTA's report found the proposed tariffs could lead to tens of billions of losses in revenue, if not more. Trump has said he would institute a blanket tariff of 10 to 20% on all imports and an additional 60% or more tariff on goods from China."Such sweeping tariffs could have serious consequences on the market for consumer technology, greatly reducing demand for devices that are heavily reliant on Chinese manufacturing," the report said. "Additional tariff costs on tech products could also reduce consumer purchasing power by $90 billion, to $143 billion."The CTA's current consumer tech spending projection would amount to an increase of 3.2% compared to 2024.The CTA has previously found that under Trump's tariffs the average price of laptops and tablets could increase by 45% and of smartphones by 25%. Televisions could see a 9% price increase while video games and consoles could cost almost $250 more than their current sale price.Brian Comiskey, a futurist at the CTA, said at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week that without the tariffs the industry was headed for a "super cycle" as consumers seek to upgrade their tech hardware to access the latest AI offerings, TechCrunch reported.Many economists have previously said that Trump's proposed tariffs would raise prices for Americans, and at a time when many are still feeling the impacts of inflation.It's still unclear how the incoming administration plans to implement tariffs. After a report from The Washington Post said Trump aides were discussing ways to roll out less wide-ranging tariffs, the president-elect denied it.Trump wrote on Truth Social that the story "incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong."