Apple has debuted a new smartphone for budget-conscious shoppers. The iPhone 16e has been dubbed “the SE killer” since it succeeds the previous bottom-line entry, which came out in 2022. Pricing begins at $599, with preorders starting Friday followed by general availability on February 28. The iPhone 16e features Apple’s speedy A18 chip, with 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU. It also includes Apple Intelligence and a 48MP 2-in-1 camera system. With increasing global competition in the low-priced phone space, this latest entry intends to get the upscale Apple brand back into the game. Continue reading Apple Touts Affordability, AI with Feature-Packed iPhone 16e

The Canon Americas Lab exhibit at CES this year featured a demonstration of Canon USA’s Volumetric X Motion Capture system that creates videos viewable from any camera angle. The multi-camera system leverages 2D data, 3D volumetric data, and analytical tools for sports and entertainment applications. The basis of the system is the same as the Free Viewpoint video system — Canon’s CES 2023 headliner — which was used in an NBA pilot for Cleveland Cavaliers’ alternative game stream. We checked in with the project’s researchers for updates, including ESPN highlights on Meta’s Xtadium VR app, a new U.S. volumetric studio, and how AI was used in this technology. Continue reading CES: Canon Updates Its Volumetric X Motion Capture System

CES’s Eureka Park is a section of exhibits where startups and early-stage products from all over the world solicit feedback and explore opportunities. From this year’s Italian delegates at Eureka Park, our team found EYE2DRIVE, a semiconductor company that develops CMOS chips for digital imaging inspired by the human eye. Their image sensors use AI to mimic the human eye’s ability to adapt its response to changing environmental light conditions. As a result, quality and color of the captured image remains unaffected. While currently focusing on autonomous navigation applications, the tech has potential for media production as well. Continue reading CES: Image Sensors Adapt to Light Changes Like Human Eye

The Xreal One Pro AR glasses have raised the stakes for those competing in the wearable augmented reality space, according to some CES 2025 attendees. The eyewear, which debuted at the show, updates the Xreal One, released in the U.S. last month. The Pro’s cinematic virtual display (of up to 447 inches) comes with 57-degree field of view, an improvement over the Xreal One’s 50-degree FOV. Xreal says the Pro model offers “professional-grade color accuracy.” An optional detachable 12MP camera, Xreal Eye, captures photos and video. The new model will sell for $500 starting in March. Continue reading CES: Xreal One Pro AR Glasses Are Thinner, with Greater FOV

When walking through the Japanese exhibits at CES 2025, it was difficult to miss the huge black spherical drone aircraft HAGAMOSphere that was prominently positioned as if demanding the passerby’s respect. And respect it deserved, for this drone prototype was one of this year’s CES Innovation Award recipients recognized for outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology. HAGAMOSphere’s innovation is its distinct ability to move both horizontally and vertically without tilting the aircraft. If the HAGAMOSphere is outfitted with a suitable camera, jerky movements in captured drone footage could potentially be eliminated or mitigated. Continue reading CES: Spherical Drone Design Could Benefit Media Production

Lenovo’s new laptops include the Yoga Slim 9i, on display this week at CES 2025. Its 14-inch PureSight Pro OLED screen is essentially bezel-free, with 98 percent screen-to-body ratio made possible by the world’s first camera-under-display technology in a laptop. “Hiding the camera under the display panel until it is needed means a pure, uninterrupted screen with no camera notch,” Lenovo claims. When the 32-megapixel camera is activated, the laptop deactivates the pixels where the camera lens is positioned behind the screen. To correct image distortion and lowlight issues, Lenovo is tapping technology provided by Israel-based Visionary.ai. Continue reading CES: Lenovo Yoga Laptops Include One with Invisible Camera

Wearable technology startup Halliday has unveiled smart glasses that beam images directly to the wearer’s eyes. At CES Unveiled, the Shenzhen-based company previewed AI-powered eyewear that that projects images directly into eyes instead of onto a lens and is controlled by a smart ring. The “minimal optical module projection technology,” coined DigiWindow, is being called first-of-its-kind. The device has a “proactive AI assistant” that reacts to its environment without being asked. The frames come in matte black or tortoiseshell and have lenses that can accommodate prescriptions. Continue reading CES: Halliday’s AI Smart Glasses Project Directly into the Eye

Israeli startup PxE Holographic Imaging has developed a drop-in replacement sensor for any camera that holographically captures depth information without lidar or other hardware. Or more specifically, it augments any existing sensor with this capability, so any existing sensor OEM’s product can be adapted. Imagine face ID without an IR projector and sensor, your videoconference camera able to send a 3D image, or volumetric capture suddenly becoming more affordable. Extraordinarily, the physics appears to check out, and PxE demonstrated the technology to us at short- and room-size range in their CES suite at The Venetian Las Vegas. Continue reading CES: PxE Develops Camera Sensor That Captures Depth Info

Blackmagic Design is live with URSA Cine Immersive pre-orders. If it meets its late Q1 2025 ship date the $29,995 the camera will be the first on the market optimized for the Apple Immersive Video (AIV) format compatible with the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. Currently, there isn’t much content that takes advantage of the Vision Pro’s immersive features. The Cine Immersive captures 3D footage in resolution of 8160 x 7200 per eye at 90 fps. The package includes a fixed-distance lens and 8TB of onboard network storage. Also in Q1, DaVinci Resolve Studio will be updated to support AIV editing. Continue reading URSA Cine Immersive for Apple Vision Pro Set for Q1 at $30K

Attempting to stay ahead of OpenAI in the generative video race, Google announced Veo 2, which it says can output 4K clips of two-minutes-plus at 4096 x 2160 pixels. Competitor Sora can generate video of up to 20 seconds at 1080p. However, TechCrunch says Veo 2’s supremacy is “theoretical” since it is currently available only through Google Labs’ experimental VideoFX platform, which is limited to videos of up to 8-seconds at 720p. VideoFX is also waitlisted, but Google says it will expand access this week (with no comment on expanding the cap). Continue reading Veo 2 Is Unveiled Weeks After Google Debuted Veo in Preview

Meta has added new features to Ray-Ban Metas in time for the holidays via a firmware update that make the smart glasses “the gift that keeps on giving,” per Meta marketing.  “Live AI” adds computer vision, letting Meta AI see and record what you see “and converse with you more naturally than ever before.” Along with Live AI, Live Translation is available for Meta Early Access members. Translation of Spanish, French or Italian will pipe through as English (or vice versa) in real time as audio in the glasses’ open-ear speakers. In addition, Shazam support is added for users interested in easily identifying songs. Continue reading Ray-Ban Meta Gets Live AI, RT Language Translation, Shazam

Amazon has announced the launch of its largest-ever Echo smart display, the Echo Show 21. With a 21-inch screen it nearly doubles the viewing space of previous models, at 1080p resolution and better audio quality, Amazon says, adding that camera improvements and a built-in hub to manage your smart home hub with Alexa are included among the new features. The device will retail for $399.99. A next-generation of the Echo Show 15, first released in 2022, will also come to market for $299.99 with a 15-inch screen as well as audio, camera and smart home upgrades. Continue reading Amazon Debuts Its Largest Smart Display, the Echo Show 21

Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has added video call features that could position the company as a rival to communication platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Signal has also added a “Calls” tab that lets users initiate new calls, review call history and create call links, which can conveniently be shared with colleagues via normal messaging instead of having to create specific call groups. The reusable links also make it easy to share invites for recurring calls. Signal Calls is available for iOS, Android and desktop. The desktop app lets users choose between grid, sidebar and speaker views. Continue reading Signal’s New Video Call Feature Takes on Zoom, Meet, Teams

Matter 1.4 is here, and with it the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has made some important fixes in an effort to get back on track with its aim of a universal interoperable smart home standard. This latest iteration has replaced Multi-Admin with Enhanced Multi-Admin, which largely automates the addition of new Matter devices in multiple ecosystems. It introduces Matter certifiable home routers and access points, allowing border gear manufactured by different companies to work together more seamlessly and accommodates dimmable lighting. The 1.4 update incorporates heat pumps, solar panels and home batteries, but ignores home security cameras. Continue reading Matter 1.4 Expands Energy Controls, Improves Admin Feature

Wonder Animation is the latest tool from Wonder Dynamics, the AI startup founded by actor Tye Sheridan and VFX artist Nikola Todorovic in 2017 that Autodesk purchased in May. Now in beta, Wonder Animation can automatically transpose live-action footage into stylized 3D animation. Creators can shoot using any camera, on any set or location, and easily convert to 3D CGI. Matching the camera position and movement to the characters and environment, Wonder Animation lets you film using any camera system and lenses, edit those shots using Maya, Blender or Unreal, and then reconstruct the result as 3D animation using AI. Continue reading Autodesk’s AI Tool Turns Live-Action Video into 3D Animation