Technology News

The latest rage in automotive vehicle design is the so-called "software-defined vehicle." Instead of dozens and dozens of discrete black boxes, each with its own legacy cruft, an SDV is a clean-sheet approach with a handful of powerful computers, each responsible for a different domain, like powertrain, safety, or infotainment. This allows for a large degree of flexibility to do things in software, whether that's changing the handling, tweaking the UI, or boosting power output.

That's if you're an automaker, at least. Invariably, any customization a driver might want to do only exists within the bounds set up by that OEM. This might extend to some different UI themes, including the ability to upload your own images as a wallpaper and choose between a kaleidoscope of interior LED lighting colors. Even the full-dash, next-generation version of Apple CarPlay is yet to appear in anything production-ready.

For older cars served by the aftermarket, things are a little more free. This is all a long-winded way of saying, "Hey, check out this rad dashboard mod in a Nissan 300ZX I saw on Instagram over the weekend."

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Andrew Garberson has a message for drivers in cold-climate states like Minnesota: Yes, you can still drive an electric car.

Public scrutiny over how well EVs perform in cold weather has grown in recent years following high-profile incidents, like one in Chicago last winter, when several Tesla drivers found themselves stuck in line for hours, waiting for their turn at public charging stations as temperatures dipped below zero. Many drivers reported that the cold had not only sapped their batteries of power but also made charging them a major hassle.

Cold weather temporarily reduces the available energy of EV batteries and slows their ability to charge—though they’ll function normally again in warmer conditions. Heating the car’s cabin during winter also requires energy from the battery, meaning less fuel for travel.

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Intel's Core Ultra 200 series is currently bifurcated between two architectures: Lunar Lake, which powers the Core Ultra 200V series of laptop chips; and Arrow Lake, which is included in the Core Ultra 200S desktop processors. Arrow Lake processors can include many more CPU cores, but only Lunar Lake uses Intel's latest GPU architecture and a neural processing unit (NPU) fast enough for Microsoft's Copilot+ functionality.

Intel is rounding out the rest of the Core Ultra 200 family today at CES, and the most important thing to know is that it's Arrow Lake, and not Lunar Lake, that is powering all of these new processors (though with a major caveat for 200U series chips, more on that in a bit).

This means that none of them are fast enough to earn the Copilot+ label or use upcoming features like Windows Recall, and none of them will have integrated graphics that are as good as the Core Ultra 200V. But it will make them a better fit for gaming laptops and other kinds of systems that prioritize CPU performance or include an external graphics card, as well as less-expensive ultraportable laptops.

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Last January at CES, Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi declared 2024 the "year of the AI PC." And whether you believe that prediction came true or not—many new PCs come with AI-accelerating neural processing units (NPUs) onboard, but far from all of them—you can't deny that Microsoft did try very hard to make it happen.

This year, Mehdi is back with another prediction: 2025 will be "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh." This year is also, not coincidentally, the year that most Windows 10 PCs will stop receiving new security updates.

Mehdi's post includes few, if any, new announcements, but it does set the tone for how Microsoft is handling the sunsetting of Windows 10, attempting to strike a balance between carrot and stick. The carrots include Windows 11's new features (both AI and otherwise) and the performance, security, and battery life benefits inherent to brand-new PC hardware. The stick is that Windows 10 support ends in October 2025, and Microsoft is not interested in extending that date for the general public or in expanding official Windows 11 support to older PCs.

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Real-time language translation takes another step forward with these earbuds.

Get live reports and photos of all the products, trends, and quirky gadgets we're seeing this week at CES in Las Vegas.

These portable heaters will heat a room quickly, quietly, and safely.

The pastime of pinball has lived a fraught existence. Whether due to public sentiment, hostile legislation, or a simple lack of popularity, the entire silver ball industry has repeatedly teetered on the brink of collapse. Yet it has always come back, today again riding a wave of popularity driven by the successes of high-tech machines capitalizing on familiar brands like X-Men and Godzilla.

Pinball arcades are springing up everywhere, but private ownership is also surging. Those modern tables with their high-definition displays and brilliant LED lights are getting the most attention, but there is a breed of pinball enthusiast who not only owns a selection of classic machines but also obsessively maintains and restores them.

These collectors have just as much love for the maze of mechanicals beneath the surface as the trajectories the silver ball follows. The goal isn't high scores; it's keeping ornately complex vintage contraptions looking and playing like new.

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The market for absurdist cryptocurrencies mutated into a hundred-billion-dollar phenomenon in 2024. Yes, things can get even more deranged.

The market for absurdist cryptocurrencies mutated into a hundred-billion-dollar phenomenon in 2024. Yes, things can get even more deranged.

Tech's big show isn’t fully underway yet, but the odd and wonderful gadgets are already here. These are the coolest things we saw at the event preview.

In fact, HTML is the most significant computing language ever developed. Underestimate it at your peril.

In fact, HTML is the most significant computing language ever developed. Underestimate it at your peril.

By grappling with the messy and unpredictable side of existence, machine learning can have impact beyond the digital.

By grappling with the messy and unpredictable side of existence, machine learning can have impact beyond the digital.

We break down the current iPad lineup to help you figure out which one of Apple’s tablets is best for you.

Ready to cut the cord? These are our favorite buds that will never, ever get tangled.

AlphaTheta’s new cheap option gives you reliable basics without cutting too many corners.

The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.

This week at CES, companies of all sizes will show off all their new AI-enabled gadgets. Here’s hoping they don’t all just do stuff your phone already excels at.