New Year means CES, which means new TVs. LG has already announced that it will launch a line of QNED 4K and 8K screens with mini LED backlighting, and now Samsung has revealed that its Neo QLED TVs will have their own Quantum Mini LEDs.
TCL has already used the technology in its LCD sets with great effect, and it is good to see it being launched on more monitors. We don’t expect it to surpass OLED as a screen champion, but as always, Samsung will continue to push. Perhaps more interesting, Samsung has also revealed that its new SolarCell remote will be powered by ambient light (or USB) instead of disposable batteries and TVs can use an optional camera accessory to run home exercise software. We should hear more about all of that in the next week or so.
– Richard Lawler
Facebook’s ban is 24 hours.
Twitter temporarily suspended Donald Trump from the social network after the president tweeted his support for a violent crowd that invaded the nation’s capitol while Congress met to certify the results of yesterday’s elections yesterday. Trump’s account will be blocked for 12 hours, and Twitter said he will have to remove three tweets previously labeled as inciting violence. The company added that the future violation of the rules “will result in the 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 on Twitter and Facebook that classified the election results as “fraudulent” and praised his supporters as “very special” people. Facebook removed the video, with the company’s vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen saying they did this because Facebook believed that “it contributes, rather than decreases, the risk of continuing violence”.
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Live streams and the Best of CES awards are coming up next week.
The first virtual edition of CES will not officially begin until next week, but companies are already making announcements at a rapid pace. Remote coverage has started!
We are once again in charge of this year’s official Best of CES award, and registration is now open. We will announce the winners before the end of the 2021 virtual festivities, on Wednesday, January 13, at 4:30 pm ET.
We are also replacing our usual stage show with a completely virtual experience. Each day of CES, we will offer a collection of reactions in press conferences, interviews and much more, live on our virtual space. You can watch it all on Engadget.com, starting Monday, January 11, at 7:30 am ET.
Follow all the latest news from CES 2021 right here!
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Although you probably won’t, if you can afford it.
After debuting on Samsung’s huge and expensive “The Wall” set, MicroLED TVs are finally ready for CES 2021 (yes, we started), with the previously announced 110-inch model aimed at consumers. Expect to see 88 and 99 inch versions later this year.
With these sets, you can take one from the store and install it in your home, without the help of custom installers. This is in stark contrast to The Wall, which requires professional setup and potentially workdays to connect your modular MicroLED panels. There is still no price, as is the tradition of launching CES, but expect that, with this size and this technology, they will be quite expensive, but cheaper than The Wall.
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But you still need to take a bag to the trash.
We don’t cover many vacuum cleaners – we limit ourselves to automated robotic ones that love to eat their cables – but LG’s new CES vacuum cleaner lends the automatic emptying feature of some high-end robot vacuum cleaners. The ThinQ A9 Kompressor + will deposit all of your debris in an attached pouch when you put it in the holster to load. You will 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 more or less that.
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