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The Apple Studio Display is available with a discount of $300 from Amazon. This discount applies to all versions, so prices range from $1,300 to $2,000. For the uninitiated, the Studio Display is available with a standard glass design or a nano-texture glass design that helps reduce reflections. Theres also a model with both a tilt and height-adjustable stand. The cheapest version, at $1,300, is the standard glass with a tilt-adjustable stand or a VESA mount. The Studio Display made our list of the best monitors, and this is particularly true for Mac users. The 27-inch screen boasts a 5K resolution with a max refresh rate of 60Hz. It has several useful connection options, including a trio of USB-C ports. The monitor also includes built-in speakers and a 12-megapixel camera that keeps the subject constantly in frame, thanks to Apples Center Stage software. We called out the displays excellent build quality in our official review. We also appreciated the bright screen, up to 600 nits, and the accurate color reproduction. The speakers are excellent, as is the three-mic array that accompanies the webcam. The webcam itself, however, is a bit on the dull side. So whats the downside? At the end of the day, this is just another IPS LED display with a relatively low refresh rate and single-zone backlighting. Todays discount makes Apples extreme pricing on this unit a bit more palatable, but $1,300 (at minimum) is still a pretty big investment for a monitor. The add-ons are also extremely pricey. It costs a whopping $400 to add a height-adjustable stand and $300 for that nano-texture glass coating. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/apples-studio-display-is-300-off-right-now-195210809.html?src=rss
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Amazon is holding an event on February 26 at 10AM ET. While we dont exactly know what the company plans on showing off, we certainly have some educated guesses. Lets get into it. First of all, the company's hardware chief, Panos Panay, and his devices and services team will be on hand. This indicates the presence of new gadgets at the event. However, the main focus will likely be more information on the long-promised next-gen Alexa. Invites are out! Seems like the smarter and 'remarkable' version of Amazons Alexa is finally launching on Feb 26th. Can't wait to try it out. @alexadevs @AlexaGames @alexa99https://t.co/oQhwGjtySx#AmazingAlexa #RemarkableAlexa #SmarterAlexa #NewAlexa #AlexaLaunchFeb26th pic.twitter.com/eQWv3rE8MY Voice Games (@voicegames) February 6, 2025 How do we know this? Amazon sent out five versions of a bare-bones invite to the event. Internet sleuths pieced the images together and, lo and behold, the background spells out the word Alexa. The AI-infused refresh has faced several delays since first being announced back in 2023. We reported that the team was having trouble getting the updated chatbot to do basic things, like creating a timer and turning on smart lights. These kinds of tasks have been the bread and butter of the current Alexa chatbot for years. The development team has also reportedly had issues with hallucinations. The company claims the new LLM-powered Alexa will be able to process nuance and ambiguitymuch like a person wouldand intelligently take action." Amazon says that itll be able to complete complex requests, like Alexa, every weeknight at 9PM, make an announcement that its bedtime for the kids, dim the lights upstairs, turn on the porch light and switch on the fan in the bedroom. That sounds useful, if it works. That brand-new Alexa would likely benefit from some dedicated hardware, thus the inclusion of Panay and his team. Its been a while since weve gotten updates to the Echo line of smart speakers, so a refresh of some kind is more than likely. Its also possible the budget-friendly and useful Echo Buds earbuds will get an upgrade. What shouldnt we expect? Well, Amazon just introduced some new Kindles at the tail-end of last year. Itd be weird to see an e-reader at this event. Also, while its possible the company could introduce new Fire tablets and the like, that doesnt really gel with the whole Alexa theme.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/what-to-expect-at-amazons-devices-event-on-february-26-193513602.html?src=rss
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Microsofts six-year-old program to make HoloLens headsets for the US Army could be getting some extra help. If the Department of Defense approves the deal, the company will expand its existing partnership with Anduril Industries, Palmer Luckeys defense startup, for the next stages of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program. Microsoft, which spearheaded the program, would transition into supplying AI and cloud infrastructure. Meanwhile, Anduril would do pretty much everything else, including oversight of production, future development of hardware and software and delivery timelines. Anduril makes a wide array of defense tech, including drone interceptors, sentry towers, comms jammers, drones and even an autonomous submarine. But given Luckeys background as the primary inventor of the Oculus Rift and, by extension, the modern consumer XR industry the IVAS program could perhaps be the defense tech startups most natural fit. US Army / Microsoft Microsoft started working with the Army in 2019, using a modified HoloLens 2 for a headset that reportedly felt like a real-life game of Call of Duty. Early prototypes allowed soldiers to see a virtual map showing their squads locations, a compass and their weapons reticle. Thermal imaging served as an alternative to traditional night vision headsets. But the program ran into speed bumps, one of which was all too familiar to many who tried poorly designed VR games: It made them want to hurl. In addition to nausea, the headsets also led to eyestrain and headaches. Their bulk, limited field of view and perhaps worst of all an emitted glow (which could make them easy pickings for an enemy) didnt help, either. The problems contributed to Congress denying the Armys request to buy 6,900 pairs as part of a 2023 government funding bill. Instead, it allocated $40 million for Microsoft to develop a new version, which the Army accepted later that year. However, the headset has yet to make it onto the battlefield. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that early feedback of the latest IVAS prototypes is encouraging, but the Army wants the cost to be substantially less than each headsets currently projected $80,000. The Army could eventually order as many as 121,000 devices, but the new version would still need to pass a high-stress combat test this year before going into full production. In December, Anduril partnered with OpenAI to develop AI for the Pentagon. That deal will have the ChatGPT maker supplying its GPT-4o and OpenAI o1 models to Andurils drone defense systems for the military.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/microsoft-wants-to-hand-off-much-of-its-army-hololens-program-to-palmer-luckeys-anduril-190223240.html?src=rss
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