Author: News Room

VocabOwl has turned vocabulary size into the kind of number people want to post, argue over, and quietly retake when the result feels too cruel. The viral vocabulary test asks 100 multiple-choice questions, then converts those answers into an estimate of how many English words you know. Its current burst of attention is tied to The Rest Is Science, where Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tried a listener-built tool built around the same uncomfortable question. The appeal lands fast because VocabOwl gives you a large score, a difficulty breakdown, and just enough precision to make the result feel personal. You’ll…

OpenAI is laying out a future where advanced AI reaches billions of people, not only the companies and governments racing to control it. Its latest plan centers on an AI for everyone, a personal AGI that would work as a deeply capable assistant for daily life, work, and discovery. The company calls this its third phase. After proving the technology could work and turning it into products used at scale, OpenAI now wants to make powerful AI broadly available while pushing systems that can accelerate science and economic growth. The hard part is turning that ambition into something people can…

For most laptop displays, sunlight is the main antagonist. The brighter the day, the harder they work, and the more you start hunting for some shade. The Radiant Monitor 2 takes a different approach. Eazeye’s new portable monitor uses a 15.6-inch transflective LCD, which means it can use ambient light to improve visibility instead of fighting it entirely with a backlight. In bright conditions, the backlight can be turned off, dropping power consumption to around 3W. Sunlight becomes part of the display system rather than the thing ruining your screen. Sounds similar to a Kindle, but not entirely The concept…

Sony has filed a PSN login patent, first spotted by RespawnFirst, that would pull the DualSense controller into the sign-in process. A PlayStation console would start the request, then the controller would help confirm that the account holder is close enough to approve access. For players, the appeal is easy to see. PSN account abuse can lead to unauthorized purchases, lost access, and attempts to resell established accounts. Sony already offers 2-step verification and passkeys, but this idea adds a hardware check to the login chain. How would the controller approve access The patent describes a handoff that begins at…

Apple still has not released a touchscreen Mac, though macOS 27 Golden Gate suggests the company is at least preparing its desktop software for more touch-friendly interactions. Until that turns into actual Mac hardware, Alogic is trying to fill the gap with a new lineup of external displays that bring touch and stylus controls to macOS and Windows setups. The company unveiled the products at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas, including the Fokus wall-mounted touchscreens, Aspekt Touch 27-inch monitor, Folio portable displays, and Active Stylus. Windows users have had plenty of touchscreen monitor options for years, but Mac users usually…

Pool robots have become remarkably capable over the last few years. What started as simple cleaners designed to remove debris from the bottom of a pool has evolved into a new category of intelligent systems capable of navigating entire pools, adapting to changing conditions, and taking on multiple maintenance tasks at once. As expectations around smart home technology continue to rise, pool owners are increasingly looking for the same combination of automation, convenience, and reliability from their pool-care equipment. Few brands have embraced that shift more aggressively than Beatbot. Available through the Beatbot website and Amazon storefront, the company has…

iPhones are widely seen as some of the most secure smartphones for everyday users. Still, Apple devices are not immune to serious security flaws, as recent threats like Coruna and DarkSword have shown. Now, security researchers at Paradigm Shift have detailed a different kind of exploit called usbliter8, which affects some older iPhones and targets a deep part of Apple’s startup process known as the BootROM. The BootROM is the basic startup code that runs before iOS loads. It helps the iPhone begin the boot process and verify what should run next. Because it is built into the chip itself,…

Amazon Prime Day 2026 is looking like one of those rare shopping moments where our focus shifts from impulse gadgets to truly meaningful upgrades. Instead of highlighting short-lived, trendy purchases, this year’s standout deals center on practical technology designed to solve real-world problems. Whether it is keeping your home powered during unexpected outages, elevating the quality of your content creation, simplifying pool maintenance, or finally eliminating the daily clutter of multiple charging setups, the focus is entirely on utility. This lineup shows a massive shift toward automation, elevated convenience, as well as, long-term value, seamlessly bridging the gap between high-ticket…

Amazon MGM Studios just backed out of releasing Artificial, Luca Guadagnino’s movie about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. According to Deadline, the studio confirmed it will no longer distribute the nearly finished film, even though it had been in the works for roughly a year and had already screened well in early test audiences. What Artificial is actually about, and why Amazon dropped it? Artificial is billed as a comedic drama covering the chaotic five days in 2023 when Altman was abruptly fired by OpenAI’s board. That apparently traced back to Altman trying to push out board member Helen Toner after…

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, and that includes classrooms. Students are turning to tools like ChatGPT for homework, research, writing assistance, and even basic questions. But a growing number of educators, researchers, and policymakers are questioning whether introducing children to AI at such a young age could do more harm than good. Norway appears to agree. The country has announced a near-total ban on generative AI tools for elementary school students, arguing that children need to develop fundamental reading, writing, and math skills without relying on AI. The move could become an early sign of a…