|
At every CES I've ever been to, there's been one or two gadgets promising to boost your mental health. In recent years, the number of companies making forays into this space has grown, and will likely continue to do so in the future. Could it be, much like the number of people wearing heart-monitoring wearables today, everyone will be strapping an EEG to their skulls a decade or so down the line? It's more likely than you think, so it's worth asking what these devices are good for, what benefit they could bring, and where does the science end and the hype begin.
An Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a clinical tool to monitor the electrical activity of our brains. Put very simply, our minds are constantly moving ions around, and when they reach the scalp, it's possible to measure those ions. By placing electrodes on the scalp, you can record the changes in voltages pushed out by our brains more or less in real time. These voltages are commonly grouped into categories, which are often described as brain waves. Each one represents a different state of mind: Gamma (hard thinking), Beta (anxious or active), Alpha (relaxed), Theta (creative, or dreaming) and Delta (asleep).
Professor Karl Friston at University College London is one of the world's most influential neuroscientists and an expert in brain imaging. He explained that these technologies can be used to diagnose issues both in the structure and function of the brain. And while there are many technologies which can look at how our brains work, "we're a long way away from understanding the brain like we understand the heart." Broadl
| RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
Even without any announcements from Apple, CES dominated tech news this week with a host of upcoming products and technologies being demonstrated at the annual expo in Las Vegas.
|
|
X may soon provide more insight into how its algorithm works. On Saturday, Elon Musk posted on the platform to say that the company "will make the new X algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days."
X's recommendation algorithm has been the subject of investigations by France and the European Commission, the latter of which recently extended through 2026 a retention order that it sent to the company at the beginning of last year. And scrutiny into the platform, along with demands for accountability, have only increased after its chatbot, Grok, was caught generating CSAM at users' requests and continues to be used to digitally undress women nonconsensually.
|
|
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the MacBook Pro, unveiled by Steve Jobs as a "One More Thing" segment at the end of his Macworld San Francisco keynote on January 10, 2006.
|
|
Spam and cold calls have become such a nuisance that many people simply don't answer their phone unless they recognize the number. In iOS 26, though, you can learn about who's calling before you respond, thanks to a clever feature that intercepts unknown calls and asks the caller to identify themselves before your iPhone even rings.
|
|
Anker rolled out a bunch of new chargers and other gear at CES 2026, including a cute one that's already on sale. The new Nano charger with smart display, which is an upgrade to the existing Nano charger in Anker's lineup, is on sale for $30 right now while you can pre-order it. That's $10 off the regular MSRP, and shipments will start going out on January 20.
The 45W charger includes a smart display that shows real-time data like power flow, temperature and charging status. It also features "fun animations to keep things cheerful." Anker says it can recognize what's being charged and automatically adjust certain metrics to ensure a longer battery lifespan.
To that end, it works with just about everything. The company advertises that this charger is a good fit for the iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods and Samsung devices, among others. The new Nano Charger is on the smaller side, with dual folding prongs that rotate to fit most outlets.
The deal does require a coupon code, but it's auto-applied at checkout. If that doesn't work, it's WS24D5XT3DV9. We haven't gotten a chance to try this one yet, but it looks promising.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-new-anker-45w-nano-charger-with-smart-display-from-ces-is-10-off-already-160707620.html?src=rss
|
|
Google today made three Gmail AI features free for all personal account holders in the United States, removing the subscription requirement that previously locked them behind its Google AI Pro or Ultra tiers.
|
|
Looking to significantly reinforce its security software portfolio, Cisco has struck a $28 billion cash deal to acquire enterprise and cloud protection company Splunk.
Founded in 2003, Splunk's software platform is known for its wide-reaching ability to search, monitor and analyze data from a variety of systems. Network security teams can use this information to gain better visibility into and gather insights about network traffic, firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDSes), intrusion prevention systems (IPSes), and security information and event management (SIEM) systems, from on premise and or its cloud-based package, according to Splunk.
To read this article in full, please click here
|
|