If you've ever tried to buy a digital photo frame, you likely know the market is full of bad products. Aura's frames are an exception they're well-designed, have great screens, the software is easy to use and there are no subscription upsells. Today, the company is diversifying its lineup with the new Aspen frame, which sits comfortably between the 10-inch Carver frame and 15-inch Walden option.
With an 11.8-inch, 1,600 x 1,200 display, it's larger and has a significantly higher resolution than the 10.1-inch Carver Mat frame (my current pick for the best digital frame on the market). That display has built-in light sensors to adjust brightness depending on the environment that does a good job of keeping it from feeling like you're staring at a monitor or tablet the viewing experience on these frames is definitely more subtle. It also has a removable stand that lets you set the frame up in either portrait or landscape orientation; the Carver Mat's larger and thicker base means it can only be set up in landscape. Because the stand is removable, the Aspen is much thinner and lighter than I expected.
But its more svelte dimensions don't come at the expense of structural integrity. I've tested a bunch of frames with removable stands so they can be aligned in portrait or landscape, and basically all of them have stands that are flimsy, ugly or both. The Aspen's stand, on the other hand, feels impressively solid and well-engineered.
The Carver line of frames featured a touch bar for swiping through photographs or adjusting how fast it moves between images. On the Aspen there's two, so the controls are easily accessible no matter which orientation it's in. Getting photos onto the Aspen requires using Aura's app, but it again is probably the best digital photo frame app I've used. It's pretty simple to sync specific images and albums from your phone and you can also add photos by sending them to a specific email address you can set up.
There are a few new software tricks in the app now, too. You can add a text caption to any image you've uploaded to the frame that'll display when the picture comes up, and you can also filter by people on the app now. Aura says that all facial processing is done on-device. The app otherwise integrates easily with Apple / iCloud Photos and Google Photos.
The Aspen is on sale today for $229 and comes in either ink black or clay white; both have a subtly textured white mat surrounding the image. That's a good bit more than the $179 Carver Mat but a bigger, higher-resolution screen, smaller footprint and the flexibility of going portrait or landscape may be worth it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/auras-aspen-digital-photo-frame-features-a-bigger-better-screen-but-itll-cost-you-132728549.html?src=rss
Subaru has unveiled its second-ever EV, the 2026 Trailseeker, at the New York International Auto Show. It's a slightly larger version of the company's first electric vehicle, the Solterra, and is likely based on the same platform also used by Toyota with its BZ4X electric SUV.
The Trailseeker is taller than the Solterra and has more cargo area, but otherwise resembles that model, with similar body creases along the doors and rear fender. It also has the same type of plastic panels around the fenders, which was something of a polarizing feature on the Solterra.
Range isn't the Trailseeker's strong point as it's equipped with a smallish 74.7-kWh lithium-ion battery and tops out at just 260 miles. Charging won't be blazingly fast either as it's limited to 150kW. However, the electric SUV will be able to handle fast charging in cold or warm conditions thanks to a battery preconditioning system, and you'll be able to pull up to any Supercharger thanks to the NACS port and Subaru's arrangement with Tesla.
Subaru
The Trailseeker does seem to have the goods when it comes to performance and offroading, though. It uses a symmetrical all-wheel drive system with dual motors putting out a combined 375 HP that propel it from 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds. It also comes standard with 8.3 inches of ground clearance and the company's X-Mode system with settings for snow/dirt, deep snow/mud, grip control and downhill assist control.
It's also loaded with driver assist tech powered by the company's EyeSight system. That includes pre-collision braking, front cross traffic alert, blind spot monitors, lane departure alert, a panoramic view monitor, emergency stop assist, traffic jam assist, lane change assist and adaptive cruise control.
Subaru
The interior looks fairly plain but it does feature a 14-inch touchscreen, the largest on any Subaru to date. In a nod to its techie market, the EV also offers a wide center console that "provides a centralized hub for devices and personal items for easy storage," the company said. That includes two 15W chargers, two fast USB-C chargers for rear passengers, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.
Pricing will be announced in "early 2026," according to Subaru. However, it's likely to be more expensive than the company's Solterra, which currently starts at $38,495 before any tax credits, and ahead of any future tariffs levied on Japanese imports. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/subarus-new-trailseeker-ev-has-solid-4x4-bonafides-but-mediocre-range-132516469.html?src=rss
Wireless headphones and earbuds are extremely convenient, until they're not I'm looking at you in-flight movies with only headphone jack compatibility. One of our favorite solutions for this is Twelve South's AirFly bluetooth transmitters, which allow you to wirelessly connect with everything from treadmills to TVs.
Well, now, the AirFly Pro is on sale for $42, down from $55, in the white model. The 24 percent discount brings its price to the lowest we've seen all year. This specific AirFly transmitter lets you pair up to two headphones and access pretty much anything with a headphone jack yes, you can finally say no to the flight attendant handing out cheap wired headphones and use the ones you forked out good money for.
The AirFly Pro works with all types of headphones, including Sony, Bose and Beats. The transmitter is small enough to fit in your pocket, but lasts for up to 25 hours meaning you don't have to bother with charging it mid-travel. Plus, it includes a USB-C cable for whenever it does need a juice up.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/pick-up-the-twelve-south-airfly-pro-while-its-on-sale-for-only-42-131547286.html?src=rss
NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti aims at a very niche group of gamers. Starting at $379 with 8GB of VRAM, or $429 with 16GB, the 5060 Ti is for people who want something a bit more powerful than the base $299 RTX 5060, but aren't willing to shell out for the midrange $549 RTX 5070. (And it's worth noting that card is already selling for well beyond that price).
In terms of raw rendering power, it's a minor upgrade over the previous RTX 4060 Ti. But thanks to the power of DLSS 4 AI upscaling, as well as 4X frame generation (the ability to create three interpolated frames for every one that's rendered), the RTX 5060 Ti can reach surprisingly high fps scores in 1080p and even 1440p.
During my testing of PNY's RTX 5060 Ti 16GB card, I found it to be a solid performer overall, especially for games that can tap into 4X frame generation. But of course, it's unclear if you'll actually be able to buy it for $429, given the already volatile nature of the GPU industry and the additional headache of the Trump administration's unwieldy tariff plans. Would it be worth spending over $500 or even $600 on the RTX 5060 Ti? That's much harder to tell.
Hardware
Now if you're wondering why NVIDIA chose to offer 16GB of RAM in the RTX 5060 Ti, while it saddled the RTX 5070 with just 12GB, I don't really have any answers for you. It's a confusing move, and it's another sign that the RTX 5070 was simply a bit too mid. Even more curious, the 5060 Ti also has higher clock speeds than the 5070, reaching between 2.4GHz and 2.57GHz. The 5070 is rated between 2.16GHz and 2.51Ghz.
Otherwise, the 5060 Ti sits right below the 5070: It has 4,608 Blackwell CUDA cores that can reach 24 TFLOPs, 759 AI TOPS and 72 TFLOPS of 4th-gen ray tracing cores. The 5070, meanwhile, has 6,144 CUDA cores for 31 TFLOPS of Blackwell shader power, 988 AI TOPS and 94 ray tracing TLFOPs.
The PNY 5060 Ti I tested seemed like a typical budget GPU. It's relatively small, features just two fans and has one PSU connection. You won't be mistaking it for a slick NVIDIA Founder's Edition card, that's for sure.
None
3DMark TimeSpy Extreme
Geekbench 6 GPU
Cyberpunk (4K RT Overdrive DLSS)
Blender
NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti (16GB)
8,100
139,756
90 fps (4X frame gen)
4,220
NVIDIA RTX 5070
10,343
178,795
115 fps (4x frame gen)
6,015
NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti
12,675
238,417
153 fps (4X frame gen)
7,365
NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti
6,599
N/A
50 fps (1X frame gen)
4,435
What's good about the RTX 5060 Ti (16GB)?
For the most part, the RTX 5060 Ti delivered everything I'd want in a sub-$500 video card. And in some cases, it even exceeded my expectations.
It offers excellent 1080p performance, especially with the help of DLSS 4. It hit 186 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 in ray tracing overdrive mode with 4X frame generation. But it also performed decently without DLSS, hitting 122 fps with Ultra graphics settings and no ray tracing. Just dont try to add ray tracing without upscaling, as the 5060 Ti reached a mere 30 fps in RT Overdrive mode and 56 fps in RT Ultra.
In Halo Infinite, which doesnt offer DLSS upscaling at all, it reached 156 fps in 1080p with maxed out graphics settings and ray tracing.
1440p speeds were solid as well: It reached 136 fps in Cyberpunk's ray tracing overdrive mode with 4X frame generation, and an even higher 189 fps in the slightly less impressive RT ultra mode.
In 4K, the 5060 Ti hit 90 fps in Cyberpunk with 4X frame generation. Its not a card youd be buying for consistent 4K gameplay, but its still interesting to see it hit beyond 60 fps at such a high resolution.
Having 16GB of VRAM future-proofs the card a bit, since it will be able to tackle higher resolution textures for newer games. That hefty amount of memory is likely why the 5060 Ti can handle 4K in a pinch.
The 5060 Ti was 25 percent faster than the 4060 Ti in the 3DMark Speedway benchmark, as well as the Port Royal ray tracing test.
Since it's running just two fans, the 5060 Ti doesn't make much noise under load. And it doesn't really generate much heat either, reaching just 70C under load (and around 32C while idling).
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
What's bad about the RTX 5060 Ti (16GB)?
At the end of the day, the 5060 Ti is still a slightly souped-up budget card, so there are bound to be compromises.
I wish I could really trust its $429 price. While some lucky shoppers may be able to find launch models at that figure, it won't be long before retailers start jacking up the price. And that's not even counting where things may end up in a post-Trump tariff world.
Strangely enough, the 5060 Ti scored a few hundred points lower than the 4060 Ti in the Blender benchmark. That could be due to immature drivers, but it was still surprising to see. Given that other benchmark results showed a decent amount of improvement, I wouldnt count the 5060 Ti out for all 3D rendering software. But if you were in that field, youd probably be investing in something much more powerful anyway.
Should you buy the RTX 5060 Ti (16GB)?
If you're still using an RTX 3060 or an older GPU, you'll see some huge speed boosts from the RTX 5060 Ti. But think twice before spending well over $500. If the GPU market stabilizes in the future, you may be able to snag an AMD Radeon RX 9070 or an NVIDIA RTX 5070 for $549. The Radeon is likely the better alternative, since it scored higher than the 5070 in most of our tests.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Wrap-up
On paper, NVIDIA has done a lot right with the 16GB GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. Itll be more than enough for demanding games in 1080p and 1440p, even if you let loose a bit with ray tracing. But its also relying on DLSS 4 upscaling for much of that performance, which may make some wary about the 5060 Tis actul power.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/nvidia-rtx-5060-ti-16gb-review-a-solid-semi-budget-gpu-for-429-but-good-luck-scoring-that-price-130058124.html?src=rss
Patreon has plenty of tools to help creators connect with audiences and grow those subscription numbers. However, it has never offered the ability to stream live video content. Thats changing soon. The platform is testing livestreaming with a general rollout planned for summer.
Its called Live Video and will be available to a "limited group of creators" starting next week as part of a testing phase. Patreon says this feature should help "boost real-time fan engagement and provide new experiences to encourage free-to-paid member conversion."
The platform looks to have put some thought into this functionality. There are no ads during streams, which is great, and it added some built-in tools to help with real-time engagement. There are real-time chats, which is typical for livestreams, but creators are given "enhanced chat moderation tools" to keep things from blowing up into a toxic hellscape.
Patreon says there will be no third-party tools required by creators or fans and that everything will run in the official app. This will also work on multiple platforms, including mobile and PC. Creators will be able to choose to offer streams to everyone or just to paid members.
The company has some plans to improve the experience down the line. Its prepping an integration with OBS and Streamlabs to allow for adding co-hosts or to support "sophisticated streaming setups." It will also allow creators to offer VOD downloads of streams as a one-time purchase or as a gift to fans.
The platform has been busy this past year or two. It recently added a feature to allow fans to purchase access to collections of content without having to pony up for a monthly subscription. It also provided a suite of tools to let creators customize their pages, including the layout, colors and how posts display.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/patreon-is-testing-livestreaming-with-a-major-rollout-planned-for-summer-130045258.html?src=rss
xAI has launched a new interface for its Grok chatbot that could be compared to ChatGPT's Canvas. The Elon Musk-helmed AI company has introduced the first version of Studio, which can generate documents, code and even browser games on a separate window. If you ask Grok to write an essay for you, for instance, you'll find text formatting buttons (Bold, Italics and Underline) at the top of the interface. You'll also find a a drop-down menu with header options and buttons to create bullet and numbered lists.
If you ask Grok to write code for you, you'll immediately see how it runs on a preview tab that you can switch to on the upper part of the interface. In addition to being able to preview HTML, the chatbot can also run and preview Python, C++, Javascript, Typescript and bash scripts. In addition, the company has added Google Drive support for Grok, which now works with documents, spreadsheets and slides. You can upload a spreadsheet and ask it to use information from the file to prepare a report for you, complete with charts and illustrations, open an essay you want to edit, or slides you'd like to jazz up. Grok Studio is available for all premium and free users. You don't have to type in a prompt or click anything to activate it, but you'll have to sign up for an account and sign in before you can access its features.
Code ExecutionIf you ask Grok to generate code, you can quickly see how it runs in a preview tab. You can preview HTML snippets, run Python, C++, Javascript, Typescript and bash scripts. pic.twitter.com/HqVMROSl9N Grok (@grok) April 16, 2025
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xais-grok-launches-studio-interface-for-documents-and-code-123016714.html?src=rss
Kimpton Hotels is tapping into the growing trend of 'tattourism' through a new partnership with micro-tattoo studio Tiny Zaps. As of this month, the collaboration is bringing pop-up tattoo residencies to five Kimpton properties across the United States, allowing guests to commemorate their travels with permanent souvenirs inked directly onto their skin.
Skullcandy just revealed a new pair of wireless earbuds, the Method 360 ANC. Interestingly, the company has teamed up with rival headphone-maker Bose for this product. The earbuds have been tuned by Bose and use eartips similar to the ones found with the companys QuietComfort line.
This is part of the pre-existing Sound by Bose platform, in which the company helps rivals with tuning and sound quality. The Motorola Moto Buds+ earbuds also include this feature.
Otherwise, the Method 360 ANC earbuds seem like a solid entry in a crowded field. They offer ANC, multipoint connections, custom EQ options, wear detection and other bells and whistles. The battery lasts around 10 hours per charge, which increases to 40 hours when considering the charging case. However, this metric is with ANC turned off. There is a quick-charge feature that advertises two hours of use on just ten minutes of charging. This charging case includes an O-ring, so it can be clipped to stuff, and is available in several colors.
Skullcandy
The earbuds ship with multiple sets of eartips that also use technology by Bose to ensure a secure, ultra-comfortable fit and superior noise isolation. They integrate with the Skull-iQ app, for making EQ adjustments, reconfiguring buttons and changing ANC modes. The Method 360 ANC earbuds are available right now at an introductory price of $100. The cost will go up to $130 later on.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/skullcandys-new-method-360-anc-earbuds-have-been-tuned-by-bose-230053911.html?src=rss
According to an SEC filing from NVIDIA, the US government now requires companies to obtain a license to export H20 integrated circuits and any other products that achieve the same performance benchmarks. The filing states that "the license requirement addresses the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China." Mainland China is not the only place targeted by this license; NVIDIA will also require permission to sell the H20 to the territories of Hong Kong and Macau as well as to nations with the D:5 designation as US Arms Embargo Countries.
The H20 chips are currently the most advanced chips that can be sold to select international markets under present laws and they are powerful enough to be used for artificial intelligence applications. NVIDIA has wanted the ability to retain Chinese customers for these products and last week, it seemed like the company may have gotten a reprieve on new restrictions. However, it appears that the new license requirement "will be in effect for the indefinite future."
NVIDIA said in the SEC filing that it now expects to report about $5.5 billion in charges related to "inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves" associated with the H20 circuits in the results for its current fiscal quarter.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/nvidia-says-the-us-has-put-export-restrictions-on-h20-ai-chips-224822930.html?src=rss
Two and a half centuries after Josiah Wedgwood perfected Jasperware, with its distinctive matte finish, the British ceramics brand is marking the milestone with a decidedly 21st-century approach. The company has launched Jasper 250 AI, a generative tool that enables anyone to get creative and play with an iconic style of pottery.The initiative echoes a 1930 international design competition when Wedgwood celebrated its founder's bicentennial, which crowned Danish artist Emmanuel Tjerne. Now, participants can share their AI-generated designs across social platforms using #jasper250, with the winning creation to be 3D-printed and acquired by the V&A Wedgwood Collection.Rather than asking people to passively admire tradition, Wedgwood is inviting them to actively collaborate with its legacy positioning AI as a bridge between today's consumers and the brand's heritage. By translating 250 years of stoneware artistry into an accessible digital format, Wedgwood demonstrates how even the most storied brands can allow consumers to mold tradition and make it their own.
