OpenAI is now launching Sora 2, according to a recent announcement post. Sora 2 is the next generation of the company’s AI video and audio generator, promising more realistic, physically accurate, and controllable results. Unlike previous models, which often “cheated” with physics, Sora 2 can generate more believable simulations. Sora 2 can create videos of advanced movements—like gymnastics sequences, backflips on a paddleboard, and figure skating triple axels—while generating synchronized sound, dialogue, and effects. It can also insert people or objects from real-life videos, and recreate both their appearances and voices with high precision. There’s also a new iOS app called Sora being launched. The app allows you to create and share AI videos, remix other people’s clips, and use the cameos feature to put yourself (or your friends) right into AI-generated scenes. If your cameo is used in a remixed clip, you’ll be counted as a co-creator (thus allowing you the power to remove said clip). OpenAI emphasizes that this launch is focused on responsible use. The feed will encourage creation over passive consumption, and users will also be given tools to personalize their experience and minimize addictive scrolling. At launch, the Sora app will only be available in the US and Canada. Sora 2 is available on the web. Both require an invitation from OpenAI. Read...

More than 622,000 votes have been returned to date, representing just over 18 percent of eligible votes. Read...

All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea is set to take centre stage in a test in Australia this weekend, three years after suffering a long-term injury against the Wallabies. Read...

Rain and showers were moving northwest over the North Island and the top of the south on Friday. Read...

The recent discovery of asbestos has given new opportunities to tell different stories about different objects, volunteers say. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Beginner-friendly setup (when its GPS works correctly) Traction Mode mapping is a great innovation Impressive obstacle avoidance Cons Very low maximum cutting height (for U.S. grasses) Persistent GPS issues Unrealistic advertised LoRa communication range (LoRa depends on line-of-sight) Our Verdict Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: UBHome M10 Retailer Price $1,299 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices We’ve seen our share of robot mowers from large companies and well-capitalized startups, but very few crowd-funded ones. UBHome is an exception, raising HK $1.6 million (~$200,000 USD) this spring to bring its M10 robot lawn mower to market. The UBHome M10 features artificial intelligence combined with RTK (real-time kinetics) positioning, which reminds me of the Segway X3 series mowers, albeit with a different price tag and maximum yard size. The M10 costs just $1,499, which makes it one of the lower-priced robot mowers we’ve tested. The M10 uses a reference station and a LoRa (Long Range) gateway to determine position and communicate with the mower. In theory, no mower should have any problems maintaining a connection anywhere in my yard, but its unusual shape and plethora of obstructions make it a good test location. Mapping my entire yard with the UBHome M10 was so user friendly I was able to do it for the first time in many reviews. Installation and setup My yard quickly looked well-manicured thanks to the UBHome M10’s attention to detail. It spent extra time on the faster-growing portions.Ed Oswald/Foundry Getting the UBHome M10 set up wasn’t easy, not because the hardware was difficult to deal with or that the robot’s mapping controls were deficient—in fact, I loved the latter and will discuss them in more detail later—but because the M10 had persistent issues acquiring GPS signals. This occurred even in areas where the robot has a clear view of the sky. The M10 is super-reliant on GPS positioning, requiring 20 satellites just to install. That is a very high number of satellites to expect—I was maxing out at 15 to 17 at my location in Pennsylvania, which initially meant I couldn’t move forward with the review. I encountered a similar issue with a Yarbo mower, an issue that has plagued that platform for years: a refusal to connect to GPS satellites that are reliably in view. A view of the sky from the UBHome M10’s reference station, looking due south and tilted approximately 120 degrees. As you can see, apart from the horizon and a portion of the southwestern sky, there is a reasonably clear view at this location.Ed Oswald/Foundry The good news? Yarbo’s problems came down to a software issue, and I highly suspect the same thing is happening here. I eventually found another five or so satellites (although this part of the install was done a day later) and was therefore able to map my yard using the M10’s excellent in-app controls. Unlike many other mowers I’ve tested, the UBHome M10 doesn’t lurch with the slightest tap of its in-app controls. In areas where I wasn’t experiencing issues with GPS connectivity, I was able to map the terrain relatively quickly. It also has a slightly bizarre yet novel mapping method it calls Traction Mode, which involves looping a rope around the front grille of the M10 and pulling it behind you to create a map. If you struggle with remote control operation, this might be an attractive alternative (and it really works). UBHome deserves credit for thinking out of the box here. Mapping was so user friendly that I was able to use it to map my entire property for the first time in many reviews. I was also curious to see how well the LoRa technology could handle the more distant parts of our yard. UBHome says LoRa support endows its mower with a communication range of 576,000 square yards (138,000 square meters), a claim I was rightly skeptical of. What the company’s marketing materials don’t point out is that LoRa networks are heavily dependent on line of sight. So, that range might be achievable if you’re mowing a pasture, but having buildings in the picture quickly changes things. The UBHome app has a great user interface, and the ultra-precise positioning can tell you exactly where your mower has been. The barebones scheduling options, on the other hand, need a makeover.Ed Oswald/Foundry UBHome’s infrastructure consists of a gateway, an antenna, and a base station, which isn’t all that beginner friendly, but the company’s instructional materials clearly show all the steps you need to get started. While the production value of its video won’t earn an Emmy, it makes it abundantly clear what you need to do. UBHome’s app will also walk you through the process with helpful text directions. Using the UBHome M10 The UBHome M10 is a daytime-only mower due to the absence of LiDAR navigation or any headlamps. I assume most people reading this review aren’t likely to mow their lawns in the middle of the night, like I do, so I don’t see this as a negative. What’s most important is the cut, and even with all the installation difficulty, the UBHome redeemed itself in that regard. The M10 has a very low maximum cutting height of just 2.36 inches (6cm). That might be too low for the types of grass commonly found in American lawns. I generally keep our grass at 2.5 inches or higher, as anything lower tends to expose brown patches. I’ve noticed this quirk in many mowers that initially launched overseas. The M10’s front wheels move freely, so its rear wheels try to compensate, causing the mower to “waddle” slightly on open straightaways.Ed Oswald/Foundry It’s also because the U.S. itself is an aberration: The grasses that make up most of our lawns are a result of homesick American colonists favoring European grass species—and importing their seeds—instead of planting native North American grasses. The M10 does have a high-grass mode for when you need to cut grass that is significantly above the mower’s maximum cutting height, but UBHome warns that this setting could impair the mower’s obstacle avoidance. That said, I saw no substantial effects, even when the mower got close to the slope in my yard. That slope has been proven to be the Achilles’ Heel of so many rear-wheel drive mowers I’ve tested here. The mower has three mowing methods, the last of which is optional. The first is your traditional mow, where the mower takes long passes to cover as much ground as possible. In oddly shaped or narrow areas, you can use “spot mowing,” where the mower moves in a manner that covers spots close to the edge of the mowing area or where it may have missed. Finally, the optional “perimeter mowing” rides the edge of the mowing area to provide that finished look. You can monitor all of this in the app in real time. LoRa helps to ensure that the app’s positioning is exact, and it also results in a significantly longer mowing time than most robot mowers, but the results are worth it. There are two situations where you’ll encounter trouble with the M10: Roughly 2 to 3 hours before sundown, and in low-light conditions. To avoid this, I recommend mowing in the late morning or early afternoon.Ed Oswald/Foundry I experienced issues with sun blindness being misinterpreted as an obstruction when the sun was low in the sky. This is typical of robot mowers that aren’t equipped with LiDAR navigation. To get around the problem, program the mower to cut any portions of the lawn that will have the mower moving directly into the sun at least three hours before sunset. Mowing the easiest part of my yard went so well that I decided to tackle the more problematic areas next. I tempered my expectations given the amount of trouble I’ve had with other rear-wheel drive (RWD) mowers. Things went well, for the most part. I set the M10 to its slowest setting while cutting narrow strips of grass, which kept it on the median rather than in the street, where so many other mowers have ended up (the mower did fall off the curb while running at its standard speed). On slopes, the M10 seemed to correct the drift of its front wheels to either side much faster than any other RWD mower I’ve tested. The M10, however, lost its connection to the Reference Station about 300 feet through my detached garage. This wasn’t entirely surprising, given LoRa’s dependence on line-of-sight communication; in fact, it performed better than most of its competitors in this area. That said, it didn’t come anywhere close to the 138,000 square meters of communication range that’s advertised. The mower also had difficulty staying within its assigned boundaries while it was in that section, confusing a small strip down the alley as an edge, likely due to connectivity issues. Using the UBHome app UBHome’s app has an excellent user interface; it’s well-organized and clean, and I appreciate how the most critical actions are assigned to buttons at the bottom of the screen, so I can use the app with one hand. The scheduling portion of the app, on the other hand, is too barebones; it shows scheduled mow days and times, but not the areas to be mowed. The UBHome M10 is an AI+RTK mower that uses a trio of cameras and seven sensors to navigate your yard and avoid obstacles.Ed Oswald/Foundry A log show displays all recent actions and alerts, and there’s a remote control feature if you feel like driving the mower yourself. I experienced sporadic connectivity problems from time to time, which were usually remedied by restarting the app. While you can set mowing direction within the app, there doesn’t appear to be any type of automatic adjustment for each successive mow. That said, it might not be necessary, as the M10 will switch between modes based on the height of the grass and if it spots areas where grass is growing faster than others. Should you buy a UBHome M10 robot mower? With a price tag of less than $1,500, the UBHome M10 punches above its weight. Its dependence on GPS for navigation, however, comes with risks. The mower’s sporadic inability to find satellites in areas where it had a clear view of the sky is disappointing. Apart from that, the mower is surprisingly flawless and fun to use. I initially thought such out-of-the-box ideas as Traction Mode were silly, but when I used them, I discovered they’re an innovative way to speed up the most irritating part of robot mower setup. The Ml10 delivers outstanding cut quality, and its obstacle avoidance works well even in high-grass mode. This rear-wheel drive mower’s ability to successfully mow my lawn without falling down its slope is also notable. And for the most part, it stayed within its assigned boundaries, something many other mowers have failed to do, especially on my yard’s median strips. If you’re in the market for a robot lawn mower, most of your yard has a clear view of the sky, and you have a limited budget, the UBHome M10 is an option to consder. I do hope UBHome solves this machine’s GPS issues with a firmware update, because that’s holding back an otherwise excellent robot lawn mower. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robot lawn mowers. Read...

The historic Totara River Rail Bridge that connects Ross to the West Coast Wilderness Cycle Trail was closed last August. Read...

The hospitality sector fears the government`s NCEA overhaul will worsen staff shortages and undermine its drive to grow the tourism industry. Read...

Would you like a browser that browses the web for you? Presumably excluding malware or other nasty stuff that’s been a concern for decades? Then Perplexity’s Comet “AI” browser might be for you…though the $200-a-month price tag for the company’s “Max” plan might not. But now it’s free, with some big limits. The Comet browser was always intended to be a free competitor to Chrome and other browsers, though it started out locked behind that massive “AI” paywall. (In fact, Perplexity is so committed to the browser bit that it briefly entertained buying Chrome from Google, before the U.S. government decided that antitrust laws are more like guidelines.) As of today it’s free for anyone to use, along with its LLM-powered Sidecar feature, according to TechCrunch. Though the download site still indicates you either need a subscription or an invitation to use it, I was able to download and install it without logging in. But in order to get the full powers of the browser, you’ll still need that $200-a-month subscription. Without it you’re rate-limited for its various tools, including text generation, shopping, and even logging in and “browsing” using your identity. Just be careful — like many LLM tools it has some rather glaring security issues. Chris Hoffman tried out Comet in an extended test, and found it interesting but pretty barebones once you get beyond the “agentic AI” features. “Comet doesn’t feel designed to be your day-to-day browser—as it is right now, it’s more of a flashy demo,” he says. Read...

You know, a good laptop doesn’t have to cost a fortune. As long as you’re not too picky and all you really need is a decent daily driver, you can get one for pretty cheap. But every once in a while, you can nab a fantastic laptop at a budget-friendly price. Today, this Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 laptop is down to just $599.99 at Best Buy with a crazy $400 discount! Performance-wise, it offers just the right specs to handle Windows 11 and all your everyday apps and all your web browsing needs without slowing to a crawl. That includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 512GB SSD that could be bigger but isn’t terrible at this price. That right there is already decent. Then there’s the 16-inch IPS screen for color accurate images at a crisp 1920×1200 resolution and touch capabilities. With this being a 2-in-1, you can fold the screen back 360 degrees and use it like a tablet, or tent it so the screen is propped up for comfortable reading of documents and watching of videos. The Intel Arc integrated graphics can handle basic gaming, and the CPU qualifies this as a Copilot+ PC, meaning you get access to all the AI features in Windows 11. For longevity, you’re looking at a 65-watt-hour battery that lasts up to 15 hours (depending on what you’re doing). For connectivity, you get dual Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI, a USB-A, a microSD card slot, 3.5mm audio, plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. Other niceties include 1080p webcam, backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, and built-in GPS. That’s a hefty configuration for just $599.99, so get this from Best Buy at this price while you still can! Copilot+ PCs don’t come this cheap, and the ones that do aren’t this good. If you aren’t happy with this one, though, go ahead and check out our favorite laptops for every type of user. Save $400 on this AI-ready touchscreen laptopBuy now from Best Buy Read...