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Last year at CES, Samsung debuted its first mainstream Micro RGB TV, a 115-inch model that surprised us with its rich, vivid colors and $30,000 price tag. Now, the company has announced that it will be showing off an entire lineup of Micro RGB TVs at CES 2026 ranging from 55- to 115-inch models, promising to set "a new standard for premium home viewing." As a reminder, Micro RGB is a unique new technology similar to Mini LED displays. Unlike the white backlights used on Mini LEDs, though, it uses tiny red, green and blue LEDs that produce more accurate colors and offer smaller and more controllable dimming zones. However, because pixels can't be turned on and off individually like Micro LED or OLED, Micro RGB contrast ratios aren't as high. They promise to be brighter and more color accurate than other technologies, though, hence the high prices and "premium" branding. Samsung's upcoming Micro RGB lineup will be available in 55-, 65-, 75-, 85-, 100- and 115-inch models and use the next evolution of the company's technology. The main claim to fame is near broadcast monitor-like color accuracy, covering 100 percent of the demanding BT.2020 HDR standard. That new standard now has a name and VDE certification: Micro RGB Precision Color 100. Other key features include Samsung's "Micro RGB AI Engine Pro" for more precise frame-by-frame clarity and realism, new color enhancement functions, Samsung's glare free tech and enhanced audio features including Dolby Atmos and Adaptive Sound Pro. Yesterday, LG announced that it would also show off new televisions using Micro RGB technology, with 75-, 86- and 100-inch models coming next year. What remains to be seen, however, is pricing. Given the $30,000 cost of the 115-inch model, you can likely expect the first Micro RGB televisions to be among the most expensive in the lineups of both LG and Samsung. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/samsung-will-show-off-its-expanded-micro-rgb-tv-series-at-ces-141716449.html?src=rss
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Sure, we've seen millions poured into lobbying and other means of influence during every presidency, but the last two years set a whole new bar. Business leaders, including those from almost every Big Tech company, stepped over themselves to prove fealty to Donald Trump's second administration. It's easy to see why: Their kowtowing was meant to secure regulatory favors, gain tax and tariff advantages and avoid Trump's ire. Ultimately, it was all in the service of appeasing their shareholders. Why else would Apple CEO Tim Cook, someone who typically cultivates a progressive image, hand deliver a gold plaque to the President of the United States? Before we leave 2025 behind, it's worth documenting the many ways tech companies and leaders debased themselves for political favor with the Trump administration. Alphabet (Google)Google dropped diversity recruitment goals in February, following Trumps executive orders dismantling DEI programs in the federal government. Google also changed its AI principles to allow AI in weapons and surveillance, a move that is in line with the relaxed artificial intelligence regulation the Trump administration would later adopt for its AI Action Plan. To the chagrin of geographers everywhere, the company also replaced the Gulf of Mexico in Google Maps with "Gulf of America," following Trump's executive order.Additionally, Alphabet agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle Donald Trump's lawsuit against YouTube, following the suspension of his YouTube accounts after the January 6th riot. Trump will receive $22 million, while another $2.5 million of the settlement will be paid out to additional plaintiffs who were part of the class action which is to say, other rioters involved in the storming of the Capitol.Joining plenty of other tech companies, Google donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration, and its also contributing to the cost of Trumps reported $300 million White House ballroom.AmazonIn August, Amazon Web Services said it would provide up to $1 billion in credits to the Trump administration through 2028. Those credits can be put towards AWS cloud services, training and certification and direct contracts.Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also did his fair share to support Trump: He donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, and since purchasing the Washington Post in 2013 he pushed the paper to the right. This year, Bezos declared that the Posts opinion pages would be devoted to the support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. He added, Well cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others." To that end, the Post also hired three new conservative columnists. Bezos reportedly also blocked his paper from endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:Im writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. Well cover other topics too Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 26, 2025 Amazon, too, is contributing to Trump's $300 million White House ballroom. The Washington Post, unsurprisingly, was one of the first major publications to praise Trumps ballroom. AppleApple relied on big numbers and flashy trinkets to ingratiate itself to the Trump administration. In February, it said it planned to invest $500 billion into the US economy over the next four years. While that sounds impressive, Apple previously announced another $430 billion multi-year investment for the US in 2021. In a potential bid to avoid the administrations volatile tariff plans, Apple also said it would invest another $100 billion into the US in August.Tim Cook personally donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration fund, Cook's first political donation since 2017. At that August event, he also gave Donald Trump a now infamous gold statue for being a special little guy. Additionally, Apple followed in Googles footsteps by replacing the Gulf of Mexico in Apple Maps with the Gulf of America. The company is also chipping in for Trumps $300 million White House ballroom.MetaMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasted no time trying to get into Trumps good graces, perhaps to erase his previous statement that the President should be held responsible for his words for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot. On top of donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration, Meta announced that it would be getting rid of third-party fact-checkers on Facebook and Instagram on January 7. Instead, it's relying on community notes similar to X. Meta also ended its DEI initiatives and changed its hate speech rules to allow for calling LGBTQ people mentally ill. "We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words such as 'weird,'" reads the companys updated policy.Even Zuckerbergs charity, which he runs alongside his wife, bowed to Trump. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ended its diversity programs and stopped providing social advocacy funding, which supported immigration and racial equity efforts. According to The Guardian, the charitys website removed every reference to diversity or promoting scientific research from underrepresented groups. Similar to Google, Meta said it will pay Donald Trump $25 million to settle his lawsuit related to his Facebook suspension after the January 6 riot. And yes, Meta is also contributing to Trump's $300 million White House ballroom. MicrosoftMicrosoft contributed $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. Previously, it donated $500,000 to Biden's fund and the same amount for Trump's first term. Its also contributing to Trumps $300 million White House ballroom.Similar to Amazon, Microsoft also offered up to $3.1 billion worth of services to the Trump administration as part of the American-centric OneGov strategy. That includes discounts for Microsoft 365, Azure cloud services and cybersecurity tools. Copilot AI will also be discounted to government agencies, and itll be completely free for a year for agencies subscribing to Microsoft G5 service.Elon Musk (X, SpaceX, Tesla)Elon Musk was by far the biggest booster for Trump in the business world. He spent a whopping total of $277 million to back Trump and other candidates in 2024, including $239 million to America PAC, his super PAC focused on securing votes for Trump and other Republicans. Musk went so far as to offer $1 million to people who said they would vote for Trump, a move that the Justice Department warned might be illegal. Wisconsin's Attorney General challenged Musk's ploy but the state's Supreme Court declined to hear a case on the matter, thereby giving Musk leeway to award two $1 million checks to voters. Musk's team edited a video of one of the recipients to remove her admission that she was paid "to vote." He also joked that he could be jailed if Kamala Harris won the 2024 election, which could be referencing potential election fraud, his penchant for busting unions, national security concerns from his uncomfortably close relationship with Vladimir Putin or any number of potential crimes.Elon Musk spearheaded DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), an unelected position from which he was given nearly unprecedented federal oversight. Once installed he hired his techie acolytes to chip away at government budgets and staffs. For the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, it appeared as if Musk had unfettered power to manipulate the government.And let's not forget, while leading DOGE, the world's richest man also destroyed USAID, the world's largest food aid provider, for no apparent reason other than cruelty. After purchasing Twitter in 2022 and renaming it "X," Musk has also transformed Twitter into a Trump-friendly social network focused on free speech. He reinstated Trumps Twitter account, which was banned after the January 6 Capitol riot, and he also paid Trump around $10 million to settle his lawsuit over being kicked off the platform. X is now a platform that amplifies far-right extremists, treats the inclusive term cisgender as a slur and doesnt punish users for deadnaming and misgendering trans people.What about the rest?This is by no means an exhaustive documenting of every single tech tycoon that has bent the knee. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, for instance, told Joe Rogan in an interview that everything that [Trump] thinks through is very practical and very common sense, and, you know, it's very logical. According to Axios, Huang added that Trump "wants to make sure that that the important, critical technology of our nation is built in United States, and that we re-industrialize and get good at manufacturing again, because it's important for jobs." Its also worth remembering that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison joined President Trump onstage in announcing Stargate the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history. The two were joined by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, who called the moment the beginning of a golden age. The next day, Altman posted on X that he believed Trump will be incredible for the country in many ways!Ellisons son David is the CEO of Skydance, and has infamously been rebuilding Paramount with Bari Weiss since the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media was approved this year. The list of major tech players bowing to Trump only grows from here, and putting the bulk of the transactions in one place should serve to remind us how closely tied Big Tech is with American (and global) politics.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/big-tech-bent-the-knee-for-trump-in-2025-140000365.html?src=rss
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Warner Bros. Discovery's board has formally rejected the $108 billion takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, the company announced. WBD said it remains committed to its $82.7 billion deal with Netflix, which would close some time next year, pending regulatory approval. "[The board] has unanimously determined that the tender offer launched by Paramount Skydance on December 8, 2025 is not in the best interests of WBD and its shareholders and does not meet the criteria of a "Superior Proposal" under the terms of WBD's merger agreement with Netflix announced on December 5, 2025," the studio said in the press release. Paramount's offer was funded in part by sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, so it could have triggered a national security review by the US government. However, Paramount said that even if those entities dropped out, the company's owners (the Ellisons) would "backstop the full amount of the bid." However, the board said that Paramount "has consistently misled WBD shareholders that its proposed transaction has a 'full backstop' from the Ellison family. It does not, and never has," adding that "the terms of the Netflix merger are superior." WBD explained that Paramount is relying on an "opaque revocable trust" for said backstop which is "no replacement for a secured commitment by a controlling shareholder." WBD's board also noted that Paramount expects to achieve $9 billion in cost synergies from the merger, and that "would make Hollywood weaker, not stronger." In a statement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that "the Warner Bros. Discovery board reinforced that Netflix's merger agreement is superior and that our acquisition is in the best interest of stockholders. This was a competitive process that delivered the best outcome for consumers, creators, stockholders and the broader entertainment industry." Paramount has yet to comment, but the company has previously said that its $30 per share offer is a better deal, due to the all-cash nature (compared to 84 percent cash for Netflix) and fact that it would have a clearer path to regulatory approval due to the Ellison's supposedly tight relationship with President Trump. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/warner-bros-discovery-rejects-paramounts-hostile-bid-131055882.html?src=rss
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