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I have to admit I used to be very skeptical of LED devices that purport to be good for your skin. When they first started being sold for home use, I felt like they were mostly expensive, ineffective appliances that were obvious cash grabs. Nowadays, though, as is usually the case with any burgeoning category of products, the technology has improved. We're seeing more sophisticated offerings that not only use better components, but are more comfortable to wear. Full face masks from the likes of Therabody, Dr. Dennis Gross and Omnilux have exploded in popularity, taking over social media and constantly selling out. After hearing rave reviews from friends and family, and undergoing more light treatments in salons myself, I have grown more convinced there's room for devices like these. Shark, the maker of vacuum cleaners, air fryers and assorted kitchen gear, has unveiled its take on the LED face mask device here at CES 2025. Launched under its three-year-old Shark Beauty arm, the new "CryoGlow under-eye cooling + LED anti-aging and skin clearing face mask" has quite a long name. I'm just going to refer to it as the CryoGlow mask from here on. At a meeting here in Las Vegas, Shark's senior vice president of global product development Danielle Lessing described a number of ways the CryoGlow is different from what's currently out there. First of all, as its name implies, there is a cooling component to this device. In addition to the 160 "interlocking tri-wick LEDs" on the mask, there are two metallic plates on the cheeks that are shaped like eye masks. This is the conduit for what Shark is calling its "InstaChill" technology and basically are a pair of cold plates that, in my brief time with the CryoGlow, felt satisfyingly soothing. In fact, that might be my favorite part of the device (and frankly its differentiating trait). After putting on the CryoGlow for maybe about a minute, and after I took several hilarious pictures and selfies with it, I really appreciated how cold it felt in my under-eye area. To be clear, the plates felt chilly immediately after I wore the mask, but it was the prolonged coolness that I enjoyed. And after removing the device, I still relished the sensation that remained, even after a few minutes. I don't feel like I had the mask on for long enough to know if it'd start to feel clunky after prolonged wear, but at least during my demo, I didn't feel strained, nor did the wired remote control get in my way. I also want to note that, unlike the Therabody option, Shark's CryoGlow does not vibrate. Lessing said "This is a skincare system and vibrating doesn't affect the skin." Lessing stressed to me the importance of the tri-wick LED bulbs each being able to produce red, blue and deep infrared light, as they differ from some other products on the market that might only use single or dual-wick bulbs instead. In those cases, manufacturers may choose to lay red-only bulbs or blue-only bulbs in alternating layouts or various arrangements that allow them to claim to provide both types of light, while effectively covering less area per bulb. Cherlynn Low for Engadget It's this sort of math that Lessing enthusiastically highlighted in our quick meeting, as she told me that the company worked hard to calculate the ideal combination of factors like distance of the bulbs from the wearer's face and apart from each other. To that end, the CryoGlow will sit in a way that the LEDs are about 15mm from your skin a good balance between effectiveness and coverage. The bulbs themselves are spaced 10mm apart, and the four programs that Shark offers also consider the duration of the lights on your face. Lessing said the company wanted to make something that was more inclusive, not just of different head sizes and types, but also of skin concerns. Most of the products that are currently available tend to target signs of aging on women, she said. Shark wants to buck that trend, and part of that effort involves making a mask that should fit people of all types from women with smaller faces to men with larger heads. When I first laid eyes on the CryoGlow in person, I couldn't help but smile. Unlike the Theraface or Dr. Dennis Gross masks, which look a little robotic or cyborg-like, the Shark device is, strangely enough, cute? The shape of its mouth cutout is slightly upturned and the whole thing just looks like it's smiling at you. I also instinctively reached out to stroke the textured sides of the mask, which look like lines raked in sand. I could see making this my pet. Cherlynn Low for Engadget The CryoGlow not only looks adorable, but also felt comfortable to wear. It was big enough for my larger-than-average head, but didn't feel too heavy. That might be thanks to the adjustable T-shaped head strap that reminds me of the Apple Vision Pro. Lessing said the team also drew inspiration from ski goggles for the design, especially for the protective guards around the eye cutouts. There's also the fact that the CryoGlow is fairly lightweight, likely due to the fact that it's powered by a battery in the attached remote control. This handheld controller is connected via a cord, which is a slightly less elegant approach than competing products that have on-mask buttons. But I do appreciate that it looks and feels like a Nokia 3310 with a much nicer screen and a dial plus two buttons below it. You can rotate the wheel to scroll through the menu, and I liked the aesthetic Shark used for the interface, too. The system offers four treatment modes: an under-eye "revive" that delivers "cryo-inspired tightening and soothing," a 6-minute "Better aging" option, an 8-minute "Skin Clearing Treatment" that targets acne and a 4-minute "Skin Sustain" maintenance mode that's meant for daily use. There are also three chill levels available, which you can control with this system. Shark says its tests indicated clearer skin can be observed in four weeks of use, while two months of consistent application might result in frmer skin. Shark Shark says its programs are all backed by clinical testing, and most intriguingly, it actually put its CryoGlow device to the test against competitors. According to Shark, this image "captures a demonstration conducted featuring light absorbing, photochromic paint to show the even coverage of CryoGlows iQLED technology vs. a competitors uneven coverage." I will point out that while it does seem like Shark's device had a more even and generally larger spread, it does leave the two patches below the eye bare. It's unclear what this competing device is or how much it might cost, but considering the CryoGlow is priced at $349 while the Theraface Mask and the Dr. Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro start at $599 and $455 respectively, I'm already intrigued. This feels like a sophisticated device that's at least within the range I might be able to afford. And I loved my brief experience with it, too. I will likely have to test other competing products before I can definitively evaluate how well the CryoGlow fares against what's out there, but for now, and for the price, I'm very impressed by Shark's LED mask debut. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/shark-joins-the-high-tech-skincare-mask-war-with-an-impressive-ces-2025-opening-shot-214804543.html?src=rss
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There's no denying the staying power of Samsung's The Frame. The company struck gold in 2017 when it debuted the TV that blends in with your home decor and shows art pieces when not in use. As popular as the model has become, it wasn't great for all of the other things you need a TV for like watching shows and movies or gaming. Of course, there have been various imitators over the last five years too, including some of the competition here at CES 2025. Samsung is hoping to win over even more customers with its newly announced The Frame Pro. This new model has two significant upgrades that should make it a much better TV and not just an alternative to the black rectangle that takes up space when you aren't using it. First, and perhaps most importantly, The Frame Pro now has a Neo QLED display the same Mini LED tech that powers the company's high-end QN900 series TVs. The Verge reports that Samsung's use of Mini LEDs on The Frame Pro doesn't work like it does on most TVs. Typically, there are dimming zones behind the display for precise control over which sections should be illuminated and which should be darker or black. Samsung didn't do that on this model, relying instead on a row of Mini LEDs along the bottom of The Frame Pro and promising a degree of local dimming. Billy Steele for Engadget At CES, Samsung's demos were focused on showing off art on The Frame Pro more than any content that would've confirmed if the approach to Mini LEDs hampered performance. But, in a side-by-side with a still image from a movie, The Frame Pro was brighter, with more detail and deeper blacks that the existing Frame. You can also tell a difference looking at the same art on the two TVs beside each other. Details like texture and strokes pop off the matte screen more on The Frame Pro, making the art TV even better at its primary function. Plus, Samsung says its boosted the refresh rate to 144Hz to improve the gaming experience, and the 2024 Frame also supports variable refresh rates for smoother gameplay. So, it stands to reason The Frame Pro would as well. The second big upgrade on The Frame Pro is a new Wireless One Connect Box that's similar to what LG has been hyping for its M-series TVs for years now. Samsung's version is much smaller, looking more like a game console than a cube, and it relies on Wi-Fi (up to Wi-Fi 7) to wirelessly transmit content and audio from connected streaming gear and game consoles. The company says you can place it in a cabinet without interference and at distances up to 10 meters away. The Wireless One Connect Box will replace the larger One Connect Box that still required a single cord running to The Frame. This should offer more versatility to where customers place the TV, since it doesn't have to be physically connected to a box to receive signal from HDMI inputs. The Frame Pro should be a big upgrade to The Frame given the Neo QLED panel, but we'll have to wait and see if that holds true in "regular" TV use. And of course, it will be more expensive than the current Frame that starts at $600 for the 32-inch size (final pricing is still TBD).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/samsung-the-frame-pro-at-ces-2025-a-big-upgrade-for-the-art-tv-214300273.html?src=rss
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Annie Altman, the sister of OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman, has sued her brother accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor. In a complaint filed this week with a Missouri federal court, Annie Altman alleges her older brother committed numerous acts of rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, molestation, sodomy, and battery from 1997 to 2006, with the abuse starting when she was only three years old. In a joint statement he made alongside his mother and two younger brothers, Sam Altman said all of [Annies] claims are utterly untrue. The Altmans say theyve tried to support Annie in many ways over the years, including by offering direct financial assistance. My sister has filed a lawsuit against me. Here is a statement from my mom, brothers, and me: pic.twitter.com/Nve0yokTSX Sam Altman (@sama) January 7, 2025 Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, especially Sam. Weve chosen not to respond publicly, out of respect for her privacy and our own. However, she has now taken legal actions against Sam, and we feel we have no choice but to address this, the statement reads. This situation causes immense pain to our entire family. Over the past few years, Annie Altman has made similar allegations online. Im not four years old with a 13 year old brother climbing into my bed non-consensually anymore, she wrote in a X post from March 2023. As part of her lawsuit, Altman seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000. Per The New York Times, $75,000 is the minimum required for a federal lawsuit of this type. Her lawyer told The Times she is also seeking punitive damages based on her brothers net worth, which could become public knowledge as part of the cases discovery process.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/sam-altmans-sister-is-suing-the-openai-ceo-alleging-sexual-abuse-205745209.html?src=rss
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