Acer is back at CES 2026 with a fresh batch of Swift laptops, and as you might’ve guessed, the lineup still focuses on thin, light, and smart machines. The big headline this year is AI (no surprise there). Acer calls them Copilot+ PCs, which basically means your laptop can improve your day-to-day by doing stuff like cleaning up background noise on calls or summarizing meetings. Foundry / Mark Hachman There are three main families this time. First up is the Swift 16 AI, which is the fancy creator-focused one. It’s got a huge haptic touchpad you can actually draw on, a 16-inch 2880×1800 OLED touch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, and Intel’s Ultra X9 388H processor. It’s clearly aimed at people who do heavy creative work (think editing or 3D modeling) without wanting to deal with a big old desktop setup. Then there’s the Swift Edge AI, which is “super light but still tough.” The 14- and 16-inch models weigh under 2.20 pounds (!!!) and meet military-grade durability standards, so you can easily toss them in a bag and be on your merry way. They still pack a punch with OLED displays, Intel’s Ultra processors, and handy multi-control touchpads for media and conferencing. Foundry / Mark Hachman Finally, the Swift Go AI is the everyday option. It’s still thin and stylish, but more practical with solid AI features for productivity and creative tasks. Both the 14- and 16-inch versions offer the same quality OLED screens, powerful Intel processors, and a diverse set of ports. All of these run Windows 11 and come with Acer’s AI suite built-in. This suite boasts customizable hotkeys, smarter conferencing features, and so on. They’re not exactly cheap, but if you want a lightweight laptop that also has AI brains, Acer is really leaning into that with these Swift notebooks. Availability varies by model and region, but we’re looking at early-to mid-2026 for North America, Europe, and Australia. Read...

Acer showed off a slew of new gaming laptops this year at CES in Las Vegas. No big gimmicks or anything, just more power and thinner designs. They’ve got something for every type of gamer—and I love to see it. The main star of the show is the Predator Helios Neo 16S AI. It features Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 9 386H chip, RTX 50-series graphics (up to 5070), and a 2560×1600 OLED display to make your games feel more immersive. It also can pack up to 64GB of DDR5 memory and up to 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 storage. Despite its big size, it’s still pretty slim for a gaming laptop (18.9 mm thin if you’re curious!), which is wild given how much horsepower lies under the hood. Acer Then there are the Nitro laptops. You get to choose between Nitro V 16 and the thinner Nitro V 16S AI, which measures less than 17.9 mm and is ideal for those that like to game on-the-go. You still get the Core Ultra 7 processors, RTX graphics, fast screens, and decent cooling. It’s just lighter and more “value-conscious,” as Acer puts it.  All of these laptops support Windows 11 Copilot+ features, plus Acer’s own AI tools. Speaking of, the Acer Intelligence Space has a bunch of AI-powered tools that’ll assist with gaming, productivity, and so on. Whether these features actually change your life is debatable, but they’re there if you want them. These laptops will pop up sometime in 2026. No word on prices just yet, though. Read...

Sometimes all you need is an uncomplicated laptop for everyday stuff, which is exactly what Acer showed off this year at CES in Las Vegas. Dubbed the Aspire 14 AI and the Aspire 16 AI, they run on Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips (aka Panther Lake), meaning you’ll have access to those fancy Copilot+ features. But how does this translate performance-wise? Well, we haven’t tested these machines personally yet, but I suspect they’ll feel a bit snappier when juggling a bunch of tabs. Acer The design itself is fine, though it’s not really innovative so it doesn’t stand out—just your run-of-the mill grey rectangle. They’re thin and light, and the 180-degree hinge lets the screen lie flat. The touchpad is pretty big, too. As for display options, you’ve got quite a few. You can spring for a regular screen, a touchscreen, or an OLED. That last option is nice for making Netflix or YouTube to feel more cinematic. It’s a 1920×1200 panel, by the way (this goes for either model). That resolution isn’t jaw-dropping by any means, but it’s sharp enough for daily use. Specs are more than fine for everyday needs. You can get up to 32GB of RAM and plenty of fast storage (up to 1TB for the 14-inch model, up to 2TB for the 16-inch model), so it should last you a while. Acer also stuffs in a 1080p webcam, triple mics, and AI features that clean up your voice and video on calls. Ports? Yep, the usual stuff is covered. Thunderbolt, HDMI, USB-A. Nothing fancy, but also nothing missing. It’s a good spread. The 16-inch hits stores in Q2 2026. The 14-inch follows in Q3. Prices? No clue yet, but we’ll update as soon as we hear back from Acer. Read...

TCL is making some bold claims about its new SQD-Mini LED Series at CES, with the company crowing that its flagship X11L “ends the debate” between OLED’s superior blacks and LED’s superior brightness. The company promises that its SQD Mini-LED achieves 100 percent of BT2020 color (that’s very good), while noting that its technology is largely devoid of the color crosstalk, color bleed, and color blooming that Micro RGB can suffer from. Adding to the X11L’s luster is an uber-thin 0.8-inch design, with a completely flat back for a superior flush mounting experience. The perfectly flat back of the X11L makes wall-mounting nearly flush. TCL, like all the other TV vendors at CES, is touting the advanced AI capabilities of its TCL Super Resolution AI processor, which “ensures accuracy in every area” by “leveraging enhanced AI color, AI contrast, AI clarity, AI motion, AI upscaling, and AI sound.” In other words, TCL says it has improved the processing speeds and algorithms on its TV’s chips, resulting in better picture quality. Integrated Google TV with Gemini is featured to enhance voice control and offer help in finding content. Sound features include Audio by Bang & Olufsen and—of course—expansion via TCL’s own surround components, which include a wireless subwoofer and Dolby Atmos FlexConnect speakers. As you might expect, all this goodness won’t be cheap: the 75-inch model is $7,000, the 85-inch is $8,000, and the wall-filling 98-inch model is $10,000. But the best always costs more, and while we haven’t actually seen the X11L, the specs are impressive indeed. Read...

Beatbot builds some of the most sophisticated—and the most expensive—robot pool cleaners on the market, and it’s once again raising the stakes at CES 2026 with the introduction of its AquaSense X. This doesn’t look like just an incremental advance over the TechHive Editors’ Choice-winning AquaSense 2 Ultra, it’s Beatbot’s first foray into self-cleaning technology, courtesy of a key component that lives on land. The Beatbot AquaSense X AI Robotic Pool Cleaner looks and feels a lot like 2025’s Ultra, but the addition of the new Beatbot AstroRinse Cleaning Station is an entirely new concept, not just for Beatbot but for the industry as a whole. This box-like docking station is a sizeable device atop which the AquaSense X robot rests when not in use. Once placed on top of the device, the AstroRinse gets to work, flushing the AquaSense’s filter during a three-minute cycle. Debris is captured in the 23-liter basket underneath; Beatbot says for a typical pool owner, the disposable AstroRinse debris bag will need to be replaced only once every two months (based on a cycle of two cleanings per week). The AstroRinse also recharges the unit after the cleaning cycle is complete. The Beatbot AquaSense X, sitting atop its self-cleaning station. Beatbot As for the Beatbot AquaSense X robot itself, while it looks familiar, many of its systems have been upgraded under the hood. Its AI vision detection system now recognizes 40 types of debris (up from 20 on the Ultra), allowing the unit to search for debris on the pool floor instead of simply traversing the area on a preset path. The new detection system can also search for debris on the surface of the pool: Like its predecessor, the AquaSense X can rise to the surface and float, operating in a skimmer mode as part of its cleaning cycle. The unit also has improved detection of permanent pool features, such as steps and ledges, thanks to dual ultrasonic sensors on the underside of the robot. Lastly, the unit now integrates with various smart home environments—including Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant—allowing for voice-activated operation in addition to control via Beatbot’s mobile app. The AquaSense X will be available on January 5, 2026 at a price of $4250. The first 500 customers who preorder a unit will receive a $250 discount. If you’re attending CES in person and would like to see the AquaSense X in action, the robot will be on display at Beatbot’s booth: Venetian #53852. This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robotic pool cleaners Read...

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus processor has the same goal as its predecessor: to provide a slightly stripped-down, leaner alternative processor for midrange Windows on Arm laptops. But there’s a slight difference. While last year’s X Plus chip came in two flavors: a 10-core and an 8-core offering, Qualcomm is offering customers either a 10-core or 6-core Snapdragon X2 Plus chip instead. Qualcomm is eyeing Intel’s Core Ultra 200-series chips as well as the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series as potential targets. Qualcomm’s Plus series of processors essentially fill the same role as a Core i5: Qualcomm uses the same CPU architecture, plus the same GPU (adjusted for power, which lowers the speed) and the same NPU. But Qualcomm is being way more aggressive in terms of the performance comparisons. Eighteen months ago, Qualcomm was claiming that its X Plus chip offered 28 percent faster performance at the same power. This time, it claims that the top 10-core chip in the X2 Plus family delivers over three times the performance of the competition, the Core Ultra 7 265U. Qualcomm’s first-generation Plus processors appeared in the Acer Swift 14 AI, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, and the Dell Latitude 7455, among others. The company will disclose more customers here at the CES show in Las Vegas. Executives said to expect the X2 Plus to land in the same price range as the X Plus, or devices costing about $799. Essentially, the mission of the X2 Plus is the same as Qualcomm’s first generation, “to really get the same technology advantages to more and more users,” said Mandar Deshpande, senior director of product management for the compute business at Qualcomm, in a press briefing with reporters. How fast is the Snapdragon X2 Plus? Officially, the two Snapdragon X2 Plus chips are known as the 10-core X2P-64-100 and the 6-core X2P-42-100, reflecting Qualcomm’s impenetrable naming scheme. Typically, you’ll see both chips referred to as the 10-core X2 Plus and the 6-core X2 Plus. The 10-core X2 Plus will run at speeds up to 4.0GHz, with an X2-45 GPU that Qualcomm hasn’t disclosed the speeds of. The 6-core X2 Plus also runs at that same clock speed and features that same GPU as well. Both chips also include identical NPUs with 80 TOPS. Why six cores? Deshpande shrugged off the question. “Fundamentally, we’re not really tied to core counts, frequencies, or [power],” he said. Qualcomm’s current list of processors does not reflect the new additions, but you can see how they’ll fit in: probably a touch below the older Snapdragon X Elite, and with similar specifications to the first-gen Snapdragon X Plus chips, at least on paper. Those chips also included an additional two processors with some variations in clock speed; Deshpande declined to comment when asked if Qualcomm would do the same with the X2 Plus. We also don’t know the clock speeds of the GPUs. Though the Snapdragon X2 Plus and the Snapdragon X1 Plus look similar on paper, the numbers may be deceiving. Like the Snapdragon X2 Elite, the X2 Plus is built on updated third-generation Oryon CPU cores, which increase performance. While the Snapdragon X Elite included a pair of cores that could run at a faster “turbo speed” to accomplish high-priority tasks quicker, the X Plus did not, and the X2 Plus does not either. On the other hand, the X2 Plus base clock speed is as high as the turbo speed was in the X1 Plus, a Qualcomm representative noted. One of the key improvements for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite was its inclusion of “performance” and “prime” cores, also tuned for high-performance work. Those, the X2 Plus has. The ten-core X2 Plus has six prime cores and four performance cores, while the six-core X2 Plus includes six prime cores, the representative added. Still, comparing the X1 Plus to the X2 Plus, performance improves significantly: 35 percent more single-threaded CPU performance, and up to 39 percent more GPU performance, using 43 percent less power. (Qualcomm used Geekbench and 3DMark’s Steel Nomad tests for the comparisons.) Qualcomm is projecting significant gains over the other mobile processor platforms competing against it, which it classifies as some of Intel’s Core Ultra 200 7-class processors as well as the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350. Like the Snapdragon X2 Elite, the X2 Plus chips run at full speed on battery power as well when the laptop is plugged in, a key differentiator from the competition. Naturally, Qualcomm is comparing itself to the existing “Lunar Lake” and “Strix Point” platforms from Intel and AMD; Intel has already announced its next-gen “Panther Lake” mobile platform, and AMD is expected to debut its “Gorgon Point” mobile platform at CES. None of these chips have shipped, however, so Qualcomm can’t test against them. Qualcomm didn’t quote any battery-life estimates for Snapdragon Plus notebooks; the company said that it is still working with customers to optimize those products. A big question mark continues to be the utility of the NPU, and how receptive applications partners and customers will be to using local AI on the PC. Since the X2 Plus includes the same 80 TOPS NPU as the X2 Elite, that will allow more NPU-powered features from Microsoft Windows, Da Vinci Resolve, and other apps to run simultaneously, much in the same way that a powerful CPU or GPU allows multiple apps to be run simultaneously. The chip’s memory bandwidth is also up to 152Gbps, which gives enough headroom for LLMs. If and when an NPU-powered AI future comes to pass, Qualcomm will be ready. As far as games, Deshpande said that the company has tested 1,400 games on the Snapdragon platform, and that they’re running “really good” — where that means at 60Hz on a 1080p resolution. Microsoft published an update to its Prism emulator in mid-December, which provides some additional support. While Qualcomm is encouraging its partners to write native Arm code that can boost performance, the updated Prism emulator will allow a wider range of applications to simply run on Windows on Arm, without specifying exactly what. Qualcomm is exploring in other ways, too. “One thing now that we’re working closely with the OEMs is really now innovating on the form factor front, right?” Deshpande said. “So we’re trying to make the PCs thinner and lighter. We’re looking at panelist devices. We’re looking at desktops, which can be made more portable. So all of that form factor innovation is very exciting, and you should expect those types of devices coming in the market very soon.” Read...

In 2026, it’s time to say goodbye again—to popular programs that we’ve been working with day in and day out. Microsoft is discontinuing several versions of Windows, Office, and other products this year. Here’s what you need to know if you’re still using these products. Windows 11 24H2 Microsoft is discontinuing support for Windows 11 24H2—both Home and Pro editions—according to this support page, with the end date slated for October 13th, 2026. That’s when the next major Windows 11 update will be released. (This was also the case in 2025 when support for Windows 11 23H2 ended in the fall.) On October 13th, 2026, expect to receive the very last update for Windows 11 24H2. After that, you should update to a newer Windows version, which will likely be Windows 11 25H2. (Windows 11 25H2, which released last fall, will receive updates until October 12th, 2027.) Windows 11 24H2, which brought several new features to the operating system, also caused headaches for many users. For some, the installation failed; for others, there was a hail of error messages and crashes; for others yet, the taskbar kept freezing, frame rates dropped drastically in some video games, and some Office apps stopped working. Windows 11 SE The end of support for Windows 11 24H2 has a side effect: Windows 11 SE is also finally coming to its end. Microsoft touted Windows 11 SE as an alternative to Google’s Chrome OS back in November 2021, but Windows 11 SE was unable to establish itself in the market. SE was primarily intended for inexpensive notebooks for school use. We reported on this discontinuation last year: Windows 11 SE was announced in late 2021 and launched in January of 2022, explicitly designed for the education market. While it shares most of the codebase and features of Windows 11, it’s also far more locked down, with standard users unable to install third-party 32-bit apps or even apps from the Windows Store without admin assistance. Windows 11 SE lacks widgets and some Snap Layout options for the sake of being “distraction-free,” it’s even more insistent upon Microsoft applications like Office and Edge, and it needs to be managed via the Intune system. Windows 11 SE was meant to be a successor to Windows 10 S, which didn’t make a particularly big splash, either. It’s easy to imagine how school administrators, used to standard Windows 10/11 or Google’s popular and cheap Chromebook education setup, wouldn’t be keen on sacrificing advanced features. Microsoft will provide updates for the last time in October 2026, as explained on this support page. Afterwards, there will be no more support or updates for Windows 11 SE. Windows 11 23H2 November 10th, 2026 also marks the end of support for Windows 11 23H2 Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise, according to this support page. Meanwhile, Windows 11 23H2 Home and Pro were already discontinued back in November 2025. Microsoft Office 2021 Microsoft Office 2021, which was released back in October 2021 and is the predecessor to the now-current Office 2024, will also be discontinued on October 13th, 2026 alongside Windows 11 24H2. That includes discontinued support for Office LTSC 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 for Mac, as reported by Windows Latest. Although you can continue to use Office 2021 after the end of support, the software won’t be getting new updates, which means any newly discovered security vulnerabilities will remain unfixed. In other words, it’s a security risk to keep using Office 2021 post-support. Affected customers should therefore switch to either Microsoft Office 2024 (a non-subscription one-time payment with only security updates) or Microsoft 365 (a subscription payment that includes both feature and security updates). Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t offer a discount for upgrading from Office 2021 to Office 2024. Not sure which way to go? Learn more about whether you should subscribe to Microsoft 365 or buy Microsoft Office 2024. Various Windows features In addition to the above products being discontinued, Microsoft has also removed several features from Windows over 2025. Here are the most notable ones worth knowing about: Location History (API for Cortana) Line Printer Daemon (older printer protocol) Windows UWP Map Control and Windows Maps Platform API (replaced by Azure Maps) Windows Maps (replaced by Bing Maps) Device Metadata (partially replaced by INF) Dev Home (partially moved to Settings) Windows PowerShell 2.0 (newer versions still available) Windows Management Instrumentation Command-Line (has been replaced by Windows PowerShell for WMI) Legacy Web Components (partially replaced by WebView2) What features will be removed from Windows in 2026? Well, that remains to be seen. Read...

Never one to stand still for long, Anker’s Eufy Security brand unveiled three new smart home products at CES in Las Vegas today: a smart lock with 3D facial recognition, a battery-powered wall light with an integrated 4K security camera and a detachable solar panel, and a video doorbell with a 3K camera. Eufy Smart Lock E40 Eufy Security The Eufy Smart Lock E40 is outfitted with a 2K HDR camera with radar-powered motion detection and AI that renders it capable of recognizing familiar faces and then unlocking the deadbolt as they approach. With a 135-degree, head-to-toe field of view, the camera can focus on figures approaching from as much as 16 feet away and recognize people at 10 feet. The lock is powered by a rechargeable 15,000mAh battery that should last six months on a charge, with a second 800mAh serving as backup. Eufy says the lock is rated IP65 for protection from the elements, meaning it’s impervious to dust ingress and resistant to water jets sprayed from any direction (just short of a pressure washer). The certified BHMA/ANSI-Grade 2 deadbolt (ANSI Grade 2 is for commercial locks on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the highest) is Matter compatible for integration with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings and other Matter-certified smart home ecosystems, according to Eufy. The lock can connect directly to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks. Anker expects to fetch $299.99 when it launches the Eufy Smart Lock E40 in the first quarter of 2026. Eufy Video Doorbell S4 Eufy Security As you’ve probably guessed, the new Eufy Video Doorbell S4 also features onboard AI, this time powering a 3K camera with a 180-degree field of view and a 1:1 aspect ratio that shows visitors from head to toe. In this case, AI is used to detect and follow visitors as they move around the camera’s field of view, automatically keeping them centered in the frame. The camera can detect people up to 78 feet (24 meters) away, and it can recognize familiar faces as far as 26 feet (8 meters) out. Video is recorded at 24 frames per second to its 64GB of built-in eMMC storage (with the option of 24/7 recording). Both radar and passive infrared motion detection are onboard, giving the camera the ability to distinguish between the movement of humans and other sources. In addition to faces, the camera can also recognize packages and alert you accordingly. The Eufy Video Doorbell S4 can be powered by a removable onboard battery (with the option of solar charging) or low-voltage power if your home has it (or you’re willing to install a transformer). It has a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter onboard, so it can connect to either 2.4- or 5GHz wireless networks. Like the new smart lock, it can be integrated with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and similar smart home ecosystems. The Eufy Video Doorbell S4 is set to launch later in the first quarter, with a suggested retail price of $279.99. Eufy Solar Wall Light Cam S4 Eufy Security Eufy has combined security cameras and smart lighting before, but the Solar Wall Light Cam S4 features a twist: It’s powered by a 10,000mAh battery that’s expected to run for a full 40 days on a single charge, and that battery is automatically recharged by 2-watt solar panel on top of the light. What’s even more interesting is that the solar panel can be detached from the light and mounted in a secondary location that might get better exposure to the sun. The fixture is rated IP65 for protection from the elements, meaning no amount of dust ingress can destroy it, and that it can withstand water projected in jets from any direction. The lighting element comes from RGBWW LED diodes (red, green, blue, and warm white) that can produce either full color or white light tunable from a warm 2700 Kelvin to a very cool 6500K. An integrated 4K camera with radar and passive infrared motion detection can distinguish between people, pets, and vehicles, and it can record video to both its 32GB of internal eMMC storage or to one of Eufy’s HomeBase NAS (network-attached storage) boxes. Support for two-way audio allows you to speak to visitors, and there’s a 120dB siren onboard to deter prowlers from hanging around. Eufy didn’t mention Matter compatibility for the Eufy Solar Wall Light Cam S4, but does maintain that it will be compatible with most smart home ecosystems, including other Eufy products. The device is expected to be later in the first quarter for a suggested retail price of $199.99. This news is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage the best smart locks, the best video doorbells, and the best smart lighting. Read...

Litheli, best known for its cordless power tools, is jumping into the robot lawn mower market with two new models on display at CES. The Eyeon 500 and Skope 800 are part of the company’s broader push into autonomous outdoor systems powered by its Infinity Power Share (IPS) interchangeable battery platform. The Eyeon 500 is positioned as an accessible, boundary wire-free mower for first-time buyers, emphasizing simplicity and core automation features. For users seeking more intelligence, the Skope 800 steps up with Litheli’s NEO-FSD navigation logic and a multi-camera AI-VISION system. Unlike many advanced mowers that depend on satellite-based RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) systems for precise mapping, the Skope 800 operates RTK-free. Instead, it uses cameras and onboard AI to understand its surroundings, enabling it to navigate complex terrain and recognize boundaries without the need for perimeter wires or base stations. The Litheli Skope 800 robot lawn mower uses cameras and AI to understand its surroundings.Litheli Both mowers draw power from Litheli’s IPS battery system, which now supports not only handheld tools but also autonomous machines. The company says its updated LERA Power System 2.0 enables cross-device energy sharing, allowing the same batteries to power tools, lawn mowers, and even serve as portable power banks for devices like phones and laptops. Lithelli has not yet announced pricing or availability details for its new robot lawn mowers. If you’re attending CES in person, Litheli is exhibiting its wares at the LVCC Central Hall, booth #15430. This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robot lawn mowers. Read...

The so-called “lifestyle” TV is a fast-growing category in the smart TV market, particularly those that can mimic works of art when they’re otherwise not in use. Samsung kicked off the lifestyle TV with The Frame, followed by LG and its new Gallery TV and Wallpaper TV, and now Amazon is entering the fray with its latest Fire TV-enabled set.  Taking the spotlight at CES just as LG’s Gallery TV and Wallpaper TV make their debut in Las Vegas, the Amazon Ember Artline is a 1.5-inch thick 4K QLED TV with such typical bells and whistles as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, along with Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. But like Samsung’s and LG’s fine art-oriented TVs, the Ember Artline is designed to look good even when you’re not actively watching it. Slated to go on sale this spring starting at $899 in 55- and 65-inch sizes, the Ember Artline comes with a matte screen designed to cut down on glare, ideal for making artwork (a collection or roughly 2,000 works of art will be available for free via Amazon Photos) and digital snapshots displayed on the TV look more lifelike. You’ll also get your pick from one of 10 snap-on magnetic frames, available in colors ranging from walnut and ash to teak and black oak.  Amazon Just how lifelike they’ll look is a key question; I haven’t seen either the Ember Artline or LG’s Gallery TV in person yet, but I have seen Samsung’s The Frame models, and they look startlingly real when they’re displaying paintings. During one demo, I had to reach out and touch the screen to be sure.  Aside from displaying art and photos, the Ember Artline can also help pick which images to show. Just feed up to four photos of the room where the TV is hanging and the AI-powered set will suggest the on-screen art that would best match the decor.  Other features on the Ember Artline include far-field microphones for chatting with Alexa+ from across the room, while the presence-sensing Omniscense tech can fire up the artwork or your photos when people enter the vicinity.   Naturally, the Amazon Ember Artline boasts Amazon’s Fire TV interface, which is getting yet another makeover. This time, the Fire TV UI is getting a “more modern” design with rounded corners, a new typeface, and “optimized” spacing and layouts. Amazon is also promising a peppier interface experience—up to 20- to 30 percent faster, the company says—thanks to a rebuilt code base.  Amazon Alongside the new look and speed gains comes the ability to pin more app to the homescreen—you can now pin up to 20, up from just six—while pressing the menu button will surface controls for games, art and photos, and the Fire TV Ambient Experience. Long-pressing the home button brings up a panel of shortcuts for oft-used audio and display settings, your Ring camera feeds, and smart home controls.  Finally, the revamped Fire TV mobile app will let you browse shows and movies, customize your watch list, and play selected titles on your Fire TV device.  The new Fire TV interface is set to launch in the U.S. next month on the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED TV series. The redesigned UI will roll out to more countries and devices in the spring, including on the Ember Artline at launch, Amazon says. Read...