Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra hands-on: A 200MP camera is the biggest update

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The tech industry still has a long way to go when it comes to accessibility

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L’Oréal’s Hapta is an assistive grip that keeps lipstick level while it’s being applied

In years past, L’Oréal has shown up at CES with gadgets that deliver personalized beauty products to consumers. From the Perso custom skincare dispenser to the YSL at-home lipstick maker, the company’s tech lab has brought interesting gadgets to the show that have tangential inclusive benefits. But this year at CES 2023, it’s introducing an accessibility-minded device that can help those with limited hand or arm mobility apply lipstick. The system is called Hapta, and based on a quick demo I tried here in Vegas, is surprisingly refined.

It’s worth noting right off the bat that some assembly is required to use the system. There are three general parts to Hapta: the lipstick in a custom case, the gimbal on a mount and a grip. To set the device up, you’d need to have all three components set up on a stand. In this initial setup, the lipstick is in a custom holder that has a spring-loaded release. This makes it possible for someone to remove from the case with one hand. In theory, that is. In reality, at least on the version I saw at CES, the release is still a little too strong, and the lipstick shot straight out of the case and almost onto the floor. 

For now, if L’Oréal doesn’t refine the system, you’ll have to find a way to place a finger or obstruction behind the lipstick before pressing the button. Once you remove the lipstick, you have to place it in the ring attached to the gimbal, which didn’t take much effort. Then, you’ll have to pick up the grip, line up a symbol on its edge with a corresponding button on the gimbal mount, and slide the handle in. In about a second, the device chimes to indicate that the attachment is secure, and you can pick up the entire thing with one hand and bring it up to your lip. 

But first! As of the iteration I saw at the demo, you’ll still need to use two hands to twist the lipstick so that enough is peeking out for the application. L’Oréal told me after watching me struggle to make this happen with one hand that it would consider looking into ways to simplify this process. 

Once the lipstick is ready, you can put it up to your mouth and pause for a second to sort of calibrate the Hapta. It’ll understand what position is upright and maintain that by compensating against any motion while you move the grip around.

To be clear, for hygiene reasons, I did not apply this lipstick on my mouth, and because of that I don’t know how well the application process performs. But from my using it to hover over my lips as I moved my elbow and wrist, the gimbal felt sturdy enough to withstand some pressure, and the motors were very responsive. In general, the Hapta was quick to react to my motion and keep the lipstick level, which is important if you’re trying to draw a precise line near your cupid’s bow, for instance. For those who might not have the finger strength or dexterity to hold up something as small as a tube of lipstick, I can see Hapta being useful.

The Loreal Hapta system comprising a lipstick holder, a gimbal and a grip, all laid out in a dock.
Joel Chokkattu / Engadget

The Hapta will be available for between $149 and $199 starting in December, and L’Oréal said it will also be making a version that’s designed for people with tremors in their hands. In spite of the few quirks I saw at the demo, I was mostly impressed by what the company has made so far. This is by no means just a prototype. Everything felt polished, which makes sense as L’Oréal worked with utensil maker Verily that made utensils that level themselves for people with limited hand and arm movements. 

Also, L’Oréal said in a press release that Hapta will launch with Lancôme lipsticks in 2023, but that it will be “followed by additional makeup applications in the future.” It’s not only nice to see people with disabilities being included in beauty tech, but it’s also encouraging that a brand as big as L’Oréal is actively working on tools to enable independence in makeup application for everyone. 

At CES 2023, Google showed up as an automotive company

In recent years, Google has used CES as a platform to showcase its vision of “Better Together” — the idea that all devices should play nice with each other. Typically, that means it makes announcements around features like Fast Pair and expansion of Cast compatibility to more third-party products. At CES 2023, the company shared that it’s working with Spotify to integrate the Connect streaming tool into the Android UI. It also teased a preview of an audio handoff feature that would suggest different devices to move your music onto depending on your habits and where you are. 

But CES is a big car show, and Google also has products for automobiles. Today, it also told us that its higher-resolution maps will debut on the Polestar 3 and, for the first time since its announcement at I/O 2022, showed off the latest Android Auto interface to the public. 

There were two vehicles at the Google booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s trailer lot — a BMW i7 with the new Android Auto experience and a Volvo EX90 with Google built in. This was our first look at the Volvo itself, and we’ll be putting up a separate hands-on about our experience with that in a bit. Our focus for this story (and video) is the new Android Auto.

Like we learned at I/O, the updated interface will adapt to bigger screen sizes and feature a split screen layout. Google’s removed the status bar, placing indicator icons in a small square to the top left, and added a row of shortcut keys below that. When we were in the car, the left panel housed the Spotify app, and with a swipe from the right side, we pulled in a list of suggested playlists. 

This left window also serves as a container for alerts that you don’t have time to deal with during your drive. For example, if a notification comes in, you can swipe right on it to send it to the dock, and it’ll wait there until you’re ready to deal with it.

For more of our experience with the revamped Android Auto in the BMW i7, check out the video above! And make sure to stay tuned this week for a ton of news coming out of CES 2023. 

CES 2023 Day 1 recap: Catch up on the biggest news from the year’s biggest tech show

We’re back in Vegas for CES, and while the show doesn’t officially open until tomorrow, many exhibitors have already unveiled their new products at various press conferences and media events. Today, we’re starting to see some of the early car news that frequently dominates CES, as well as more from TV makers, gaming laptop brands, smart home companies and more. If you haven’t fully caught up yet, here’s a recap of the biggest news from Day 1 of CES 2023.

From last night

But first, even though we already recapped most of yesterday’s launches in another video, there was still more stuff unveiled last night that was announced after we had shot that. For example, Withings showed off the U-Scan, a $500 toilet computer that will… scan your pee.

It’s a 90mm block that you place inside your toilet bowl like a deodorizer, and uses a litmus-test-like microfluidic system to detect what substances are in your urine. You’ll have to choose which specific tests you want to be running in your module, though Withings is making a consumer-centric version that will analyze your nutrition and hydration levels, while also predicting your ovulation and period cycles. It’s still waiting on US regulatory approval before bringing this stateside, and will launch first in Europe.

In less… icky news, we also saw the Fufuly pulsating cushion by Yukai Engineering. A vibrating cushion might sound straight out of an anime, but the idea is really that hugging something that can mimic lifelike pulsing could have calming effects. Something else that could relieve anxiety? Watching a video of birds being cute! Bird Buddy also launched a new smart feeder that comes with a camera so you can spy on your feathery friends while they nest up. The latest model is designed for hummingbirds and uses AI to understand what breeds are within view and, together with a motion sensor, determines when they’re ready for a snack.

Speaking of snacks, there was plenty of food-related tech news last night, including GE Profile’s $1,000 stand mixer that has a digital scale and voice controls built in. We also saw OneThird’s freshness scanners that use near infrared lasers and proprietary algorithms to tell if produce is fresh. It can even calculate an avocado’s shelf life in real time, and help reduce food waste!

We also saw Loreal’s robotic lipstick applicator for those with limited hand or arm mobility, Valencell’s blood pressure monitor that clips onto your finger and Wisear’s neural earbuds that let you control playback by clenching your jaw. There were smart lights, smart speakers, smart pressure cookers, smart VR gloves and more. Make sure to go to Engadget.com to get all the details!

Now, onto the news that came out today. We had a small trickle of car news ahead of the outpouring is likely to come tomorrow. Volkswagen unveiled its upcoming ID.7 EV sedan, teasing us with a general body shape and the name, but not much else. BMW, meanwhile, shared more about its futuristic i Vision concept vehicle program by revealing the i Vision Dee, or “Digital Emotional Experience.” It’s a pared-down concept featuring a heads up display running the full width of the front windshield. Many of the Dee’s features are also expected to make their way into production models, specifically BMW’s new NEUE KLASSE (new class) EV platform, starting in 2025. The Dee will also feature BMW’s Mixed Reality slider to control how much digital content appears on the display.

A Displace TV unit attached to large windows.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget

TVs

Samsung also waited till the evening to reveal its premium 2023 TVs, focusing on MiniLED and 8K technologies for this year’s series. It also brought more sizes to its portfolio and introduced new soundbars that offer Dolby Atmos support on both the entry level and the highest end. Meanwhile, rival LG showed off a 97-inch M3 TV that can wirelessly receive 4K 120Hz video so you can deal with fewer wires in your living room, as well as… more soundbars. Leave it to LG and Samsung to basically do the same things as each other.

Relatively smaller TV competitor Hisense today unveiled its UX Mini LED TV, an 85-inch set that can hit 2,500 nits at peak brightness and features more than 5,000 local dimming zones. Meanwhile, startup Displace showed us a new wireless 55-inch OLED TV that attaches to any surface via vacuum suction, eliminating the need for a wall mount or stand altogether. Plus, thanks to its four onboard batteries, you can do without a power cord, too. This is essentially a complete, standalone portable TV.

Laptops

We also saw more laptops from ASUS, MSI and HP. ASUS made a laptop with glasses-free 3D, a large Zenbook Pro 16X with plenty of room for thermal dissipation, as well as a Zenbook 14X with a ceramic build. Both the latter Zenbooks also come with OLED screens. Meanwhile, HP launched a new series of Dragonfly Pro laptops that are supposed to make the shopping process easier for consumers by eliminating most configuration options. The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook has an RGB keyboard and Android-like Material You theming features, while the Windows version exclusively uses an AMD chip and has a column of hotkeys on the right of the keyboard that offer shortcuts to camera settings, a control center and 24/7 tech support. The last of these buttons is programmable, so you can map it to launch your favorite app, file or website.

Finally, we’re seeing the first of some audio news, starting from JBL. The company unveiled its 2023 soundbar lineup, all five models of which will support Dolby Atmos. It also launched new true wireless earbuds with a “smart” case that has a 1.45-inch touchscreen on it that offers controls for volume, playback, ANC and EQ presets. Almost coincidentally, HP also showed off the Poly Voyager earbuds that also have a touchscreen on the carrying case and offers similar controls to the JBL. But the Voyager also has a Broadcast mode that lets you use the included 3.5mm to USB-C cable to connect the case to an older device with a headphone jack (like when you’re on an airplane), so you can watch movies during a flight without needing to carry a second set of headphones around.

There’s plenty more news coming out of CES not just today but the rest of the week. I didn’t even get to tell you about Samsung’s new budget-friendly Galaxy A14 smartphone, or Citizen’s new smartwatch. For all the details on anything you might have missed today, check out our comprehensive coverage on Engadget.com or our YouTube channel. And stay tuned for all of the news from CES 2023.

This wireless 55-inch OLED TV sucks… onto any wall or window

One of the biggest reasons I don’t have a wall mount for my TV is because I don’t want to deal with the mess of installation. The dust, the drilling, the permanence — all of that gives me stress (I know, I know, I’m more sensitive than most people). So when I heard that the Displace wireless TV can be attached to any wall or surface without a mount, I was very excited. This is a 55-inch 4K OLED screen that uses active-loop vacuum technology to suction itself into place, and the company built handles into the frame to make it easier to hoist. The Displace also has four onboard batteries that eliminate the need for a power cord, and they’re hot swappable so you don’t have to wait for one to recharge before you can watch your TV again.

Because the prototypes we saw in Vegas were custom designed for CES, the company says details about battery size and charge time aren’t available yet. But they did say that they expect users to get a month of runtime if they watch six hours of TV a day. Part of the reason the Displace can do without a power cord is because it doesn’t do very heavy processing onboard. It’s basically streaming media from a base station that comes with the device and performs the rendering. 

My favorite thing about the Displace TV is the ease of setup. I wasn’t allowed to try this out myself since the prototypes were fairly precious, so I could only watch as the company’s CEO slid his hands into the two slots and lifted the screen. According to Displace, each unit weighs less than 20 pounds, which is impressively light. 

The CEO took the TV over to a window, and when the vacuum loops on the back detected it was in contact with a surface, the mechanism whirred to life and began sucking itself onto the glass. After about 8 seconds, it was quiet, which indicated that it had affixed itself and was secure. I was then able to try jiggling the unit and see if I could pry it out of place. I didn’t try very hard, since I was afraid of damaging the prototype, but I will say the screen seemed pretty securely attached. I’d say I used the equivalent force of opening a refrigerator door to try and get the suction to budge and it did not. 

To dismount the TV, you’d have to press and hold a button on either side, and wait for the vacuum loops to slowly disengage. The company said this mechanism works with any flat surface — even if there is some slight texture like drywall. We tried to put the demo unit up on another wall, but couldn’t find a spot wide enough to accommodate the 55-inch panel.

The Displace TV also has a pop-up 4K camera built into the top of the frame, and it doesn’t just facilitate high-res video calls. The company’s custom software powering the TV also allows for some gesture control, which is the only way to interact with the TV as there isn’t a separate remote. For example, holding up your palm during playback will pause your show, while using two hands to mimic a stretching action can zoom in and out of items on the screen. If you have multiple Displace TVs, you can arrange four of them into a square and zoom into the feed from a specific quarter, for example.

There’s also a very Minority Report-esque gesture that involves “grabbing” the content from one screen and “throwing” it at another one nearby. And if you point the thumbs up gesture at the camera, it activates a mode that has your content follow you as you walk around your house into different rooms. Since they’re all streaming from the same base station, the multiple screens can pick up your content where you left it in a different room. 

A close-up of the pop-up camera built into the top of the Displace TV.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget

If you’re feeling baller, you can put four Displace TVs together to create a 110-inch 8K TV. In that scenario, the relatively thin bezels here can help minimize disruption when four screens are playing as one. But Displace told Engadget it was also working on future models that could be bezel-less to eliminate the borders altogether. The company also has many plans, including exploring potential partnerships to build in some form of wireless charging, as well as releasing an API to allow third-party developers to create applications for the hardware. 

For now, though, I’m already pretty impressed by the concept and want one. At $3,000, though, the Displace TV is fairly pricey. Only 100 units are available for pre-order at the moment, and the company said they’ll start shipping in December. I’m anxious to get one to see how well the vacuum system holds up over time — the last thing I want is to wake up to the crash of a $3,000 TV breaking my furniture, hopes and dreams.