Look across the history of consumer tech and a pattern appears. Ownership gives way to services, and services become subscriptions. We went from stacks of DVDs to streaming movies online, from external drives for storing data and backups to cloud drives, from MP3s on a player to Spotify subscriptions, from one time software licenses to recurring plans. But when AI arrived, it skipped the ownership phase entirely. Intelligence came as a service, priced per month or per million tokens. No ownership, no privacy. Just a $20 a month fee.
A device like Olares One rearranges that relationship. It compresses a full AI stack into a desktop sized box that behaves less like a website and more like a personal studio. You install models the way you once installed apps. You shape its behavior over time, training it on your documents, your archives, your creative habits. The result is an assistant that feels less rented and more grown, with privacy, latency, and long term cost all tilting back toward the owner.
Designer: Olares
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The pitch is straightforward. Take the guts of a $4,000 gaming laptop, strip out the screen and keyboard, put everything in a minimalist chassis that looks like Apple designed a chonky Mac mini, and tune it for sustained performance instead of portability. Dimensions are 320 x 197 x 55mm, weighs 2.15 kg without the PSU, and the whole package pulls 330 watts under full load. Inside sits an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX with 24 cores running up to 5.4 GHz and 36 MB of cache, the same chip you would find in flagship creator laptops this year. The GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile with 24 GB of GDDR7 VRAM, 1824 AI TOPS of tensor performance, and a 175W max TGP. Pair that with 96 GB of DDR5 RAM at 5600 MHz and a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and you have workstation level compute in a box smaller than most soundbars.
Olares OS runs on top of all that hardware, and it is open source, which means you can audit the code, fork it, or wipe it entirely if you want. Out of the box it behaves like a personal cloud with an app store containing over 200 applications ready to deploy with one click. Think Docker and Kubernetes, but without needing to touch a terminal unless you want to. The interface looks clean, almost suspiciously clean, like someone finally asked what would happen if you gave a NAS the polish of an iPhone. You get a unified account system so all your apps share a single login, configurable multi factor authentication, enterprise grade sandboxing for third party apps, and Tailscale integration that lets you access your Olares box securely from anywhere in the world. Your data stays on your hardware, full stop.
I have been tinkering with local LLMs for the past year, and the setup has always been the worst part. You spend hours wrestling with CUDA drivers, Python environments, and obscure GitHub repos just to get a model running, and then you realize you need a different frontend for image generation and another tool for managing multiple models and suddenly you have seven terminal windows open and nothing talks to each other. Olares solves that friction by bundling everything into a coherent ecosystem. Chat agents like Open WebUI and Lobe Chat, general agents like Suna and OWL, AI search with Perplexica and SearXNG, coding assistants like Void, design agents like Denpot, deep research tools like DeerFlow, task automation with n8n and Dify. Local LLMs include Ollama, vLLM, and SGIL. You also get observability tools like Grafana, Prometheus, and Langfuse so you can actually monitor what your models are doing. The philosophy is simple. String together workflows that feel as fluid as using a cloud service, except everything runs on metal you control.
Gaming on this thing is a legitimate use case, which feels almost incidental given the AI focus but makes total sense once you look at the hardware. That RTX 5090 Mobile with 24 GB of VRAM and 175 watts of power can handle AAA titles at high settings, and because the machine is designed as a desktop box, you can hook it up to any monitor or TV you want. Olares positions this as a way to turn your Steam library into a personal cloud gaming service. You install your games on the Olares One, then stream them to your phone, tablet, or laptop from anywhere. It is like running your own GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming, except you own the server and there are no monthly fees eating into your budget. The 2 TB of NVMe storage gives you room for a decent library, and if you need more, the system uses standard M.2 drives, so upgrades are straightforward.
Cooling is borrowed from high end laptops, with a 2.8mm vapor chamber and a 176 layer copper fin array handling heat dissipation across a massive 310,000 square millimeter surface. Two custom 54 blade fans keep everything moving, and the acoustic tuning is genuinely impressive. At idle, the system sits at 19 dB, which is whisper quiet. Under full GPU and CPU load, it climbs to 38.8 dB, quieter than most gaming desktops and even some laptops. Thermal control keeps things stable at 43.8 degrees Celsius under sustained loads, which means you can run inference on a 70B model or render a Blender scene without the fans turning into jet engines. I have used plenty of small form factor PCs that sound like they are preparing for liftoff the moment you ask them to do anything demanding, so this is a welcome change.
RAGFlow and AnythingLLM handle retrieval augmented generation, which lets you feed your own documents, notes, and files into your AI models so they can answer questions about your specific data. Wise and Files manage your media and documents, all searchable and indexed locally. There is a digital secret garden feature that keeps an AI powered local first reader for articles and research, with third party integration so you can pull in content from RSS feeds or save articles for later. The configuration hub lets you manage storage, backups, network settings, and app deployments without touching config files, and there is a full Kubernetes console if you want to go deep. The no CLI Kubernetes interface is a big deal for people who want the power of container orchestration but do not want to memorize kubectl commands. You get centralized control, performance monitoring at a glance, and the ability to spin up or tear down services in seconds.
Olares makes a blunt economic argument. If you are using Midjourney, Runway, ChatGPT Pro, and Manus for creative work, you are probably spending around $6,456 per year per user. For a five person team, that balloons to $32,280 annually. Olares One costs $2,899 for the hardware (early-bird pricing), which breaks down to about $22.20 per month per user over three years if you split it across a five person team. Your data stays private, stored locally on your own hardware instead of floating through someone else’s data center. You get a unified hub of over 200 apps with one click installs, so there are no fragmented tools or inconsistent experiences. Performance is fast and reliable, even when you are offline, because everything runs on device. You own the infrastructure, which means unconditional and sovereign control over your tools and data. The rented AI stack leaves you as a tenant with conditional and revocable access.
Ports include Thunderbolt 5, RJ45 Ethernet at 2.5 Gbps, USB A, and HDMI 2.1, plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity. The industrial design leans heavily into the golden ratio aesthetic, with smooth curves and a matte aluminum finish that would not look out of place next to a high end monitor or a piece of studio equipment. It feels like someone took the guts of a $4,000 gaming laptop, stripped out the compromises of portability, and optimized everything for sustained performance and quietness. The result is a machine that can handle creative work, AI experimentation, gaming, and personal cloud duties without breaking a sweat or your eardrums.
Olares One is available now on Kickstarter, with units expected to ship early next year. The base configuration with the RTX 5090 Mobile, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 96 GB RAM, and 2 TB SSD is priced at a discounted $2,899 for early-bird backers (MSRP $3,999). That still is a substantial upfront cost, but when you compare it to the ongoing expense of cloud AI subscriptions and the privacy compromises that come with them, the math starts to make sense. You pay once, and the machine is yours. No throttling, no price hikes, no terms of service updates that quietly change what the company can do with your data. If you have been looking for a way to bring AI home without sacrificing capability or convenience, this is probably the most polished attempt at that idea so far.
Click Here to Buy Now: $2,899 $3,999 (28% off) Hurry! Only 15/320 units left!
The post This $2,899 Desktop AI Computer With RTX 5090M Lets You Cancel Every AI Subscription Forever first appeared on Yanko Design.
Imagine a robot that can transform like a high-tech LEGO set, swapping out legs for arms or wheels depending on what the day throws at it. That’s exactly what LimX Dynamics has cooked up with their latest creation, the Tron 2, and honestly, it’s making me rethink everything I thought I knew about what robots can do.
The Tron 2 isn’t your typical one-trick-pony robot. This thing is basically the Swiss Army knife of the robotics world. Chinese startup LimX Dynamics just unveiled this modular marvel that can morph between three completely different configurations: a dual-armed humanoid torso, a wheeled-leg explorer, or a bipedal walker that can actually climb stairs without making you nervous. And get this, you can switch between these forms with just a screwdriver. No fancy tools, no complicated procedures. Just some strategic unscrewing and you’ve got a whole new robot.
Designer: LimX Dynamics
The company’s demo video starts with something delightfully surreal: just a pair of robotic legs casually strolling along, completely headless and armless. Then, like watching a transformer come to life in real time, those same leg components get repurposed into arms, complete with a head and torso. Suddenly, you’ve got a full humanoid lifting heavy water bottles and showing off its surprisingly impressive strength.
What makes the Tron 2 particularly fascinating is its intelligence layer. This isn’t just a mechanical chameleon. It’s powered by advanced AI and built on what’s called a vision-language-action platform, which essentially means it can see, understand commands, and actually do something useful with that information. The robot comes with a fully open software development kit that plays nice with both ROS1 and ROS2, making it a dream for researchers and developers who want to experiment without fighting proprietary systems.
Performance-wise, the specs are genuinely impressive. Each of its dual arms features seven degrees of freedom with a reach of 70 centimeters and can handle up to 10 kilograms of payload together. The wheeled configuration offers about four hours of runtime and can haul around 30 kilograms of cargo, while the bipedal mode excels at navigating tricky terrain like staircases that would leave most wheeled robots stuck at the bottom. The demo footage shows Tron 2 doing things that feel almost show-offy: playing table tennis, performing cartwheels, rolling around smoothly on wheels, and conquering staircases with the confidence of someone who’s done it a thousand times. It’s the kind of versatility that makes you wonder why we’ve been so committed to single-purpose robots for so long.
And here’s where things get really interesting. LimX is positioning the Tron 2 as ideal for future Mars missions. Think about it: on Mars, you can’t exactly call a repair truck when something breaks or send a specialized robot for every different task. You need something adaptable, something that can switch roles as mission needs evolve. The modular design means you could potentially swap out damaged components or reconfigure for different tasks without needing an entirely new robot shipped from Earth.
For research labs, the Tron 2 offers something that’s been surprisingly rare: a flexible test bed that can support multiple types of projects without requiring a whole fleet of different robots. Whether you’re studying manipulation, locomotion, or AI integration, you can configure the same platform to suit your specific needs. Perhaps most surprisingly, this technological marvel starts at just 49,800 Chinese yuan, which translates to around $7,000 USD. For context, that’s dramatically cheaper than many specialized robots that can only do a fraction of what the Tron 2 offers. Pre-orders are already open, though LimX hasn’t fully disclosed all the pricing details or specified exactly who their target customers are.
The Tron 2 represents something bigger than just another cool robot demo. It’s pointing toward a future where adaptability matters more than specialization, where one well-designed platform can handle whatever challenges come its way. Whether it ends up exploring Mars or revolutionizing warehouse operations here on Earth, this shape-shifting bot is definitely one to watch.
The post This $7,000 Robot Shapeshifts Into 3 Different Machines first appeared on Yanko Design.
AI firm debuts its first certification program with ChatGPT-based courses for workers and K-12 teachers, starting with AI Foundations pilots next.
The post OpenAI’s New AI Foundations Course Promises ‘Job-Ready’ Skills and Credential appeared first on TechRepublic.
Trump Media announces a $6 billion merger with fusion startup TAE Technologies, signaling a pivot from social media to clean energy and AI infrastructure.
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California-based startup will use funding for the development of portable, autonomous water-making systems designed to work anywhere in the world.
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President Trump launches the US Tech Force to accelerate AI adoption across government, partnering with top tech companies and federal agencies.
The post Trump’s New Tech Force to Consist of ‘Elite Corps of Engineers’ appeared first on TechRepublic.
Industry leaders share their 2026 tech predictions, covering AI at scale, cloud autonomy, security risk, observability, governance, and operational pressure.
The post 7 Tech Predictions Enterprise Leaders Are Watching in 2026 appeared first on TechRepublic.
Let’s be honest. Most portable power stations look like someone’s idea of what a camping generator should be: utilitarian, bulky, and about as stylish as a cinderblock. They’re the kind of gadgets you’d happily hide in a closet when company comes over. But what if your power station could actually enhance your space instead of cluttering it? Enter the ARKEEP Halo Portable Power Station, and trust me when I say this isn’t your typical backup battery.
Designed by Union Suppo Battery, the ARKEEP Halo is what happens when someone finally asks the question: why can’t emergency power be beautiful? The result is a device that takes its design cues from high-end electronics rather than construction equipment, creating something that looks equally at home on your desk, in your living room, or tucked into your camping gear.
Designer: Union Suppo Battery
What makes this little powerhouse so compelling is how it refuses to be just one thing. It’s an 8-port charging hub that includes dual 140W PD3.1 ports and dual 100W USB-C ports, two 22.5W USB-A ports, and here’s where it gets interesting: dual wireless charging pads at 15W and 5W. This means you can charge your laptop, your phone, your tablet, and your partner’s phone all at the same time without needing to carry around a tangled mess of charging bricks. It’s the kind of thoughtful design that makes you wonder why every power station doesn’t work this way.
But the real genius of the ARKEEP Halo lies in a feature you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a battery pack: integrated lighting. This isn’t just a simple flashlight stuck on the side. The designers created a 270-degree ambient glow system with adjustable color temperature and brightness that can simulate natural light rhythms. During the day, it provides functional illumination. At night, it shifts to warmer tones with lower blue light output, creating an atmosphere that actually helps reduce anxiety and promotes relaxation. It’s like having a mood lamp, a charging station, and an emergency power supply all rolled into one sleek package.
The design philosophy here is refreshingly different. Instead of treating portable power as purely functional, ARKEEP has reimagined it as an everyday essential that seamlessly integrates into modern life. The aesthetic strikes that tricky balance between looking sophisticated enough for your home office while being rugged enough to handle outdoor adventures. It’s the Swiss Army knife approach to power stations, where versatility doesn’t come at the cost of elegance.
This matters more than you might think. We live in an age where our devices are extensions of ourselves. Our phones, laptops, and tablets aren’t just tools anymore but lifelines to work, relationships, and entertainment. The anxiety of running out of battery has become a legitimate modern stressor. Having a power solution that’s not only reliable but actually pleasant to look at and use changes the entire relationship we have with backup power.
What’s particularly smart about the ARKEEP Halo is how it acknowledges that portable power stations have evolved beyond their original purpose. Sure, they’re still great for camping trips and power outages, but increasingly, they’re becoming part of our everyday tech ecosystem. Remote workers need them for flexibility. Content creators use them for on-location shoots. Digital nomads rely on them for constant connectivity. The ARKEEP Halo was designed with all these use cases in mind, not as an afterthought but as core considerations.
The ambient lighting feature deserves special attention because it reveals a deeper understanding of how people actually use these devices. During power outages, harsh white light can feel jarring and cold. The ability to create a softer, warmer glow transforms a stressful situation into something more manageable. It’s a small detail that makes a significant emotional difference, the kind of thoughtful touch that separates good design from great design.
In a market flooded with black boxes covered in neon highlights and aggressive industrial styling, the ARKEEP Halo stands out by simply being more human. It recognizes that technology should adapt to our lives, not the other way around. Whether you’re powering through a blackout, working from a coffee shop, or setting up camp under the stars, this is a device that actually understands what you need. And that’s worth celebrating.
The post This Power Station Has Mood Lighting (And 8 Charging Ports) first appeared on Yanko Design.
Imagine doubling, or even quadrupling, your laptop’s storage without opening the chassis, voiding a warranty, or so much as busting out a screwdriver. That’s the promise of SanDisk’s Extreme Fit USB-C. Plug it in, and it all but disappears, silently transforming your laptop, tablet, or car into a storage powerhouse. For anyone who’s hit the dreaded “disk full” warning, this tiny drive is a compelling solution, a simple fix for the sin of buying a laptop with too little built-in storage. It’s the kind of gadget that feels like it was designed out of pure necessity in an era of soldered-down SSDs.
The appeal is almost entirely in the name: “Fit.” This new USB-C model continues the legacy of its predecessors by being so comically small that once you plug it in, you can genuinely forget it’s there. The entire proposition hinges on its physical footprint, or lack thereof. You can slide a laptop into a tight sleeve without the drive catching or creating a pressure point on the screen. It turns the USB-C port from a temporary data gateway into a semi-permanent expansion slot. This is a fairly clear admission that sometimes, cloud storage isn’t the answer, and a dangling external SSD is just another piece of gear to carry and potentially break.
Designer: SanDisk
The Extreme Fit comes in 4 sizes, a puny 128GB, a 256GB, a reasonable 512GB, and finally the big boss, a 1TB variant (all the exact same size). But let’s be clear about what this is, and what it is not. This is a capacity play, not a performance one. SanDisk claims read speeds of up to 400MB/s, and while that’s respectable for a drive this size, it’s a far cry from what you’d get from a proper external SSD, let alone your internal drive. For context, a decent portable SSD like Samsung’s T7 will hit speeds over 1,000MB/s, and your laptop’s internal NVMe drive likely operates anywhere from 3,000 to 7,000MB/s. So, no, you will not be editing 4K video directly from this thing. Its tiny chassis also means it will almost certainly throttle under sustained load, a basic law of thermal dynamics.
So, the ideal use case is specific. This is the drive for your permanent media library, your collection of documents, or as a secondary backup target that just lives in your machine. It’s for the user who bought a 256GB MacBook Air and now regrets it. You offload the large, infrequently accessed files to the Extreme Fit and free up your precious internal storage for applications and active projects. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it solution for static data. If your workflow involves constantly moving gigabytes of data back and forth, you should look elsewhere. The convenience of its form factor is paid for with a performance compromise.
The Extreme Fit is a fairly calculated bet from SanDisk. They know that for a large number of users, the pain point is not transfer speed, but the sheer inconvenience of external storage. By creating a drive that effectively merges with the device it’s plugged into, they have solved a real-world usability problem. It’s a clever piece of engineering that knows its limitations and leans into its strengths. For the right kind of user, the one who prioritizes capacity and invisibility over raw throughput, this drive is an elegant and incredibly practical fix.
The post This Tiny 1TB SanDisk Drive Solved My Biggest MacBook Storage Problem first appeared on Yanko Design.
WhatsApp arrives on Apple Watch: read, reply, send voice notes, and react with emojis. Calls not yet supported. Works on watchOS 10+ (Series 4+).
The post WhatsApp Lands on Apple Watch with Messaging, Voice Notes, and Reactions appeared first on TechRepublic.
Google’s Project Suncatcher aims to power AI data centers from space using solar satellites — a bold new step in the future of computing and energy.
The post Google’s ‘Project Suncatcher’ Aims to Power AI Data Centers from Space appeared first on TechRepublic.
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