If you primarily want a tablet device to mark up, highlight, and annotate your e-books and documents, and perhaps sometimes scribble some notes, Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft could be worth the hefty investment. For everyone else, it’s probably going to be hard to justify the cost of the 11-inch, $630+ e-ink tablet with a writeable color display.
However, if you were already leaning toward the 11-inch $549.99 Kindle Scribe — which also has a paper-like display but no color — you may as well throw in the extra cash at that point and get the Colorsoft version, which starts at $629.99.
At these price points, both the Scribe and Scribe Colorsoft are what we’d dub unnecessary luxuries for most, especially compared with the more affordable traditional Kindle ($110) or Kindle Paperwhite ($160).
Image Credits:Amazon
Announced in December, the Fig color version just began shipping on January 28, 2026, and is available for $679.99 with 64GB.
Clearly, Amazon hopes to carve out a niche in the tablet market with these upgraded Kindle devices, which compete more with e-ink tablets like reMarkable than with other Kindles. But high-end e-ink readers with pens aren’t going to deliver Amazon a large audience. Meanwhile, nearly everyone can potentially justify the cost of an iPad because of its numerous capabilities, including streaming video, drawing, writing, using productivity tools, and the thousands of supported native apps and games.
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The Scribe Colorsoft, meanwhile, is designed to cater to a very specific type of e-book reader or worker. This type of device could be a good fit for students and researchers, as well as anyone else who regularly needs to mark up files or documents.
Someone particularly interested in making to-do lists or keeping a personal journal might also appreciate the device, but it would have to get daily use to justify this price.
Image Credits:Amazon
The device is easy enough to use, with a Home screen design similar to other Kindles, offering quick access to your notes and library, and even suggestions of books you can write in, like Sudoku or crossword puzzle books or drawing guides. Your Library titles and book recommendations pop in color, which makes it easier to find a book with a quick scan.
Spec-wise, Amazon says this newer 2025 model is 40% faster when turning pages or writing. We did find the tablet responsive here, as page turns felt snappy and writing flowed easily.
Despite its larger size, the device is thin and light, at 5.4 mm (0.21 inches) and 400 g (0.88 pounds), so it won’t weigh down your bag the way an iPad or other tablet would (the iPad mini, with an 8.3-inch screen, weighs slightly less). You could easily stand to carry the Kindle Scribe in your purse or tote, assuming you sport a bag that can fit an 11-inch screen. Compared with the original Colorsoft, we like that the Scribe Colorsoft’s bezel is the same size around the screen.
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The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft features a glare-free, oxide-based e-ink display with a textured surface that makes it feel a lot like writing on paper. This helps with the transition to a digital device for those used to writing notes by hand. It also saves on battery life — the device can go up to 8 weeks between charges.
Helpfully, the display automatically adapts its brightness to your current lighting conditions, and you can opt to adjust the screen for more warmth when reading at night. But although it is a touchscreen, it’s less responsive than an LCD or OLED touchscreen, like those on iPad devices. That means when you perform a gesture, like pinching to resize the font, there’s a bit of a lag.
Image Credits:Amazon
Like any Kindle, you can read e-books or PDFs on the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft tablet. You can also import Word documents and other files from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive directly to your device, or use the Send to Kindle option. (Supported file types include PDF, DOC/DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG/JPEG, BMP, and EPUB.) Your Notebooks on the device can be exported to Microsoft OneNote, as well.
The included pen comes with some trade-offs. Unlike the Apple Pencil, the Kindle’s Premium Pen doesn’t require charging, which is a perk. It has also been designed to mimic the feel of writing on paper, and it glides fairly well across the screen. Without a flat side to charge, the rounded pen doesn’t have the same feel and grip as the Apple Pencil. It’s smoother, so it could slip in your hand.
Amazon’s design also requires you to replace the pen tips from time to time, depending on your use, as they can wear down. It’s not terribly expensive to do so — a 10 pack is around $17 — but it’s another thing to keep up with and manage.
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There are 10 different pen colors and five highlight colors included, so your notes and annotations can be fairly colorful.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
When writing, you can choose between a pen, a fountain pen, a marker, or a pencil with different stroke widths, depending on your preferences. You can set your favorite pen tool as a shortcut, which is enabled with a press and hold on the pen’s side button. (By default, it’s set to highlight.) If you grip your pen tightly and accidentally trigger this button, you’ll be glad to know you can shut this feature off.
The writing experience itself feels natural. And while the e-ink display means the colors are somewhat muted, which not everyone likes, it works well enough for its purpose. An e-ink tablet isn’t really the best for making digital art, despite its pens and new shader tool, but it is good for writing, taking notes, and highlighting.
From the Kindle’s Home screen, you can either jump directly into writing something down through the Quick Notes feature, or you can get more organized by creating a Notebook from the Workspace tab.
Image Credits:Amazon
The Notebook offers a wide variety of notepad templates, allowing you to choose between blank, narrow, medium, or wide-ruled documents. There are templates for meeting notes, storyboards, habit trackers, monthly planners, music sheets, graph paper, checklists, daily planners, dotted sheets, and much more. (New templates with this device include Meeting Notes, Cornell Notes, Legal Pad, and College Rule options.)
It’s fun that you can erase things just by flipping the pen over to use the soft-tipped eraser, as you would with a No. 2 pencil. Of course, a precision erasing tool is available from the toolbar with different widths, if needed. Thanks to the e-ink screen, you can sometimes still see a faint ghost of your drawing or writing on the screen after erasing, but this fades after a bit (which may drive the more particular types crazy).
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There’s a Lasso tool to circle things and move them around, copy or paste, or resize, but this probably won’t be used as much by more casual notetakers.
There are some other handy features for those who do a lot of annotating, too.
For instance, when you’re writing in a Word document or book, a feature called Active Canvas creates space for your notes. As you write directly in the book on top of the text, the sentence will move and wrap around your note. Even if you adjust the font size of what you’re reading, the note stays anchored to the text it originally referenced. I prefer this to writing directly in e-books, as things stay more organized, but others disagree.
Image Credits:Amazon
In documents where margins expand, you can tap the expandable margin icon at the top of the left or right margin to take your notes in the margin, instead of on the page itself.
A Kindle with AI (of course)
The new Kindle also includes a number of AI tools and features.
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The device will neaten up your scribbles and automatically straighten your highlighting and underlining. A couple of times, the highlighting action caused our review unit to freeze, but it recovered after returning to the Home screen with a press of the side button.
Meanwhile, a new AI feature (look for the sparkle icon at the top left of the screen) lets you both summarize text and refine your handwriting. The latter, oddly, doesn’t let you switch to a typed font but will let you pick between a small handful of handwritten fonts (Cadia, Florio, Sunroom, and Notewright) via the Customize button.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
The AI tool was not perfect. It could decipher some terrible scrawls, but it did get stumped when there was another scribble on the page alongside the text. Still, it’s a nice option to have if you can’t write well after years of typing, but like the feel of handwriting things and the more analog vibe.
The AI search feature can also look across your notebooks to find notes or make connections between them. To search, you either tap the on-screen keyboard or toggle the option to handwrite your search query, which is converted to text. You can interact with the search results (the AI-powered insights) by way of the Ask Notebooks AI feature, which lets you query against your notes.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Soon, Amazon will add other AI features, too, including an “Ask This Book” feature that lets you highlight a passage and then get spoiler-free answers to a question you have — like a character’s motive, scene significance, or other plot detail. Another feature, “Story So Far,” will help you catch up on the book you’re reading if you’ve taken a break, but again without any spoilers.
The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft comes in Graphite (Black) with either 32GB or 64GB of storage for $629.99 or $679.99, respectively. The Fig version is only available at $679.99 with 64GB of storage. Cases for the Scribe Colorsoft are an additional $139.99.
Stumble — a new NBC sitcom about the world of junior college cheerleading that also streams on Peacock — won’t be entertaining crowds with a new episode this week. The series, which began airing in November, stars Jen Lyon as Courteney Potter, who gets fired from her job “one championship shy of being the winningest coach in college cheer history.” Stumble follows her as she leads a new, dysfunctional cheer team at Heådltston State Junior College in Oklahoma.
The show also features Taran Killam as Courteney’s husband, and recurring and guest stars include Kristin Chenoweth, Annaleigh Ashford, Busy Philipps and Jeff Hiller. Because of the 2026 Winter Olympics, there won’t be a new Stumble installment this week or next, per NBC. Here’s when you can catch up with the show’s ragtag cheerleading squad.
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When to watch more Stumble on Peacock
Stumble will be back on screens later this month. The next episode of the mockumentary series will air on NBC on Friday, Feb. 20, and stream the following day on Peacock.
Episode 10, Finals Week, premieres on NBC on Feb. 20 at 10:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT. Streams on Peacock on Feb. 21.
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Peacock offers three tiers, including a lower-priced option that includes NBC, Bravo and other TV shows. The downside is that you can’t watch Peacock Originals, movies or sports. Still, you could use the $8-per-month Select plan to watch Stumble and other shows like Yellowstone, The Office and Real Housewives. Peacock’s other plans are $11 per month Premium and $17 per month Premium Plus.
Simulator-style video games are designed to scale in complexity, allowing players to engage at anything from a casual level to highly detailed, realistic simulation. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for example, can be played with a keyboard and mouse, a controller, or a huge, expensive simulator designed to replicate a specific airplane in every detail. Driving simulators are similar, and [CNCDan] has been hard at work on his DIY immersive driving sim rig, with this hand brake as his latest addition.
For this build, [CNCDan] is going with a lever-style handbrake which is common in motorsports like drifting and rallying. He has already built a set of custom pedals, so this design borrows heavily from them. That means that the sensor is a load cell, which takes input force from a lever connected to it with a spring mechanism. The signal is sent to an Arduino for processing, which is set up to send data over USB like any joystick or controller. In this case, he’s using an Arduino that was already handling inputs from his custom shifter, so he only needed to use another input and add some code to get his handbrake added into his sim.
[CNCDan] built a version of this out of laser-cut metal parts, but also has a fully 3D printable one available as well. Plenty of his other videos about his driving rig are available as well, from the pedal assembly we mentioned earlier to the force-feedback steering wheel. It’s an impressive set of hardware with a feel that replicates racing about as faithfully as a simulator could. Interestingly, we’ve also seen this process in reverse as well where a real car was used instead as a video game controller.
Back in 2023 we noted how a company named Telly proclaimed it had come up with a new idea for a TV: a free TV, with a second small TV below it, that shows users ads pretty much all of the time. While the bottom TV could also be used for useful things (like weather or a stock tracker), the fact it was constantly bombarding you with ads was supposed to offset any need for a retail price.
But apparently there’s been trouble in innovation paradise.
Shortly after launch, Telly proclaimed that it expected to ship more than half a million of the ad-laden sets. Within a few months it had announced it had already received 250,000 pre-orders. But a recent report by Lowpass indicates that only 35,000 of the sets had made it to peoples’ homes.
What was the problem? Ars Technica, Lowpass and The Verge note that the problems began with a substandard shipping process that resulted in a lot of TVs showing up broken to folks who pre-ordered. Reddit is also full of complaints about general quality control issues, like color issues, ads being played too loudly, odd connectivity issues, remote controls randomly unpairing, and more.
Still, there’s evidence that the idea might still have legs, as the premise itself appears profitable:
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“The investor update reportedly said Telly made $22 million in annualized revenue in Q3 2025. This could equate to about $52 in advertising revenue per Telly in use per month ($22 million divided by 35,000 TVs divided by 12 months in a year is $52.38).
That’s notably more than what other TV companies report, as Lowpass pointed out. As a comparison to other budget TV brands that rely heavily on ads and user tracking, Roku reported an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $41.49 for 2024. Vizio, meanwhile, reported an ARPU of $37.17 in 2024.”
The TV industry had already realized that they can make more money tracking your viewing and shopping behavior (and selling that information to dodgy data brokers) long term than they do on the retail value of the set. This just appears to be an extension of that concept, and if companies like Telly can get out of their own way on quality control, it’s likely you’ll see more of it.
In one sense that’s great if you can’t afford the newest and greatest TV set. It’s less great given that the United States is too corrupt to pass functional consumer privacy protections or keep its regulators staffed and functional, meaning there are increasingly fewer mechanisms preventing companies like this from exploiting all the microphone, input, and other data collected from users on a day-to-day basis.
I personally want the opposite experience; I’m willing to pay extra for a dumb television that’s little more than a display panel and some HDMI inputs. A device that has no real “smart” internals or bloated, badly designed GUI made by companies more interested in selling ads than quality control. Some business class TVs can sometimes fit the bill, but by and large it’s a segment the industry clearly isn’t interested in, because there’s much, much more money to be made spying on and monetizing your every decision.
The new hub focuses on software design for its public safety land mobile radio portfolio.
US telecoms company Motorola Solutions has officially opened its new global R&D centre in Cork city. The centre was initially announced in 2024 and will house nearly 200 employees across software engineering, design, development, testing, quality assurance and management.
The R&D centre in Cork’s Navigation Square focuses on software design for its public safety land mobile radio (LMR) portfolio.
LMR consists of a push-to-talk two-way communication system between radio transceivers, such as walkie-talkies. This system is used by public safety organisations like the police or ambulance services.
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“Today’s LMR extends highly resilient voice capabilities to AI and advanced data applications,” said Mahesh Saptharishi, the executive vice-president and chief technology officer at Motorola Solutions.
“The work at Navigation Square underscores our relentless commitment to mission-critical communications that public safety agencies trust in their most demanding moments.”
The company’s new centre – supported with investment from IDA Ireland – expands Motorola Solutions’ existing footprint in the country following its acquisition of Tetra Ireland, the provider of Ireland’s National Digital Radio Service, in 2022.
IDA CEO Michael Lohan said that the new centre “highlights the continued attractiveness of Ireland’s stable business environment and our proven track record in supporting the world’s leading technology companies”.
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“This investment reinforces our country’s reputation as a global hub for the technology sector, where world-class engineers can solve some of the most complex challenges of the modern era,” said Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD.
Motorola Solutions has early‑career and education partnerships with University College Cork and Munster Technological University for internships that offer students hands-on, practical industry experience and mentorship.
The company also supports the Tech For Good programme to help provide schools in Cork with 3D printers and resources to promote STEM curriculums.
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Abbott’s Jasmine Swift discusses how a career in engineering is far more than just another nine to five.
“Growing up in an engineering household shaped my curiosity from an early age,” explains Jasmine Swift, a senior process project engineer at healthcare company Abbott.
“My father was an engineer and I was constantly surrounded by conversations about problem-solving, design and innovation.
“That exposure gave me a general understanding of engineering principles long before college, and it sparked a fascination with how things work.”
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She “didn’t just see engineering as a job”, but instead regards it as a vehicle through which professionals can “create solutions that make life better”.
“That foundation, strengthened through my education and career experiences, made choosing this path feel natural. It’s a career where curiosity meets impact and that’s what drew me in.”
What’s the best thing about working in this field?
The best part is the sense of purpose and impact. Every project I work on contributes to improving health and nutrition for people around the world. That’s a powerful motivator. It’s not just engineering for the sake of engineering; it’s engineering that changes lives.
I also love the variety and challenge. STEM is never static. There’s always a new technology, a new problem to solve, or a new way to make processes more efficient and sustainable. It keeps me learning and growing every single day, and that’s something I value.
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What’s the most exciting development you’ve witnessed in your sector since you started working in it?
The evolution of automation and data analytics has been incredible to witness. When I first started, many processes were still heavily manual, relying on operator experience and traditional controls. Today, we’re leveraging smart sensors, predictive modelling and real-time data to optimise performance and reduce variability.
What excites me most is how these technologies don’t just make processes faster, they make them smarter and more sustainable. For example, predictive maintenance can prevent downtime before it happens, and advanced analytics help us minimise waste and energy use.
It’s a shift from reactive to proactive, and it’s transforming how we think about manufacturing. Seeing this digital transformation unfold reminds me why I chose engineering – it’s about continuous improvement and shaping the future.
What aspect of your job did you struggle to get to grips with?
Early in my career, I struggled with stakeholder alignment. Engineering solutions aren’t just technical, they involve people, priorities, and timelines. I had to learn that success depends as much on communication and collaboration as it does on technical expertise.
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It was a shift in mindset: moving from ‘I need to solve this problem’ to ‘I need to bring everyone along on the journey’. Over time, I developed skills in active listening, empathy and clear communication, which have made me a stronger leader and a better engineer.
How were challenges overcome?
One of the toughest challenges has been working on a project that started as a small initiative and then transformed into a significant and strategic project for our site – a project I’m still leading today.
The scale-up was enormous, and with it came increased visibility, tight timelines and high expectations. Managing this transition required me to shift from a technical mindset to a strategic leadership role. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about engineering solutions but about aligning stakeholders, managing risk, and keeping a diverse team motivated under pressure.
To navigate this, I focused on breaking the work into clear phases, building strong team dynamics and maintaining transparent communication. I also leaned heavily on mentorship and coaching to strengthen my leadership skills. This experience continues to teach me resilience, adaptability and the importance of collaboration. It’s a defining chapter in my career that proves growth often comes from stepping into discomfort.
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If you had the power to change anything within the STEM sector, what would that be?
I would focus on making STEM careers more accessible and inclusive. When different perspectives come together, we create better solutions and stronger teams. But change needs to start early.
Too often, children grow up with a narrow view of what engineering looks like, typically imagining someone in a hard hat on a construction site. I’d love to see schools actively educate students about the wide range of engineering roles, from process design to data analytics to sustainability.
Showing young people the breadth of opportunities could inspire the next generation of innovators and break down stereotypes that limit potential.
Which of your personality traits makes you best suited to your job and this sector?
Curiosity and adaptability are at the heart of everything I do. Curiosity drives me to ask ‘why’ and ‘how’ every single day, whether it’s understanding a process, troubleshooting a problem or exploring new technologies. It keeps me learning and growing, even when the answers aren’t obvious.
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Adaptability is equally important because STEM is constantly evolving. Projects change, priorities shift, and unexpected challenges arise. Being able to pivot quickly, stay calm under pressure and find creative solutions have been critical to my success.
I’d also add resilience and empathy. Resilience helps me push through setbacks without losing sight of the bigger picture, and empathy allows me to connect with people. Engineering isn’t just about machines and data; it’s about collaboration and understanding the human side of every decision.
Is there something in your personal life that helps you or has helped you in your job?
Definitely. Growing up with my father as an engineer gave me an early appreciation for problem-solving and innovation. That exposure gave me a foundation that I’ve built on through college and my career. Having that understanding early in life made technical concepts feel less intimidating and gave me confidence to tackle challenges head-on.
Over time, I’ve strengthened that base with formal education and hands-on experience, but the curiosity and logical thinking I learned at home still guide me every day. It’s a reminder that our roots often shape the way we lead and create.
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How do you make connections with others in the STEM community?
For me, building connections is about being intentional and authentic. I actively seek out opportunities to engage through professional networks, industry conferences or internal groups like Women Leaders of Abbott. These spaces allow me to share ideas and learn from others. The STEM community thrives on collaboration, and every connection is a chance to learn something new or spark innovation.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about a career in your field?
Be curious and fearless. Engineering is about solving problems, and the best solutions often come from bold ideas and diverse perspectives. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even the ‘simple’ ones, and seek opportunities that stretch you beyond your comfort zone.
One of my favourite insights from Brené Brown’s book Dare to Lead is that ‘clear is kind’. In STEM, clarity matters – whether you’re explaining a design, managing a project or leading a team. Communicate openly, set clear expectations and don’t shy away from tough conversations. It builds trust and makes collaboration stronger.
Also, remember that STEM isn’t just about technical skills; it’s about courage, creativity and connection. Build your network, find mentors and never stop learning. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow and every failure is a stepping stone towards success.
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CarPlay could soon support more than just Siri, as Apple explores wider access for third-party voice tools.
Apple may open CarPlay to third-party AI assistants
It looks as though Apple is gearing up to allow third-party chatbots on CarPlay. This would allow users to query voice-enabled chatbots directly through the CarPlay interface. Until now, Apple has kept voice assistants off CarPlay, save for its first-party assistant, Siri. However, with the slow rollout of the new, more personal Siri, Apple may feel the pressure to give its users options. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Intel is returning to GPUs to challenge Nvidia’s market leadership directly
The company plans to produce GPUs internally for tighter manufacturing control
Eric Demers joins Intel from Qualcomm as a key technical figure in GPU development
Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan has publicly confirmed internal work on graphics hardware remains active, directly addressing questions about whether the company intends to stay involved in that segment.
Speaking during the recent Cisco AI Summit, Tan said upcoming products will be built internally and that Intel’s manufacturing arm will also support production at scale.
When asked if Intel is going to build GPUs, Tan said, “I just hired the chief GPU architect, and he’s very good. I’m very delighted he joined me, and it takes some persuasion.”
Hiring decisions point to renewed technical focus
Tan’s comments makes clear Intel is deliberately expanding beyond its traditional CPU focus to challenge Nvidia in the GPU market.
The company does not intend to rely solely on external suppliers for these chips, and it wants tighter control over development and manufacturing.
As part of its efforts to produce GPUs, Intel recently hired Eric Demers, recruited from Qualcomm after more than a decade there.
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While Demers is a central technical figure in the renewed graphics effort, broader oversight reportedly lies with data center executive Kevork Kechichian, who joined during a restructuring.
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The addition of experienced leadership signals Intel’s seriousness about entering high-performance GPU markets, where Nvidia currently dominates both consumer and AI-focused workloads.
These appointments suggest that the company is trying to rebuild internal capability rather than simply rebrand older designs.
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Analysts note that Intel’s approach could influence Nvidia’s strategy, especially as AI tools and accelerators continue to drive demand for specialized graphics hardware.
Intel’s renewed GPU push highlights the stakes in the market for AI and gaming accelerators, areas where Nvidia has maintained a strong lead.
GPUs are now central to both gaming and AI workloads, and Intel’s in-house effort positions it to compete directly in this high-margin segment.
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By combining GPU development with internal manufacturing and leveraging its CPU ecosystem, Intel could offer integrated platforms attractive to enterprise and AI-focused customers.
While results are uncertain, Tan’s hiring choices suggest a sustained, deliberate push rather than a short-term experiment.
Investors and competitors are watching closely, as Intel’s entry may pressure Nvidia on pricing, product cycles, and ecosystem dominance.
Although Intel intends to be a long-term player in the GPU market, execution and performance will determine whether these plans alter competitive dynamics or remain a technical demonstration.
Carbon removal startup Terradot is acquiring competitor Eion, the two companies announced today. The sale was driven largely by big investors like sovereign wealth funds, which want to work with companies that can handle large contracts. Eion was simply too small, Eion CEO Anastasia Pavlovic Hans told The Wall Street Journal.
Both companies spread pulverized rocks on farm fields to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Known as enhanced rock weathering (EWR), it speeds up a natural process and has the potential to be a low-cost way to remove carbon, but it requires large and distributed operations. The spread between what EWR companies would like to charge and what buyers would like to pay remains wide, according to a survey by CDR.fyi.
California-based Terradot’s operations are centered on Brazil, where the company works with basalt as its mineral of choice, while Eion works in the U.S. and uses olivine. Terradot’s investor list includes Gigascale Capital, Google, Kleiner Perkins, and Microsoft, while Eion’s investors include AgFunder, Mercator Partners, and Overture.
Wicked: For Good is the second half of Universal Pictures’s epic tale about the witches of Oz and how their relationship has soured since the events of the first movie. The sequel, which debuted at the top of the global box office, is the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation.
Get ready to relive the magic as Wicked: For Good is coming to streaming.
The movie picks up with Glinda (Ariana Grande) as the leader of Emerald City. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now known as The Wicked Witch of the West, has been ostracized and forced into exile. Thanks to the arrival of a mysterious girl from Kansas, the two must face their past in order to save their present.
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The movie was directed by Jon M. Chu and also stars Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum. Wicked: For Good bonus features include director commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes and a full-length sing-along version of the movie.
Read on to find out when Wicked: For Good will hit streaming, along with more information on how a VPN can improve your viewing experience.
There are two Peacock plans to choose from. The cheaper Peacock Premium costs $11 a month or $110 a year and includes ads. Peacock Premium Plus and costs $17 a month or $170 a year. This tier includes downloads, your live local NBC station and is mostly ad-free.
James Martin/CNET
How to watch Wicked: For Good with a VPN
If you’re traveling abroad and want to keep up with your favorite shows, a VPN can enhance your privacy and security when streaming. It encrypts your traffic and prevents your internet service provider from throttling your speeds. It can be helpful when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks while traveling, adding an extra layer of protection for your devices and logins.
VPNs are legal in many countries, including the US and Canada, and can be used for legitimate purposes such as improving online privacy and security. However, some streaming services may have policies restricting VPN use to access region-specific content. If you’re considering a VPN for streaming, check the platform’s terms of service to ensure compliance.
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ExpressVPN is our best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN. The service is compatible with a variety of devices. It typically costs $13 a month but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100, you will get four months free and save 70%. Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you choose to use a VPN, follow the provider’s installation instructions to ensure you’re connected securely and in compliance with applicable laws and service agreements. Some streaming platforms may block access when a VPN is detected, so verifying if your streaming subscription allows VPN usage is crucial.
A model of a new vaccine targeting a family of coronaviruses that includes the virus that causes COVID-19. The image highlights pieces of several different viruses attached to a computer-designed nanoparticle to trigger an immune response. (Ian C. Haydon Image)
A candidate vaccine that fights a suite of coronaviruses including COVID-19 and related, deadly respiratory diseases is starting human clinical testing in Australia. The vaccine was developed using technology from the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design.
South Korean pharmaceutical company SK bioscience is leading the trial for the new coronavirus vaccine, called GBP511. SK bioscience previously partnered with UW researchers on a COVID-19 vaccine that received regulatory approval.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has provided the GBP511 program with approximately $65 million in funding.
Unlike most vaccines that target a single virus or strain, GBP511 aims to protect against multiple coronaviruses at once.
Neil King (left) and David Veesler are University of Washington biochemistry professors developing computer-designed protein vaccines. (UW Photo / Ian C. Haydon)
“GBP511 is the first vaccine to reach human testing that is intended to protect against multiple strains of the virus that causes COVID-19 as well as related coronaviruses with the potential to spark dangerous outbreaks,” Neil King, associate professor of biochemistry at UW Medicine, said in a statement.
King, who is deputy director of the Institute for Protein Design, co-invented the self-assembling nanoparticle technology that was used to generate the vaccine. The institute is on the cutting edge of AI-assisted protein innovation and perhaps best known as the home of David Baker, a 2024 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry.
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The new vaccine recognizes sarbecoviruses, a subgroup of coronaviruses that include the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as those responsible for other major disease outbreaks: the original SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused widespread illness in the early 2000s and MERS-CoV, which caused outbreaks primarily in the Middle East. The family also includes viruses found in animals such as camels and bats, some of which have already infected humans and others that potentially could.
The vaccine features pieces of four different coronaviruses attached to a computer-designed nanoparticle, triggering an immune response to a variety of invaders.
“The beauty of this approach is that by presenting the immune system with multiple related antigens at once, we can train it to recognize features that are conserved across the entire sarbecovirus family,” said David Veesler, a professor of biochemistry at UW Medicine who led the preclinical studies.
The international Phase 1/2 trial launched its enrollments last month and aims to include approximately 368 healthy adults in Perth, Western Australia. Results from the study examining the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness are expected by 2028.
