Razer is back at CES 2022 with another RGB-laden, N95 mask for gamers — the Zephyr Pro.
It’s as silly and audacious as ever, but with the Pro model, Razer has brought back a beloved feature from the Project Hazel concept that was subsequently abandoned with the launch of the original Zephyr late last year. Finally, the Zephyr Pro comes with voice amplification.
Razer claims that the technology assists in making the wearer’s voice sound clearer and less muffled — problems that are common with traditional cloth masks. This aids in communication, and the solution may be good for those looking to collaborate in a hybrid work environment.
Marked by speaker grills around the chin, there are two speakers, one located on each side. The microphone, of course, is located inside the mask itself. Razer says the mask’s amplification can deliver up to 60 decibels within a meter of space. The Zephyr Pro also features an on/off toggle button, which Razer says was included to not put a constant drain on the battery.
To aid in communication, the Zephyr Pro also sports a transparent design to show more of your face, including your lips, while speaking.
Unfortunately, voice modulation is still a feature that’s been left on the cutting room floor. Razer says it’s still looking into implementation of the feature, which could hypothetically give the Zephyr Pro the ability to make you sound like Bane as much as it makes you look like him. But for now, the microphones and speakers are for amplification purposes only.
Like last year’s Zephyr, the Zephyr Pro sports the gaming manufacturer’s Chroma RGB lighting system, which can be controlled via a smartphone app, dual PC-like fans that are said to help with cooling and ventilation to help the wearer breathe easier.
Of course, the Zephyr Pro still has N95-grade filters that can be replaced every three days.
Still, with ostentatious RGB lighting and a gaming-forward design that looks like it could be part of a see-through case of a gaming tower, the Zephyr Pro may still appear too aggressive for most people.
Despite Razer’s chosen aesthetic, however, it appears that the company found early success with the original Zephyr — that mask sold out within minutes of being available despite a higher price tag compared to traditional face masks and the added cost of replacement filter packs.
The Zephyr Pro costs $150, which is $50 more expensive than the standard Zephyr. Razer also offers a $200 package that comes with 33 filters, for a total of 99 days of usage.
Razer is not talking about a release date right now and has only said the Zephyr Pro will come out sometime in 2022.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.