Sick of those tiny seatback screens on long flights? Thanks to a new partnership between Rokid and Hainan Airlines, that could become a thing of the past. Instead of small, glare-streaked LCDs, you could be enjoying a giant virtual display when you don futuristic smart glasses while flying.
China’s Hainan Airlines loaned pairs of Rokid Entertainment Kits to passengers of flight HU7874 on February 7, 2024, which made it the world’s first AR flight according to the Rokid press release. The technology isn’t new, but this partnership could be the beginning of a change for in-flight movies and games.
Upgrading a fleet of aircraft with thousands of small, built-in screens and entertainment systems can be very expensive and time-consuming. By comparison, Rokid Entertainment Kits provide an instant upgrade to massive displays and offer a much wider selection of in-flight content for any airplane.
The AR package included Rokid Max smart glasses and a Rokid Station preloaded with several 3D movies that can be viewed without an internet connection. I found the combination of Rokid Max and Rokid Station to be a great solution for content consumption.
Rokid Station is an Android TV device that can connect to a variety of streaming services, play downloaded videos, and also run games and apps. It includes a battery that can power the Rokid Max smart glasses for several hours.
By providing both devices to passengers, Hainan Airlines gave each person a private cinema experience to help pass the time on the two- to three-hour flight from Shenzhen to Xi’an. Since the Rokid Max includes a diopter adjustment, the smart glasses will work for most people, even if they wear prescription lenses.
It would be great to see a similar feature come to U.S. airlines. There’s also a chance AR glasses could be paving the way to windowless passenger airplanes, which would reduce noise, improve efficiency, and make the aircraft more durable.
Google just dropped its latest AI model, Gemini 4 Carbon, designed to tackle complex coding jobs and cybersecurity threats. The company claims it can work through difficult engineering problems for days, finding hidden bugs and developing fixes across large codebases.
Gemini 4 Carbon also takes the top spot on Artificial Analysis' updated Intelligence Index, scoring 59 points, pushing out Claude Opus 5.5, OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, and even its own predecessor Gemini 4 Argon.
Apple has just introduced a redesigned MacBook Pro with a few bells and whistles. The focus this time around is on a thinner and lighter build, and an upgrade to a touch-sensitive OLED screen without any ugly notch. And, in case you were wondering, there is definitely a price premium to pay for these niceties, which also include a glowing Apple logo at the back. What if you wanted to get the best that Apple has to offer? Well, the numbers are finally here.
For a mere $14,549, you can get yourself the fully kitted 16-inch MacBook Pro PROLED XDR with the beefiest laptop chip that Apple has to offer, and the best memory configuration in tow. For nearly $15,000, you treat yourself to the 16-inch version of the laptop with a nano-texture glass layer on the screen to reduce reflections and glare.
Apple has unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro. The company seems a bit confused about the naming, calling it the "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display," which is tough to remember. If you look past that and review the full spec sheets, you might ask a genuine question: what are the differences between the touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions?
Given that Apple continues to sell both variants together, that's a genuine question. Luckily, you don't have to spend more time lining up the spec sheets side by side and hunting for differences hidden in the fine print. I took that bullet for you. Here's everything that's different between the PROLED XDR Display and the regular MacBook Pro.