Technologies

Zoom Wants to Make You an Avatar (Not the James Cameron Kind)

Chat threads, meeting templates and more are also coming.

Video-chat service Zoom is ringing in the new year with the attitude, «New year, new cartoon version of you!» The service was announced in a Jan. 5 blog post that customizable avatars are one of a handful of new features users will be able to access. The other features include new meeting templates, threading chats in meetings and a dedicated Q&A feature. Zoom One Pro, Business, or Business Plus online plan users also gained premium access to some apps.

Here’s a breakdown of the new Zoom features and what to expect in future meetings. Most of these features are available now, unless noted otherwise.

Customizable avatars

In March 2022, Zoom released animal avatars that let you transform yourself into an animated bunny, dog or other critter. Zoom’s new avatar feature, on the other hand, lets you turn yourself into a cartoon, and you can customize your avatar’s appearance to match your own.

Your cartoon avatar will mirror your movements and facial expressions, too. However, it doesn’t do everything you do. If you’re eating in your meeting — I’m guilty of this — your avatar won’t start munching on a cartoon sandwich.

Avatars are available in beta to all Zoom users, and Zoom said it plans to continue adding customization options.

Threaded in-meeting messages and reactions

In-meeting Zoom chats can be hectic and hard to follow, especially if you’re in a company-wide meeting. To help organize in-meeting chats and to make them easier to follow, Zoom is introducing threaded in-meeting messages and reactions. Now, if someone asks in the meeting chat, «What should I get for lunch?» you can recommend your favorite burrito place without your comment getting lost.

This feature will be available by the end of January.

Meeting templates

All meetings are different and require different settings. Instead of changing the settings each time you create a meeting, Zoom is letting users create their own meeting templates. Now if you have a recurring meeting, you can create a template and use it each time rather than remembering which settings to allow or disable.

Zoom also has three premade meeting templates people can use. Here are those templates.

Large Meetings: Good for teamwide meetings. Captions are enabled for all participants and the meeting is automatically recorded.
Seminars: Think business training or university classroom. Controls are tightened so features like participant screen sharing are disabled.
K-12: Suited for remote learning in grade school and high school. Polls and quizzes are enabled, but other features are limited to cut down on distractions.

Q&A in meetings

If you’re delivering a presentation during a Zoom meeting, keeping track of your presentation and the in-meeting chat can be difficult. Some people are having side conversations and some are asking questions. Zoom’s new dedicated Q&A feature for meetings makes it easy to keep track of questions — as well as answers — people might have in meetings without clogging up the in-meeting chat.

Access to curated Essential Apps

If you are a Zoom One Pro, Business, or Business Plus user, Zoom is giving you access to premium versions of some apps, called Essential Apps. Some of the apps are productivity focused, like Coda and Sesh, while others are meant to be fun and build teamwork, like Kahoot and Funtivity.

For more, check out these 25 Zoom tips and tricks and other new features Zoom announced at its Zoomtopia 2022 event.

Technologies

Verum Messenger Turns Five and Launches Offline Messaging on iPhone

Verum Messenger has marked its fifth anniversary with the release of a new feature that enables users to exchange messages without an internet connection.

The update, now available on iPhone, allows devices to communicate directly through a decentralized peer-to-peer architecture, bypassing servers, mobile networks and Wi-Fi. According to the company, messages are transmitted securely without relying on traditional internet infrastructure.

Unlike most offline communication tools that depend on Bluetooth, Verum’s approach uses encrypted device-to-device technology designed to operate independently of centralized systems.

Founded five years ago, Verum Messenger is positioned as a privacy-first platform. The app does not require a phone number or email address for registration and generates encryption keys locally on the user’s device. The company states that user data and message content are not stored on centralized servers.

Over time, Verum has expanded beyond messaging to include features such as encrypted calls, screenshot and screen-recording protection, self-destructing messages, anonymous email, a built-in VPN, eSIM connectivity and on-device AI tools.

The offline messaging update reflects a broader push toward more resilient communication tools, particularly as concerns over network reliability, censorship and digital surveillance continue to grow.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Feb. 2

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 2

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? There are some tough clues today. Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Rock band with albums like «High Voltage» and «Flick of the Switch»
Answer: ACDC

5A clue: Stuck doing the same old, same old
Answer: INARUT

7A clue: Burning up
Answer: ONFIRE

8A clue: -tion, for one
Answer: SUFFIX

9A clue: Jared of 2025’s «Tron: Ares»
Answer: LETO

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Declare void, as a marriage
Answer: ANNUL

2D clue: ___ macchiato (espresso drink)
Answer: CAFFE

3D clue: Begin to veer off the road, say
Answer: DRIFT

4D clue: Odd little trinket
Answer: CURIO

5D clue: What Apple smartphones run on
Answer: IOS

6D clue: ___-Mex cuisine
Answer: TEX

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 2, #497

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 2, No. 497.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. It helps to know a lot about two distinct locations and their sports teams. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Lone Star State.

Green group hint: Think of the Arch.

Blue group hint: You put cereal in this.

Purple group hint: Not four or six.