Technologies

OnePlus’ First Tablet is Sleek, Green and Coming in April

It’s called the OnePlus Pad and we’ve been hands on.

Better known for its all-round decent Android phones like the OnePlus 11, OnePlus has been showing off its first tablet. Called the OnePlus Pad, this Android 13-based device packs an 11.6-inch display into a slender, green metal body and comes with handy extras like fast charging and a beefy battery. It goes up for preorder in the UK and US in April, although OnePlus has yet to say how much you’ll have to splash in order to get one.

I liked the feel of it when I got my hands on it during MWC in Barcelona. It’s got an all-metal design, which feels sturdy to hold and I’m quite fond of the green color that’s also common on the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Buds Pro 2. It felt particularly skinny in my hands, but at 6.54mm thick it’s actually marginally thicker than the iPad Pro. I’m splitting hairs at this point though; it’s certainly slender enough to slide into a backpack and it felt comfortable to hold and swipe around the Android interface.

oneplus-pad-tablet-cnet-9 — Andrew Lanxon/CNET

The 11.6-inch display has an unusual 7:5 aspect ratio which is aimed more towards reading books, looking at documents and web browsing than it is for pure media consumption. That’s great if you want it more as a business and productivity device, less so if you want it to plough through your favorite Netflix boxsets — those 16:9 aspect videos will have some pretty hefty black bars above and below. Still, the screen is sharp, has a 144Hz refresh rate and supports Dolby Vision HDR for vibrant colors.

oneplus-pad-tablet-cnet-3 — Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Like most of the OnePlus phone range, the Pad supports 66W fast charging, with a full charge of the battery from empty apparently taking a little over an hour. At 9,510mAh, the battery itself is pretty capacious and OnePlus reckons it’ll allow for up to 14 hours of video playback and up to a month on standby. I didn’t get any sense of battery life in my very limited hands on time, so I’ll reserve judgement on its skills here for when I get a model in for some proper testing.

oneplus-pad-tablet-cnet-12 — Andrew Lanxon/CNET

The tablet comes either by itself or with a keyboard case and a stylus (called the OnePlus Stylo, because why not). Both do look somewhat reminiscent of Apple’s iPad accessories, but I suppose there’s not a load of room for aesthetic experimentation when it comes to a stylus. If you’re wanting a tablet as a work device for emails and more then the keyboard at least should be an essential.

oneplus-pad-tablet-cnet-8 — Andrew Lanxon/CNET

It’s powered by a Dimensity 9000 processor, backed up by at least 8GB of RAM (up to 16GB in some markets) and features a camera on the back, and an 8-megapixel front camera for video calls. OnePlus also boasted of the Pad’s powerful speakers, but these were difficult to test at the quite raucous hands on event. Stay tuned for me when we get one for review.

Technologies

OpenAI Will Loosen ChatGPT’s Mental Health Guardrails and Allow Erotica for Adult Users

Sam Altman said the company will ease limits for adults after rolling out age verification.

ChatGPT is treading cautiously right now, but the chatbot may become more risqué by the end of the year.

In recent weeks, the generative AI chatbot has been operating under somewhat stringent limitations, as OpenAI tried to address concerns that it was not handling sensitive mental health issues well. But CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X Tuesday that the company would ease some of those restrictions because it’s «been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues.»

Though Altman didn’t elaborate on what tools are being used to address the problem, OpenAI recently announced new parental controls in ChatGPT.

CNET reached out to OpenAI for details, but the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Other changes are also expected. Altman said the company could allow «erotica» for verified adult users as it implements an «age-gating» system, or age-restricted content, in December. The mature content is part of the company’s «treat adult users like adults» principle, Altman said.

Altman’s post also announced a new version of ChatGPT in the next few weeks, with a personality that behaves more like the company’s GPT-4o model. Chatbot users had complained after the company replaced 4o with the impersonal GPT-5 earlier this year, saying the new version lacked the engaging and fun personality of previous chatbot models.

«If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing),» Altman wrote.

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After OpenAI was sued by parents who alleged ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide, the company imposed an array of new restrictions and changes, including parental controls, alerts for risky behavior and a teen-friendly version of the chatbot. In the summer, OpenAI implemented break reminders that encourage people to occasionally stop chatting with the bot.

On Tuesday, the company also announced the creation of a council of experts on AI and well-being, including some with expertise in psychology and human behavior.

This comes as lawmakers and regulators are ringing the alarm on the risks AI tools pose to people, especially children. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed new restrictions on AI companion chatbots into law. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several AI companies, including OpenAI.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 15 #591

Here are hints — and the answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 15, No. 591.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one, once you understand the theme. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Going up?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Not an escalator, but…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

ROTATE, LOBE, NOPE, RATS, STAR, SAME, LOSE, VOTE, BUTTE, SAMS, BAMS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

ALARM, OPEN, CLOSE, LOBBY, GROUND, BASEMENT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ELEVATORBUTTONS. To find it, look for the E that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind straight up, and then straight down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 15, #387

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 15, No. 387.

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 packed with abbreviations, so if that’s your thing, it’s a good day for you. If you’re struggling 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 show up in the NYT Games app but appears 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: Hoops.

Green group hint: Are you in a league?

Blue group hint: Alma maters.

Purple group hint: Knock it out of the park.