Technologies

Galaxy S25 Ultra Makes Surprise Appearance Shooting the Snapdragon Summit 2025

During Qualcomm’s event showing off new processors, at least one camera offstage was just as interesting as the announcements being made in the spotlight.

Companies use big tech events to reveal their new products, but increasingly they’re also making a point of showing off how they’re doing it. At Wednesday’s Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit 2025, the livestreamed keynote included a prominent Shot on Snapdragon badge during some of the wider camera angles inside the Monarch Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Maui, Hawaii.

Recording an event like this with a smartphone isn’t new, but it’s still novel. The last several Apple keynotes, all pre-recorded and edited before being delivered, were captured entirely using the latest iPhone Pro models at that time; Apple created a short documentary about using the iPhone 16 Pro to shoot last year’s event. It’s a flex not only of a company using its own tools to make its content, but to show other video professionals how it can be done.

Qualcomm’s event looked to be a mix of cameras, since Shot on Snapdragon appeared only from some moving camera angles within the venue. CNET senior reporter David Lumb snapped a photo of a cameraman pushing in during the event using a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (which is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite) mounted in what looked to be a DJI Ronin 2 gimbal on a long boom arm. It’s not clear which other cameras were used for other angles. But it’s worth noting that a consumer phone camera was intermingled with no doubt more capable and professional cameras to capture live footage, share it globally and maintain the same color and image quality.

Not too long ago, shooting video with a smartphone would have been impractical, particularly in such a dark environment. But despite the relatively small sizes of the camera sensors, video quality has improved a lot over the years. If you want to put it up against the big dogs in Hollywood, it’s held its own, such as last year’s movie 28 Years Later, which was shot entirely on iPhones using an assortment of rigs, lens adapters and even a telescope grafted to the devices.

Shooting with the Galaxy S25 Ultra in this context was also important to Qualcomm because it announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which supports the new Advanced Professional Video codec that enables a fully computational video pipeline and near lossless-quality footage. For events like this and for producers who need fast turnaround without extensive (and expensive) toning and color grading, a high-end smartphone that’s priced at a movie-friendly budget of just $1,300 could be just what’s needed.

Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? 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? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. 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: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

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 fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. 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: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

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