Category: Technology

The push to recycle electric vehicle batteries just gained some momentum. Redwood Materials has unveiled plans to build an EV battery recycling plant on the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina. The roughly 600-acre facility (previewed in a render above) will break “end-of-life” batteries down to their raw metals and rebuild them as the anodes and cathodes that are crucial to EVs. The parts should support up to 1 million EVs per year. That could not only reduce waste, but reduce the costs and risks associated with importing those components from overseas.

The plant will reportedly amount to a $3.5 billion investment that includes 1,500 jobs. Like Redwood’s Nevada campus, the Charleston hub will rely solely on clean energy and all-electric operations. The company claims its approach lowers CO2 emissions for producing the battery components by about 80 percent compared to the output from the usual Asian supply chain.

Construction should start for the South Carolina plant in the first quarter of 2023. The first recycling process should be ready by the end of that year, Redwood says. The company plans to scale afterward.

The locale choice is strategic. Redwood says South Carolina is part of a growing “Battery Belt” where EV cell manufacturing will ramp up to “hundreds” of gigawatt-hours of production capacity by 2030. Its seaside port helps, too. The state further hosts factories for car manufacturers that include BMW and Redwood partner Volvo, so a brand could quickly repurpose spent batteries for vehicles rolling off the line.

More importantly, Redwood appears to have broader support from the auto industry. On top of Volvo, it has partners like Ford, Toyota and battery makers that include Panasonic and Envision AESC. Large-scale battery recycling facilities are still relatively rare in the US — Li-Cycle’s new Alabama plant can process batteries for about 20,000 EVs per year. This expansion could make recycling far more commonplace, and make a better case for electric cars as the environmentally conscious options.

 

Apple’s recent flurry of software updates also includes a big upgrade for the living room. The newly released tvOS 16.2 adds a Recognize My Voice feature that customizes Siri searches on the Apple TV 4K and TV HD for up to six family members. Once you’ve trained the set-top to know who’s speaking, you can ask for video recommendations and music without worrying that you’ll mess with someone’s play history. You can also ask to “switch to my profile” instead of navigating the on-screen switcher.

You can also change the Siri language to be different than the one your device shows. Accordingly, the Apple TV also has expanded language support in Denmark, Luxembourg and Singapore.

This is also the update you want if you’re eager to host a karaoke party. As on other platforms, you can now use Apple Music Sing to croon over “tens of millions” of songs. You’ll need the new third-generation Apple TV 4K, but you won’t have to buy a dedicated machine or look for specific karaoke-friendly albums.

Personalized voice recognition certainly isn’t a novel concept. Rival assistants have had comparable functionality for years, and Recognize My Voice has been available on HomePod speakers since 2019. Still, this is a notable upgrade if you share an Apple TV box and would rather not switch profiles just to use Siri the way you’d expect.

 

When Amazon first introduced Alexa and the Echo speaker years ago, the idea of talking to a digital assistant wasn’t totally novel. Both the iPhone and Android phones had semi-intelligent voice controls — but with the Echo, Amazon took its first step toward making something like Alexa a constant presence in your home. Since then, Apple and Google have followed suit, and now there’s a huge variety of smart speakers available at various price points.

As the market exploded, the downsides of having a smart home device that’s always listening for a wake word have become increasingly apparent. An unintentional voice command can activate it, sending private recordings back to monolithic companies to analyze. And even at the best of times, giving more personal information to Amazon, Apple and Google can be a questionable decision. That said, all these companies have made it easier to manage how your data is used — you can opt out of humans reviewing some of your voice queries, and it’s also less complicated to manage and erase your history with various digital assistants, too.

The good news is that there’s never been a better time to get a smart speaker, particularly if you’re a music fan. For all their benefits, the original Amazon Echo and Google Home devices did not sound good. Sonos, on the other hand, made great sounding WiFi-connected speakers, but they lacked any voice-controlled smarts.

That’s all changed now. Sonos is including both Alexa and Google Assistant support in its latest speakers. Google and Amazon, meanwhile, made massive improvements in sound quality with recent speakers. Even lower-end models like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini sound much better than earlier iterations. With the growing popularity of these speakers, there are now more options than ever. Let’s walk through our choices for the best smart speakers at different price points and for different uses.

Picking an assistant

The first thing most people should do is decide what voice assistant they want to use. Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa are both well-supported options that are continually evolving, with new features added at a steady clip. A few years ago, Alexa worked with more smart home devices, but at this point, basically any smart device worth buying works with both.

It’s mostly a matter of personal preference. If you already use Google Assistant on your Android phone, it makes sense to stick with that. But while Alexa isn’t quite as good at answering general knowledge questions, it syncs just fine with things like calendars from your Google account. And it works with perhaps the widest variety of smart home devices, as well. If you’ve never used Alexa or Google Assistant, you can download their apps to your smart phone and spend some time testing them out before buying a speaker.

As for Apple, you won’t be surprised to learn its HomePod mini is the only Siri-compatible speaker on the market, now that Apple has discontinued the larger HomePod. Siri has a reputation for not being as smart as Alexa or Google Assistant, but it’s totally capable of handling common voice queries like answering questions, controlling smart home devices, sending messages, making calls and playing music. Technically, Siri and Apple’s HomeKit technology doesn’t work with as many smart home devices as the competition, but it’s not hard to find compatible gear. And since the HomePod mini arrived last fall, Apple has added some handy features like a new Intercom tool. Apple is also starting to support music services besides Apple Music. Currently, Pandora is the only other option, but Apple has confirmed that Amazon Music will eventually work natively on the HomePod mini as well.

Best smart speaker under $50: Amazon Echo Dot

Most people’s entry point into the smart speaker world will not be an expensive device. Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo Dot and Google’s Nest Mini are the most obvious places to start for two important reasons. One, they’re cheap: Both the Nest Mini and Echo Dost cost $50. Two, they’re capable. Despite the low price, these speakers can do virtually the same things as larger and more expensive devices.

The Google Nest Mini was released in late 2019, but Amazon just refreshed the Echo Dot this year. After testing both devices, I think the Echo Dot is the best small smart speaker for most people. Amazon keeps improving the audio quality across its Echo device line, and the Echo Dot is no exception. It produces much louder and clearer audio than I’d expect from a $50 speaker. The Nest Mini doesn’t sound bad, and it’s perfectly fine for listening in the bedroom while getting ready for the day, but the Echo Dot is a better all-purpose music listening device.

From a design perspective, Amazon broke the mold with the latest Echo Dot. Instead of a small puck like the Nest Mini, the new Dot is shaped like a little globe. It’s much bigger than the Nest Mini, but that size gives it room for higher-end audio components. The Dot keeps the handy physical volume buttons and mute switch on top, along with a button to activate Alexa’s voice control. While the Dot doesn’t look as sleek as the Nest Mini, having physical buttons makes it easier to adjust volume and mute the mic. I do wish the Dot had a way to physically pause music; on the Nest Mini, if you tap the middle of the device, the music stops.

Another benefit the Amazon Echo Dot has over the Google Nest Mini is its 3.5mm audio out jack, which means you can plug it into other speakers and instantly upgrade the audio quality. When you do that, you can ask Alexa to stream music, and it’ll output to whatever speaker you have connected. That’ll help you get more mileage out of the Dot in the long run. The Nest Mini answers with a handy wall mount, for people who want to keep their counter or shelf clear. The Echo Dot’s new bulbous form is definitely not suited to this, so if you want a speaker you can really hide, the Nest Mini is probably the better choice.

Overall, the Dot is the best choice for most people, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Nest Mini, either. I generally prefer using Google Assistant over Alexa, and anyone who feels the same should go ahead and get the Nest Mini. The Dot does sound notably better, so if you plan to listen to audio on a regular basis, that’s probably the way to go. But if you only plan to use it for a quick song or podcast when you’re getting ready in the morning, just pick your favorite assistant and go from there.

Best smart speaker under $100: Amazon Echo

Amazon, Apple and Google all have $100 smart speakers: the fourth-generation Echo, the HomePod mini and the Nest Audio, respectively. All three companies claim superior audio quality, so for lots of people these speakers will be the sweet spot between small speakers like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini and bigger, more expensive models like the Sonos One.

Once again, Amazon punches above its weight. Like the Dot, the new Echo is totally redesigned and the new internals were made with music in mind. It combines a three-inch woofer with two 0.8-inch tweeters — a more advanced setup than either the Nest Audio or HomePod mini. (The Google Nest Audio uses a three-inch woofer but only a single 0.75-inch tweeter, while the Apple HomePod mini makes do with a single “full range” driver and two passive radiators.)

In practice, this means the Echo is noticeably louder than either the Nest Audio or HomePod mini and much better suited to filling a large room than the competition. It also delivers an impressive bass thump and powerful mid-range frequencies. In fact, my main complaint with the speaker is that highs aren’t quite crisp enough. Compare the Echo to a Sonos One and the One sounds much more lively, while the Echo comes off a bit muddy. Then again, the Sonos One costs twice as much as the Echo.

While the Echo may beat the Nest Audio and HomePod mini on volume and bass, Google and Apple’s speakers are not bad options. The HomePod mini is the quietest of the three speakers, but it still sounds balanced across the entire audio spectrum. The bass isn’t too assertive, but there’s more presence than I would have expected given its tiny size (it’s by far the smallest of these three speakers).

And it has a few nice perks if you’re using an iPhone 11 or newer. Thanks to the U1 “ultra-wideband” chip in recent iPhones, the HomePod mini can tell when there’s a phone near it, which makes handing off music from your phone to the speaker (or vice versa) quite simple. Playback controls for the HomePod mini will automatically pop up as well, and your phone’s lock screen will display music suggestions if the speaker isn’t currently playing. Setup is also dead-simple — just bring an iPhone or iPad near the speaker and it’ll automatically start the process.

Google’s Nest Audio is also quite pleasant to listen to. It’s a little louder than the HomePod mini, and has stronger bass, to boot. It doesn’t have the same overall power and presence that the Echo does, but for $100 it’s a well-balanced speaker that should serve most people’s needs.

All three of these speakers support stereo pairing as well, if you want more volume or crave a more immersive experience. For $200, two Echoes will fill a large room with high-quality sound and enough bass to power a party. A pair of HomePod mini or Nest Audio speakers aren’t quite as powerful, but it makes for a great upgrade if you’re a more avid listener. A pair of Nest Audio or HomePod mini speakers sounded great on my desk during the workday. I don’t need overwhelming volume but can appreciate the stereo separation. And two of those speakers together can easily power a larger living space, although the Echo is the better choice if volume is a priority.

Here too, I think that picking the assistant that works best in your house and with your other gadgets is probably the most important factor — but given Alexa’s ubiquity and the new Echo’s superior sound quality, I think it’s the best smart speaker at this price point.

Best midrange smart speaker: Sonos One

If you have more than a passing interest in music, the Echo Dot and Nest Mini aren’t really going to cut it. Spending more money to upgrade to a speaker designed with audio quality in mind is one of the best decisions I’ve made. For years, I didn’t have a proper home music solution, but in the end the modest investment has made my life much more pleasant.

For a long time, my default recommendation was the $219 Sonos One. It hits a sweet spot of size and convenience, and it’s a huge upgrade in sound quality over the Nest Mini or Echo Dot, not to mention the larger Echo and Nest Audio. You can use either Alexa or the Google Assistant with it, and Sonos supports a huge variety of music services. But most importantly, it simply sounds great, especially if you tune the speaker to your room using the Sonos iOS app. It takes just a few minutes and makes the One sound lively, with punchy bass and clear highs.

But Amazon flipped the script in 2019 with the Echo Studio, a $200 Alexa-powered smart speaker that can stand up against the Sonos One. Yes, it’s larger than nearly every other speaker in this guide, but the bang-for-the-buck factor is extremely high with the Echo Studio. Naturally, it’s a full-fledged member of the Alexa ecosystem, which means you can do multi-room playback with other Echo speakers or set up two Studios in a stereo pair. All of Alexa’s features are on board here, and it has a built-in Zigbee smart home hub, if you happen to need that.

The Echo Studio has a few other unique features for music lovers. If you sign up for Amazon’s hi-def music service, you can play a (very limited) selection of songs in Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format; Amazon refers to this as “3D music.” It may sound great, but the selection is so sparse that we can’t recommend it as a reason to buy into the Echo Studio — but it will be nice as Amazon expands its catalog over time. That said, the Echo Studio’s five-speaker, 360-degree design naturally provides a more 3D effect than a speaker like the Sonos One, which has a more traditional forward-firing design.

The Studio also supports Dolby Atmos, making it a candidate for a home theater setup — but it only works with Amazon’s own Fire TV devices. And using a single speaker for watching movies is odd; it may sound great, but it’s not the immersive experience you’ll get with a dedicated soundbar and surround speakers. A stereo pair plus Amazon’s Echo Sub should sound notably better, but we haven’t been able to get that setup yet.

Given the quality of the Studio, the speaker shines when used with a high-def streaming service, like Amazon Music HD or Tidal’s HiFi tier. The downside is that you’ll pay for those — but if you want to stick with standard Spotify or Apple Music, the Studio still sounds great.

While the Studio is comparable to the Sonos One in terms of pure audio quality, the Sonos ecosystem does have a few advantages over Amazon. Sonos speakers that support voice commands, like the One, work with either Alexa or Google Assistant. So if you prefer Google, Sonos is probably the way to go. And Sonos speakers work with a much broader set of music services. I’ve spent a lot of time recently comparing the One to the Echo Studio, and I go back and forth on which is superior in terms of music quality. They definitely have different profiles, and while I have come to prefer Sonos over Amazon, I know plenty of people (including my colleague Billy Steele) who find the opposite to be true.

If you have a smaller home and aren’t concerned with multi-room playback, the Echo Studio should be your pick. But if you’re interested in building out a multi-room setup over time, Sonos currently provides a greater variety of speakers for that mission. But either way, you’ll end up with a setup that puts something like the Echo Dot or Nest Mini to shame.

Best smart speaker for music lovers: Sonos Five

As nice as the Echo Studio and Sonos One are, there’s only so much you can get out of them. If you crave more bass, clarity and stereo separation, the Sonos Five is one of our favorite pure music speakers. It has all the conveniences of the One (except for one, which we’ll get to) and sounds significantly better than any other Sonos speaker. It also sounds much better than the Echo Studio and anything Google is currently selling.

That said, the Five stretches our definition of a smart speaker here because it doesn’t have a built-in voice assistant. But it’s so good at music playback that it’s worth recommending you pick one up along with an Echo Dot or Nest Mini. Both of those speakers work with Sonos, so you can use voice commands to control the Five just as you would a dedicated Alexa or Google Assistant device. It’s also easier to recommend than it was a year ago, because Sonos refreshed the speaker last spring with a new wireless radio as well as more memory and a faster processor. This means it should stay current and work with future Sonos software updates for years to come.

Since we’re talking “best” here, I’m going to go ahead and recommend that true music junkies splash out on two Five speakers and pair them in stereo. Put simply, it’s the most enjoyable experience I’ve had listening to music in years; I found myself picking up new details while listening to albums I’ve heard over and over again. It’s a wonderful experience and worth saving for if you’re a music lover. Put simply, I didn’t know what I was missing until I tried the Five.

Best portable smart speaker: Sonos Roam

While many people will be happy with a few speakers strategically placed throughout their home, you might want something that works outside as well as inside. Fortunately, you can find speakers that pair voice controls and strong music playback performance with portable, weatherproof form factors. For my money, it’s hard to beat the Sonos Roam for sheer versatility, not to mention audio quality.

When used inside the home, the Roam works like any other Sonos speaker. It fits in with an existing multi-room Sonos setup, or you can get a pair for stereo playback. Like most other Sonos speakers, it works with either the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, and it supports essentially every major music service available. It sounds very good given its tiny size; it’s quieter and not quite as clear as the Sonos One, but it still packs a surprising bass thump and distinct highs.

Since it was designed with on-the-go usage in mind, the Roam has a battery and Bluetooth so you can take it anywhere and use it far away from your WiFi network. And its diminutive size makes it easy to take it everywhere, both around the house and out and about. It’s also the first Sonos speaker that is fully waterproof, as well as dust- and drop-resistant, so you shouldn’t worry about taking it to the pool or beach.

The Roam gets about 10 hours of battery life, whether you’re on WiFI or Bluetooth. There are other portable speakers that last longer, so if you’re really going to push the battery you might be better served by another option.

Sonos also has another portable option, the Move. Like the Roam, it’s a full-fledged Sonos speaker when on WiFi and works with Bluetooth when you’re away from home. But it’s $400 and much larger than the Roam, and even bigger than the Sonos One. This means it is very loud and has better audio quality than all the other speakers I’ve mentioned, but it’s not something you can toss in a bag and bring with you anywhere. When I reviewed it, I liked having a speaker I could tote around the house with me and out to my porch, but the Roam does that all just as well in a much smaller package. The Move is a good option if you want a high-quality speaker for a living room with the option to occasionally drag it to the backyard.

While this guide is all about smart speakers, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention all of the solid portable speakers out there that either have limited smart features or none at all. We have an entire guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers, and some of our favorites that support smart voice commands come from Bose. The $149 SoundLink Flex supports Siri and Google Assistant commands, plus it has an IP67 design that’s roughly the size of a small clutch bag. It pumps out bright, dynamic sound and can pair with other speakers for stereo sound, too.

On the higher end of the spectrum, the $399 Bose Portable Smart speaker supports Alexa and Google Assistant commands, and since it can connect to WiFi, you can ask your preferred assistant to play music from Spotify, Amazon Music and other services. On top of that, it produces well-rounded sound, sports an IPX4 design with a convenient carry handle and will last up to 12 hours on a single charge.

 

One day after Jack Dorsey took to Revue to share his thoughts on the Twitter Files, the company announced it would shut down the newsletter platform early next year. “From January 12th, 2023, it will no longer be possible to access your Revue account,” Revue said on Wednesday. “On that date, Revue will shut down and all data will be deleted.”

Twitter bought Revue at the start of 2021. At the time, the company argued the acquisition was a natural expansion of its platform. And for a while, it had a point since paid newsletters were all the rage last year. Following the purchase, Twitter moved to quickly integrate the two platforms closer together. At first, the company added Revue signup buttons to Twitter profiles. A month later, it rolled out a feature that allowed users to sign up for Revue newsletters directly from tweets. 

But all of that was before Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and the newsletter goldrush died out. The billionaire has said one of his goals for Twitter has been to simplify the app. To that end, a handful of features, including Moments and “tweeted from” labels, have been put on the chopping block in recent weeks. So it’s not surprising to see Revue get discontinued as well. 

If you use Revue to run a paid newsletter, on December 20th Twitter will set all paid subscriptions to cancel at the end of their billing cycle. “This is to prevent your subscribers being charged for Revue content after the point where it is no longer possible to send newsletters from Revue.”

 

Tidal users in the US can now become DJs on the streaming service. The company is testing a feature called DJ, which enables those on the $20 per month HiFi Plus tier to share songs or a playlist they’re listening to with other paying users in real time. Tidal added a proper playlist sharing option just last month. 

You can choose a name for the DJ session and share a link that others can use to access it. Unfortunately, Tidal says that those tuning in won’t be able to listen to whatever the DJ’s playing at high-resolution or lossless quality for the time being. The songs will play in regular AAC quality (160 Kbps) — higher-resolution streams will be available at a later date.

Budding DJs will need to be enrolled in Tidal’s Early Access Program to access the beta. They’ll only be able to start a session on iOS for now, but Android support is coming soon. All paying Tidal users can listen to a DJ session on either iOS or Android.

The feature is different from Tidal for DJs, which enables producers and DJs to plug songs from the streaming service into professional audio software, as The Verge notes. So, this new feature is geared toward amateur tastemakers. However, the fact that listeners also need to be paid Tidal users might prevent folks from sharing their live DJ sessions with friends who typically use Spotify or Apple Music. At least Turntable.fm is still around, while Amazon’s Amp enables people to host their own radio shows with chat and licensed music.

 

The US government just clamped down on a prominent online financial fraud. A federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged eight men with allegedly operating a stock pump-and-dump scheme on Discord and Twitter between January 2020 and April 2022. They reportedly used their social media presences (including a combined 1.5 million Twitter followers) to artificially inflate the value of stocks, only to sell their shares without disclosing their plans. They made a $114 million profit off the campaign, the Justice Department said.

In addition to tweets, the group supposedly used a Discord server (Atlas Trading) to share misinformation about stocks. One participant, Daniel Knight, also co-hosted a podcast that apparently played a role in the fraud. He brought some of the others on his show and falsely portrayed them as experts, according to the SEC.

All eight are facing at least one charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Edward Constantinescu (aka Constantin), Perry “PJ” Matlock, John Rybarczyk, Gary Deel, Stefan Hrvatin, Tom Cooperman and Mitchell Hennessey are facing additional charges that revolve around securities fraud and (in Constantinescu’s case) unlawful monetary transactions. The SEC has further charged Knight with aiding and abetting the scheme.

The conspiracy and fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for each count, while the transactions charge against Constantinescu carries a 10-year maximum. The SEC charges could add financial penalties, including disgorgement of the ill-gotten profits. 

The nature of the manipulation isn’t surprising. The meme stock saga on Reddit showed that online communities can influence share prices in the right circumstances. However, the charges suggest a trend — fraudsters now see social media as a viable way to fool many investors with relatively little effort. Don’t be surprised if you see more cases like this going forward.

 

McLaren may be about to embark on its inaugural Formula E season next month, but the legendary racing outfit didn’t have to start from scratch. The company took over Mercedes-EQ operations at the end of last season, bringing an experienced crew along to develop its first papaya-hued EV street racers. Part of that crew was team principal Ian James, who’s now also managing director for McLaren Electric Racing as a whole. As the team prepares for the debut of Formula E’s Gen3 car in Mexico City, we sat down with James as well as drivers Jake Hughes and René Rast for a status update on development and the challenges ahead for Season 9.

“What’s really helped is that the team that’s been together over the past two or three seasons has largely stayed intact,” James said. “So that experience that we built up, we’re carrying forward into Gen3.” James further explained that he hopes that level of continuity will be key to achieving the goals McLaren has set for Season 9. Due to the limited testing opportunities ahead of the first race, the team may need to rely heavily on that experience.

Teams are only permitted to conduct a handful of on-track testing sessions before the first race of the season in mid-January. Because McLaren is a customer team – they’re running Nissan powertrains instead of building their own – they don’t get “the privilege of doing all the test days that the regulations of the championship dictate,” driver Jake Hughes explained.

Before the official preseason test this week in Valencia (six sessions across three days), Hughes and teammate René Rast have only had one proper test day, a shakedown at Bicester Heritage near McLaren HQ and a few low-power runs for media and staff. Formula E did add an additional shakedown session ahead of the official test dates this week and the championship designated a Wednesday time slot for a mock race that will include qualifying and a test of the new ABB rapid chargers. The Race reports that Formula E is also considering adding another session on Thursday on what was originally scheduled as a day off.

Rast and Hughes inspect the Gen3 car.

“We haven’t actually had a lot of on-track running,” Hughes continued. “The simulator has been the bulk of our work.” He argued that the lack of track time won’t make things more difficult for him to prepare for Gen3, even as a Formula E rookie. “It’s going to be challenging no matter what – Formula E is such a difficult championship,” Hughes said. “I’m fully aware of the challenges I have ahead of me and I will do absolutely the best I have with what I have underneath me.”

Hughes arrived in Formula E with experience in both F3 and F2, the junior series that develop talent for Formula 1. Those cars are obviously a lot different, both from a design and a powertrain standpoint. Hughes explained that the “dirty air” aspect of those feeder series and the difficulty with overtaking aren’t part of Formula E. In most races, the races run in a train, nose to tail, and you can pass when you want – so long as you’re willing to spend the extra energy to do so. So for the McLaren rookie, even though he has experience as a Formula E reserve driver, a key challenge is developing new race strategies.

“Strategy is involved in every racing series around the world, but in Formula E, it’s really critical,” he said. “Every decision you make has a huge knock-on effect with how you use your energy later on in the race.”

Rast explained the McLaren duo had probably spent 10 days in the simulator through the end of November with more planned ahead of the Valencia test. “That’s the only thing we can more or less do to prepare ourselves for the car because the testing is very limited and the simulator is the closest you can get,” he said. Simulated running isn’t just for the drivers though, engineers and other parts of the team are also included in those sessions. That will continue throughout the season as simulator work happens before and after every race.

The team is well aware that they’re likely facing “a very steep learning curve” when they arrive at the first E-Prix of Season 9 in Mexico City next month, according to James’ assessment. “I think it’s the teams that deal with that in the most efficient manner are the ones that will come out on top,” he continued. James specifically mentioned the new front powertrain and added regenerative abilities that will change energy management strategies, even for experienced members of the McLaren team. Aside from the updates that a more powerful Gen3 car brings, James said alterations to the race format will “throw a few curveballs in there as well.”

Formula E announced changes to the races last month, getting rid of Fan Boost and replacing Attack Mode with Attack Charge at some races. The new battery technology inside the Gen3 cars allows for quick charging, but while Formula E had planned to bring back pit stops for that purpose, the infrastructure needed to do so isn’t quite race-ready. And on top of the series having to switch things up pretty late in the game, the teams still aren’t entirely sure how the new race format will work, which partially explains the mock race.

“Obviously, Attack Mode is still the key ingredient for the race.” Rast said. “But the rest we’re going to see once the season starts.”

James explained that the teams were able to give input on the Gen3 sporting regulations as they were developed by the FIA (Formula E’s governing body). He foresees more excitement in Season 9 due to the increased flexibility in strategy the new format and guidelines will allow. So, in spite of the current unknowns, McLaren’s team principal is optimistic that “the racing this year will be closer than ever.”

“That’s going to make the racing even more exciting,” he continued. “It’s going to be more of a challenge for the engineers, working together with the drivers to make sure that we plan in the right way before the race, but then also to react to changes and the various different situations that can arise.”

And then there are the tires. Formula E is switching from a treaded Michelin tire to a custom-made compound from Hankook for Gen3. Both the old and new tires are designed to be run in both dry and wet conditions, though the Michelin compound would wear down so much on some circuits that it would basically be slick by the end of the race. Hughes explained that the Hankook version “behaves very differently,” and should be more durable.

Rast in the driver’s seat.

Still, the prospect and challenge of Formula E is as much of a thrill for the drivers as ever. With Gen3, the series has moved from having to change cars during a race to complete the distance to one that will stop for a 30-second charge. It can also hit 200MPH with a 350kW motor and is capable of regenerating 40 percent of its energy. It’s the ability to show off the potential of EVs to people around the world that excites Rast.

“It’s amazingly quick, it’s a proper race car,” he explained. “We try to bring motorsport into the cities to make people aware of what’s actually possible with electrification.”

Hughes agreed, noting that the potential for carryover from technology from Formula E cars to electric road cars is something he’s happy to be part of. “We can basically help develop the future for electric mobility,” he said. “A lot of the stuff we’re developing for Gen3 I wouldn’t be surprised if you see it on road cars within the decade. What we’re doing will have a knock-on effect that even right now we’re not fully aware of.”

Despite the chaos of the offseason prep and limited testing, the work McLaren has put in appears to be heading in the right direction. Hughes was second fastest across both sessions on the first day of testing in Valencia, less than a tenth of a second behind Masterati’s Maximilian Guenther.

 

Have you wanted to buy the latest MacBook Air, but didn’t want to pay the premium over the M1 model? You might not have to. Amazon is selling the base MacBook Air M2 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at a new all-time low of $999, or the same price you usually see for its older counterpart. You’ll find a similar $200 discount for the 512GB model, too. You’ll have to choose from certain colors, but your system should arrive before Christmas if you order soon.

We’ll be frank: the MacBook Air M2 is the definition of a well-rounded laptop. It’s thin and light, of course, but it’s also fast for media editing and day-to-day productivity. There’s a great display, surprisingly robust speakers and strong battery life. And did we mention that it’s completely silent? While you wouldn’t get the Air M2 for gaming or heavy-duty content creation, it’s a treat to use for most other tasks.

There are some considerations before you jump in. As the MacBook Air M2 doesn’t have a fan, it will throttle under extended heavy workloads. You’ll want to buy a MacBook Pro if you’re frequently editing movies or music. The 8GB of RAM on these configurations is more useful than it sounds, but it might prove limiting if you routinely juggle multiple demanding apps. You won’t get higher-end MacBook Pro perks like an SD card slot or a 120Hz screen, either. At this price, though, the new Air makes sense even if you occasionally need to test its limits.

And if $999 is still too much, don’t fret. Amazon currently has the MacBook Air M1 on sale at $799. You won’t get the M2 model’s added performance, sleeker profile, trip-resistant MagSafe power cable or larger display, but it’s still a capable system with lengthy battery life and silent operation. It’s just a question of whether or not you’re willing to compromise in the name of the best possible price.

Buy MacBook Air M1 at Amazon – $799

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A Twitter account that tracked the flights of Elon Musk’s private jet is no more. The company has permanently suspended @ElonJet, as Jack Sweeney, a college student who ran the account, noted.

Sweeney used publicly available flight data to operate @ElonJet and accounts that track flights of other public figures. Over the weekend, Sweeney said screenshots provided by a Twitter employee indicated that the company limited the reach of @ElonJet. On Monday, Sweeney said it seemed there were no longer any restrictions on the account, but Twitter has since dropped the banhammer.

In January, a few months before Musk announced a deal to buy Twitter, he offered Sweeney $5,000 to delete the account. Sweeney rejected the overture, instead asking for $50,000. As CNBC notes, @ElonJet had more than half a million followers. Sweeney also runs a version of the bot on Instagram.

Self-proclaimed free speech absolutist Musk, who has caused chaos at Twitter since taking over the company, suggested in November that he would not ban @ElonJet, despite claiming the account “is a direct personal safety risk.” It’s unclear whether Musk himself reversed course or one of his employees made the call to suspend @ElonJet. Twitter no longer has a communications department that can be reached for comment.

 

After discounting its over-ear QuietComfort 45 headphones earlier this week, Bose has kicked off a similarly notable sale on its QuietComfort Earbuds II. The wireless earbuds are now on sale for $249 at several retailers, matching the all-time low we previously saw around Black Friday. The pair has typically retailed at its MSRP of $299 since launching in September, though it’s sold for $279 for most of this month. Either way, Bose’s product listing says this deal will run until January 1.

We gave the QuietComfort Earbuds II a review score of 87 at launch, and we currently recommend them as the “best noise cancellation” pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. As that title would suggest, Bose’s active noise cancellation (ANC) is the main reason you’d buy this pair: It’s the single most powerful ANC mode we’ve tested on a pair of wireless earbuds, almost totally muting low-end rumbles and muffling mid- and high-frequency sounds better than most. The earbuds automatically attune their ANC to the acoustics of your ear canals as soon as you put them on, but you can also raise or lower the intensity of the effect by creating custom listening modes in Bose’s companion app.

In terms of audio quality, the QuietComfort Earbuds II have a smooth sound with a slight but noticeable bass boost. It’s not world-beating like the ANC, but our review found the low-end to be richer than past Bose earbuds, and there’s a graphic EQ tool in Bose’s app that lets you tweak the sound more to your liking if needed.

There are a few trade-offs worth noting here. The earbuds themselves are soft and secure in the ear, but they’re on the larger side, which may be fatiguing for smaller ears over time. The included charging case is similarly bulky. Beyond that, battery life is just decent at roughly 6-7 hours, there’s no wireless charging and call quality is mediocre. You can’t connect to multiple devices at once, either. Our guide recommends Sony’s WF-1000XM4 as a more well-rounded option for most. Still, if all you want is the most effective ANC possible in a pair of wireless earbuds, the QuietComfort Earbuds II are the way to go, and this deal makes them at least a little more affordable.

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