Category: Technology

NASA has expanded SpaceX’s role in the Artemis program and has selected the company’s Starship lunar lander to ferry the second batch of astronauts to the Moon. If you’ll recall, the agency picked SpaceX’s human landing system for Artemis 3, which will take humanity back to the Moon decades after the last Apollo mission. 

Earlier this year, NASA announced that it was accepting new lunar lander proposals for use beyond Artemis 3 to ensure “redundancy in services.” While SpaceX wasn’t allowed to participate, the agency did say that it was planning to exercise an option under their existing contract and was asking the company to modify its landing system to meet a new requirement. That is, for its lander to have the capability to take human spacefarers from the Gateway station, which has yet to be installed in the lunar orbit, to the Moon itself. NASA can then use this upgraded lander for future missions, as humanity attempts to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. 

NASA says in its announcement:

“The aim of this new work under Option B is to develop and demonstrate a Starship lunar lander that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, including docking with Gateway, accommodating four crew members, and delivering more mass to the surface.”

SpaceX’s original contract with NASA was worth $2.9 billion, but this modification will add $1.15 billion to the total. The company’s Starship lunar lander is expected to take astronauts to the Moon for the first time in 2025. However, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin admitted in August that the agency is expecting Artemis 3’s launch date to slip to 2026. Based on his statement, NASA is anticipating delays related to the development of the human landing system and its next generation spacesuits. NASA’s Artemis 4 mission, which will take four more astronauts to the Moon, will take flight in 2027 at the earliest. 

For now, we’re still waiting for updates on the Orion vehicle after the successful Artemis 1 launch on November 16th. You can track the spacecraft’s location by following its official Twitter account, which frequently posts about its latest distance from Earth and from the Moon. 

 

Sony’s having a big sale at Amazon, with significant discounts on games, wired and wireless Inzone headsets and all-time low prices on its DualSense controllers. The latter are marked down by up to 33 percent to just $50, and we’re also seeing discounts of up to 64 percent on games like Returnal, Horizon Forbidden West, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Sony is also hosting its own Black Friday sale at the PlayStation Store, with numerous other titles on sale.

Shop Sony games and hardware at Amazon

For anyone looking to get a second DualSense controller, particularly a colorful model, it’s never been a better time. All the models are on sale for $50, including the red, blue, pink, purple and camouflage versions, which normally sell for $75, so they’re a third off. All models offer advanced haptic feedback that give you strong feel of what’s happening on screen, with subtle differences between walking on grass or sand, for instance. And the analog triggers also recreate the feel of in-game tools, like the resistance of a bow when shoot an arrow.

You can also grab a number of physical games at steep discounts, including the aforementioned titles Returnal, Horizon Forbidden West, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Other notable deals include Death Stranding Director’s Cut ($20 or 60 percent off) WWE 2K22 ($25 or 64 percent off), The Last of Us Part I at $50 (29 percent off), Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut ($30, or 57 percent off) and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart ($30 or 57 percent off). And if it’s some other game you’re after, Sony has numerous deals at the PlayStation Store as mentioned earlier.

Finally, Sony is selling both its wired and wireless Inzone H3, Inzone H7 and Inzone H9 gaming headsets for $78, $148 and $278 respectively, for savings of 22, 36 and 7 percent. You can also grab the PlayStation DualSense charging station and Media Remote for $20 each, or 33 percent off. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

 

Amazon’s layoffs announced on Wednesday will continue into early 2023, CEO Andy Jassy said in a letter to employees posted yesterday. He said that the company “hired rapidly” over the last few years but “the economy remains in a challenging spot.” With annual planning now extending into the new year, “there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments,” he added. 

Jassy didn’t say how many people would be laid off or when, but noted that there would be “reductions in our Stores and PXT [people, experience and technology] organizations.” He added that the company will inform impacted employees well before any layoffs are made public. 

On Wednesday, the head of Amazon’s hardware division, Dave Limp, said that the company would consolidate team and “some roles will no longer be required.” According to a report in The New York Times, as many as 10,000 jobs could be cut as a result of the changes. The company said it would extend voluntary buyouts and provide employees with “a package that includes a separation payment, transitional benefits, and external job placement support.” Some workers may also be able to find different roles within the company.

Amazon is the latest tech giant to implement mass layoffs over the last few weeks. Meta cut 11,000 jobs last week, its first-ever mass-layoffs, and Twitter recently laid off about half its staff and cut thousands of contractor jobs. In addition, a large number of Twitter employees reportedly left the company following the deadline of Elon Musk’s “hardcore” ultimatum. 

 

Internet service providers (ISP) will soon have to be a lot more transparent with what their plans come with and how much they truly cost. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced new rules that will require ISPs to display easy-to-read-and-understand labels that show key facts about their products at the point of sale. These labels will resemble the nutrition labels at the back of food products and should include, among other things, the price, speed, data allowances and other aspects of a company’s wired and wireless internet services.

In a statement, FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel said that by requiring the companies to display their rates clearly, the agency is “seeking to end the kind of unexpected fees and junk costs that can get buried in long and mind-numbingly confusing statements of terms and conditions.” As you can see in the FCC’s example above, providers will have to itemize each one-time and monthly fee you’ll have to pay.

The FCC will require providers to prominently display these labels on their main purchasing pages, and in close proximity to an associated plan advertisement. They can’t be hidden behind multiple clicks and can’t be camouflaged by other elements in the page that they’ll likely be missed. The labels also need to be accessible from your customer account portal, and the provider must give you a copy when you ask. Further, the FCC is requiring the broadband companies to make the labels machine readable, so that third-party developers can easily create tools that would make it easier to compare ISPs.

The commission proposed rules for broadband labels back in January in response to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Biden signed into law last year. After the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act reviews and approves the FCC’s requirements, ISPs will have six months (or a year, if they’re a smaller company) to comply. 

 

Elon Musk is now facing a new crisis at Twitter as a wave of employees seemed to reject his ultimatum of an “extremely hardcore” Twitter 2.0 or leave the company. Hours after a deadline for workers to check “yes” on a Google form accepting “long hours at high intensity, it seems a large number of employees have rejected Musk’s vision.

Exactly how many employees opted for severance over remaining at Twitter isn’t yet clear. The New York Timesreported the number was in the “hundreds,” while other early reports suggest the number could be much higher. The departures come after Musk already cut 50 percent of Twitter’s jobs in mass layoffs.

On Twitter, dozens of Twitter employees who had survived the initial round of layoffs tweeted farewell messages. One employee tweeted a video of a group of workers inside Twitter’s office counting down to the 5pm ET deadline on Musk’s ultimatum. “We’re all about to get fired,” he said.

Others tweeted messages alluding to Musk’s policies. In his Wednesday morning message, Musk had said that “only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

As the deadline approached, Musk reportedly grew concerned about how many remaining employees could leave the company. In a new memo, he appeared to walk back some of his earlier comments banning all remote work, though he still said he would fire managers if remote workers on their teams weren’t performing.

But it seems the concession wasn’t enough for many at Twitter Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer reported Thursday that Musk and his lieutenants were struggling to figure out just how many employees had declined to check the “yes” box on his Google form, and that Twitter would be closing down access to its offices for a few days as an extra precaution.

The departures raise new questions about whether the remaining Twitter engineers will be able to reliably keep the service up and running. Current and former employees are already speculating that the latest exodus could further put Twitter’s ability to function at risk, especially with the start of the World Cup a few days away.

Twitter no longer has communications staff, but Musk so far hasn’t publicly commented on the resignations.

 

Elon Musk is changing Twitter’s remote work rules yet again amid deadline for employees to commit to his vision for a “hardcore” company. Musk, who previously banned remote work at Twitter, has now indicated that some remote work is possible, Bloomberg and The Verge report.

“Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution,” Musk wrote in a new memo to Twitter staff. He added that teams should be meeting in person at least once a month though weekly meetings are “ideal.”

Musk’s latest comments on remote work come one day after Twitter employees were told they had to agree they “want to be part of the new Twitter” where the expectation will be “long hours at high intensity.” Workers who wouldn’t check the “yes” box on the accompanying Google Form would be provided severance.

Now, it seems Musk is concerned that not enough employees are buying into his vision of an“extremely hardcore” Twitter. Bloomberg reports that Musk has been pitching “key employees” on his plans and that he has tapped other leaders “to convince employees to stay” on at the company.

But while the allowance of some remote work may seem like a victory for Twitter employees, who have enjoyed a “work from anywhere” policy for more than two years, Musk made it clear that he was more than willing to punish managers for remote employees who fall short of his expectations. “At risk of stating the obvious, any manager who falsely claims that someone reporting to them is doing excellent work or that a given role is essential, whether remote or not, will be exited from the company,” he wrote.

Since Musk took over Twitter, the employees who survived the initial job cuts have faced growing uncertainty and mounting pressure as the new CEO has prioritized features like paid verification. Esther Crawford, a Twitter manager who has been leading the revamped Twitter Blue, tweeted a photo of herself sleeping on the floor of a Twitter conference room in the days immediately after Musk’s takeover.

But not everyone has been as willing, or able, to adapt to Musk’s demands. And a Twitter lawyer recently told other employees that Musk’s requirement for workers to show up in the office or get fired might be illegal. Now, it seems at least one former employee is testing that notion, and has filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk’s new policies are discriminatory against workers with disabilities.

 

A group of Democratic senators have asked the FTC to investigate Elon Musk over his handling of users’ privacy and security in the wake of his takeover of Twitter. In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the senators cite Musk’s botched rollout of Twitter Blue’s paid verifications, as well as the departures of Twitter’s top privacy and security executives.

The letter, signed by seven senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal, follows a widely-publicized warning from a lawyer at Twitter that Musk could be exposing the company to billions of dollars in fines from the FTC.

“In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the safety and integrity of the platform,” the senators write, noting that his actions “could already represent a violation of the FTC’s consent decree.” Under the terms of a 2011 agreement with the FTC, Twitter is required to review new features for potential privacy issues and regularly send reports to the FTC. The recent departures of top pirivacy and security executives came just ahead of a deadline to send one of those reports, according toThe New York Times.

In their letter, the senators write that the FCC should investigate Musk and other executives’ actions. “We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breached or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate,” they write.

It’s unclear if the FTC plans to launch such an investigation, but an FTC spokesperson said last week that the agency was “tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” according toCNBC.

 

US law enforcement isn’t just interested in shutting down video pirates. The feds have charged two Russian nationals, Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova, for allegedly running the pirate e-book repository Z-Library. The site was billed as the “world’s largest library” and held over 11 million titles, many of which were bootleg versions stripped of copyright protections.

The pair was arrested in Cordoba, Argentina at the US’ request on November 3rd. The American government disabled and seized the public Z-Library site at the same time. Napolsky and Ermakova each face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and wire fraud.

As TorrentFreakexplains, it’s not clear how central Ermakova and Napolsky were to Z-Library. While the indictments only cover activity starting in January 2018, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll said the two had been running a pirate site for “over a decade.” Z-Library is still accessible on the dark web and responding to email.

The pirate bookshelf’s social media presence contributed to its undoing. Ars Technicanotes The Authors Guild complained to the Office of the United States Trade Representative after a “#zlibrary” hashtag started trending on TikTok, with over 19 million views. Students and other users were touting Z-Library as a way to get textbooks and other course material for free.

As with many pirate site shutdowns, this isn’t likely to be a permanent blow. The Authors Guild pointed to alternatives like Libgen when it filed its complaint, and Z-Library itself is carrying on in a limited form. It’s a high-profile victory for the anti-piracy camp, however, and suggests that other digital book pirates could face similar legal action.

 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Dead Island 2 will arrive later than expected. The zombie-smashing game re-emerged in August with a trailer, gameplay video and a firm release date of February 3rd. As it turns out, that release date was actually malleable. Publisher Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studios have pushed Dead Island 2 back to April 28th.

“The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are,” a note on the game’s Twitter account reads. “The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now. We’re going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we’re proud to launch.”

Dead Island 2 was announced all the way back in 2014. The project has twice moved to a different studio, with Dambuster taking over in 2019, and it’s finally coming to fruition.

The sequel to 2011’s Dead Island will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and the Epic Games Store, and it will be the first game to use an Alexa-powered voice command feature. You’ll be able to find out some more details about the game during a showcase on December 6th. The livestream will be available on YouTube, Twitch and the Dead Island website.

 

In the latest example of what seems like daily Big Tech job cuts, Roku announced plans today to lay off around 200 employees, nearly seven percent of its workforce. The streaming company wrote in an SEC filing that it plans to cut the jobs in the US due to “economic conditions.” The company estimates it will pay between $28 and $31 million for the reductions, primarily because of severance payments, notice pay (where applicable), employee benefits contributions and related costs.

Roku says most of the layoffs will happen in Q4, with the remaining cuts expected to be “substantially complete” by the end of Q1 2023. In a statement released today, Roku said, “Taking these actions now will allow us to focus our investments on key strategic priorities to drive future growth and enhance our leadership position.”

These layoffs follow a warning from Roku in its latest quarterly results that it anticipates a year-over-year revenue decline for Q4. The company’s shares dropped almost three percent today in trading before the bell.

Big Tech job cuts have become an unfortunate trend in recent months. Roku’s layoffs follow downsizing from Meta, which laid off 11,000 employees last week; Twitter, which cut approximately 3,800 jobs earlier this month; plus Amazon and Microsoft. Although Apple has so far remained an exception, it imposed a hiring freeze expected to continue into late 2023. Likewise, Disney is reportedly freezing hiring and anticipating cuts, while Netflix laid off around 300 people back in June. Streaming-focused companies — Roku included — have faced the dual challenges of an uncertain economy and a revenue decline following a boom during the coronavirus pandemic.