Category: Technology

It’s almost time for the 2023 edition of the week-long Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) speedrunning marathon. This year’s event takes place between January 8th and January 15th. As ever, AGDQ will showcase a bunch of skilled players racing to finish games as quickly as they can. Runners will go head-to-head in some games and we might see world records being broken too.

For the third year in a row, AGDQ will take place entirely online. The event was scheduled to take place in Florida with a live audience, but organizers decided against that plan due to the state’s “continued disregard for COVID-19’s dangers (including anti-mandate vaccination policies) and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals.” They said that “we do not believe it is a safe place for our community at this time,” but relocating to a “safer location” wasn’t financially feasible. That means speedrunners won’t have an in-person crowd to cheer them on.

As always, the schedule is full of some intriguing runs. Stray, Cult of the Lamb and Neon White (a game that’s all about speedrunning) are among the recent titles making their first appearances at AGDQ. A bunch of fan-favorite games are in the mix too, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Cuphead and Portal.

I’m looking forward to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge run, as well as watching a crew of six players cleaning a bunch of vehicles in PowerWash Simulator as quickly as possible. I’m also curious about a run for a game called I’m going to die if I don’t eat sushi!, which I simply had to buy after seeing it on the schedule. Unless it’s added as a bonus game, though, there’s no Elden Ring this time around.

AGDQ is once again raising funds for Prevent Cancer Foundation. The 2022 edition brought in a record $3.4 million for that cause. AGDQ and its sibling event, Summer Games Done Quick, have raised more than $41 million for charity since 2010.

The latest marathon will commence at noon ET on Sunday with an any-percent run of Splatoon 3 (meaning the player can take advantage of glitches). You’ll be able to watch the entire event on Twitch via the Games Done Quick channel. The stream is embedded below too. If you miss a run or can’t watch AGDQ live, you’ll be able to catch up on the GDQ YouTube channel.

 

Dolby Atmos for cars was first announced for the Lucid Air and select Mercedes models in 2021. But with the immersive audio making it to luxury automobiles in the US last month, the company is showing off the setup here at CES 2023 with in-car demos. We got our first listening session in the backseat of a Mercedes-Maybach S 580. 

First, let me explain a bit about the car. This Maybach is equipped with a Burmester 4D sound system with 30 total speakers, six of which are in the ceiling. Think of those as playing the role of upfiring drivers in your Atmos soundbar. Amplifiers deliver 1,750 watts of power and both front- and trunk-mounted subs handle the bass (the trunk sub has its own 400-watt amp too). It’s a completely insane setup installed in a $185,000 car.

The immersive sound is so impressive, it even manages to upstage its lavish setting. It’s great for pop tunes like The Weeknd, but much like an Atmos system in your home, the in-car version really shines with genres like jazz. When listening to “So What” from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, it felt like I was in a club. In the backseat, the drums were to my right while the horns were up by the driver and so on. The sensation was like sitting in the middle of all the musicians while they did their thing. As someone who has tested several Atmos home theater setups, I was still surprised by the results here. Of course, this is a crazy sound system in high-end luxury car, likely the best iteration of this type of Dolby automotive collab.

Right now, the bulk of the content is audio. Simply link your streaming service of choice, so long as it offers Dolby Atmos Music spatial audio, and you’re all set. The infotainment system in the Maybach had all of the compatible tunes clearly labeled as to which were Atmos. Dolby says there are some companies offering a/v uses, so movies and shows with the immersive audio would sync up with an in-car setup just fine. The company’s senior vice president of entertainment John Couling explained during the demo that he anticipated people would watch movies mapped in Dolby Atmos while their EV charged, for example.

Dolby says Atmos was designed to be scalable from the start, so just like it has for soundbars, the audio platform can be configured for more run-of-the-mill speaker setups in more affordable cars. We’re talking four-channel, six-speaker arrangements. It wasn’t so long ago that Atmos was reserved for only premium soundbars and now it’s available on things like the Sonos Beam via virtualization. So even though a family car or minivan may not have the ceiling-mounted overhead speakers a Mercedes does, immersive audio won’t be out of the question. Much like it’s interesting to see how more budget-friendly speakers handle Atmos, I’m looking forward to hearing what a virtualized version sounds like in a Honda Civic. 

Dolby Atmos is currently available on the Lucid Air and Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, as well as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, EQE, EQE SUV, EQS and EQS SUV. Volvo has already announced that Atmos will be available on the Bowers & Wilkins sound system in the EX90 SUV. The EV will be the first Volvo to have Dolby’s immersive audio inside. The Polestar 3 also packs an Atmos-equipped Bowers & Wilkins setup and it’s due to arrive later this year. The Plus pack specifically includes a 25-speaker system for this task. Lotus has also announced a collaboration with Dolby, bringing Atmos to the KEF setup inside the Eletre EV that’s due to debut in 2024. 

 

Humans, we’re a sociable bunch. To that end, we’re pre-programmed to develop technology that helps us stay connected with others. Sometimes, though, the connection can be with the technology itself. Enter Loona, the adorable pet robot that will either melt your heart or, at the very least, serve as a loyal smart home companion (or hopefully both).

Loona appears to be the exact halfway point between the adorableness of Anki’s Cozmo and Amazon’s high-end Astro homebot. There’s definitely a focus on younger users here, but kids of “all ages” might find themselves sucked in by her charms. Loona has apparently also been designed to interact well with any analog pets you may already have.

Armed with a 3D camera and edge sensors for navigating your home, Loona also has a regular camera for face detection and object recognition. There are four microphones that provide Loona the ability to locate you as you beckon her and touch sensors so she’ll lean into your head-strokes with eerily biological authenticity. At launch it’ll respond to a slew of verbal commands and gestures, and the company claims new ones will continuously be added. There will also be a graphical programming tool so you can create your own interactions and a community to share them with.

One of the more endearing features is Loona’s expressive personality. Loona’s digital eyes are surprisingly articulate and feel like they are right out of a Disney movie. The company indicated that there could also be the option to add custom expressions and emotions further down the line.

Beyond being a digital pet, Loona can also double as a home security and monitoring system. The benefit being you can direct her around your abode and find where your IRL cat is hiding unlike static pet-cams where you (and I say this from experience) might ruin a weekend away driving back because you haven’t seen your cat appear for two whole days and you’re worried but it turns out she was just sleeping in one spot the entire time. With Loona, not a problem.

Loona was originally launched on Kickstarter securing over three million dollars in backing which, if nothing else, shows that there’s a lot of interest in this category. The robots are now shipping to backers with general availability on track for the end of this month at the company’s website where it will retail for $449. If you’re extra keen you can pick one up now via the Kickstarter page for $359.

 

The Federal Communications Commission isn’t done dragging data breach policy into the modern era. The agency has proposed rules that would improve reporting for breaches at carriers. Most notably, the move would scrap a mandatory wait of seven business days before a telecom can warn customers about a security incident. Hackers would have a shorter window of opportunity to abuse your data without your knowledge, to put it another way.

The proposal would also clarify that carriers must notify the FCC, FBI and Secret Service of any reportable data breaches. Providers would likewise have to alert customers to inadvertent breaches, such as leaving account info exposed. The Commission is simultaneously asking for public input on whether or not breach alerts should include specific information to help people take action. such as the nature of the compromised data.

The FCC isn’t shy about its reasoning behind the tentative rule change. The existing rules are more than 15 years old, and are reportedly “out-of-step” at a time where it’s frequently vital to notify victims and authorities as quickly as possible. In theory, telecoms will warn users sooner and reduce the chances of identity fraud and follow-up hacks. This won’t guarantee timely alerts, but it could minimize the damage for both customers and the networks’ bottom line. It’s also more consistent with other laws on breach reporting, particularly in states like California.

There are potential problems. The proposed rule change would let federal agencies delay customer warnings for an initial period of up to 30 days if the notice might jeopardize a criminal investigation or national security. That could put the general public at risk. The FCC is also wondering whether or not there should be a ceiling on the notification period, and whether smaller carriers should get more time to report intrusions. Public comments (open 30 days after the proposal reaches the Federal Register) may help shape these rules, but there’s no guarantee the end result will address every concern.

 

CES is on! This week, Devindra and UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith chat about some of the biggest news from the show, including massive upgrades for laptops, wild new TV concepts and two different pee analyzers! As usual, CES is a mix of major news and random weirdness. Senior Editor Karissa Bell also joins to give us her perspective on the ground at the show.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

What to look for at CES 2023 – 1:36

PC hardware: Intel and AMD release mobile chips, NVIDIA’s 4090 will be in laptops – 3:53

TVs and home theater tech at CES – 21:03

Displace’s OLED TV will suction mount to your wall – 24:43

Accessibility at CES: L’Oréal’s motorized lipstick applicator and Sony’s Project Leonardo PS5 gamepad –49:28

Weird stuff: Why were there two different pee analyzers at CES? – 51:25

Other news – 1:05:52

Karissa Bell’s in-person CES experience – 1:08:24

Pop culture picks – 1:15:50

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Mat Smith and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Karissa Bell
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

 

To be clear, I still own a car. While I might wish I were hardcore enough to live car-free, I’m not. But instead of owning two or more vehicles (like most American households do), my family now just has one. We bought the RadRunner Plus from Rad Power Bikes after we sold our second car, but I should note that two factors made that move feasible: My husband and I both started working from home, and we moved to a neighborhood that’s only a three-minute walk from our kid’s school. So if I feel a touch of pride in swapping a car for an e-bike, I realize I’m in a fortunate situation that doesn’t apply to everyone.

That said, this bike is rad. It’s fun to ride, it can carry a lot of cargo and takes on hills with seemingly zero effort. I feel like what keeps more people from adopting the bike as a routine form of transport are sweatiness and cargo space. No one wants to show up wherever they’re going looking like they just got out of a sauna, and most of us need to carry around more stuff than what fits in a small bag. The RadRunner solves both issues. If you don’t want to pedal a single stroke, the throttle and 750-watt motor will oblige. If you need space for your kid, your coffee and a bag of groceries, you can configure the bike to handle them all at once (though the accessories are going to cost you).

Rad Power offers three cargo bikes: the RadRunner 2, the RadRunner Plus and the RadWagon. They all have a 45-mile range, a 750-watt motor and an integrated rear rack. The Runner 2 and the Runner Plus are the same size, while the Wagon has an extended (and noticeable) rear rack. When I was first thinking about investing in an electric bike, I saw someone riding one around town with a huge orange rear rack that provided enough room for two school-age kids on the passenger seat. Turns out that was a RadWagon, and while I ultimately went for the smaller Plus model, I’m glad that my Wagon sighting led me to investigate the brand further.

The decision to go for the smaller model was easy (I don’t have two kids or carry all that much stuff), but deciding between the RadRunner 2 and the RadRunner Plus was a little tougher. The former costs $1,500, which is expensive enough, and the Plus adds another $400 to the sticker price. The biggest difference is probably the drivetrain, with a single speed on the Runner 2 and seven speeds on the Plus. The Plus also comes with a cushioned back seat, fenders, an improved headlamp and a control panel with a display that includes an odometer, current speed, battery life and pedal assist levels (the control panel on the 2 doesn’t have a display). The Plus also comes in silver, and it’s very possible that color was the final deciding factor for me.

Before pushing the buy button, I did take a cursory glance at other brands, but no one else seemed to match the level of enthusiasm Rad Power owners put into their reviews. I also liked the large number of accessories they offer. (I’m a sucker for accessories.) Case in point, I bought the front basket, the center console and a basic milk crate and some bolts from Amazon for the back basket, since Rad Power seems to always be out of theirs. I haven’t installed the front basket yet (it requires some light brake rewiring and I just haven’t gotten around to it). The center console is cool, especially the cup holder part, but it negates the sideways step-in benefit of the moped-style frame, so I don’t use it often. So far, the rear milk crate is what I get the most use out of. For kid transport, I got the Thule kid’s seat which fits kids up to 40 pounds, and a grab bar to use with the padded passenger seat once he outgrows the Thule.

Assembly is straightforward with an easy video that walks you through installing the front tire, handlebars, headlight and seat. Rad Power recommends consulting a bike repair person to help, but that wasn’t necessary for me. I liked that the battery came charged enough to get a few rides in. After paying $1,800, it would have been a bummer to have to wait to play with my new toy.

Riding it takes a little adjustment if you’re accustomed to a manual road or gravel bike. First of all, your riding position changes. If you tend to adopt the aggressive, forward-leaning bike messenger position, it might feel a little odd to sit so upright. I’ll admit I felt a little “uncool” the first time I rode it. But that feeling disappeared once I started thinking of the Plus as a moped rather than a bike – more like Roman Holiday, less like Miss Gulch.

The motor kicks in after a half turn of the pedals and you can increase your pedal assist from the light push of a level one to a very zippy level four. There’s also the throttle, which pushes you along with zero pedaling on your part. I find that I use the throttle most after coming to a full stop, particularly at intersections. It engages immediately and quickly propels the bike forward, getting me across traffic safely, with none of the slow start up you have to muscle through on a regular bike. Once going, I mostly rely on pedal assist levels two and three to keep the pace. One thing I noticed is that this bike does not coast. That’s not surprising as it weighs over 75 pounds and has 3.3-inch wide tires, but pedaling more or less constantly made me modify my riding style.

Turns are a little different as well. Where you might feel like a cohesive unit on a road bike, leaning into the turns Tour de France-style, on the Plus, turns are a two-step process: you turn the wheel, then you go in that direction. I was a little wobbly at first but here, too, I got the hang of it. With all that power behind you, it’s nice to know the brakes are solid. There were times when I got going around 25 miles per hour, and the brakes brought me to a stop in a way I felt was safe. I should note that after you reach 20 miles per hour, you won’t get any sort of motor assist. That’s because Rad Power bikes are limited to comply with the legal limits for e-bikes in many states.

In the end, the little differences are just things to get used to, and I got acclimated pretty quickly – especially when facing a 250-foot elevation gain over the course of a ride. I was a little disappointed when I realized the 300-pound weight limit means that my husband and I will never be able to ride the same bike together. Given that I don’t know many couples with a combined weight of under 300 pounds, I feel like this might be true for many adults over 30. Still, this bike has opened up an ideal alternate form of transportation, one in which I can carry lots of cargo plus a kid, while getting only minimally sweaty.

 

The CES conveyor belt of PCs doesn’t let up. Lenovo has been busy. Let’s start with its latest YogaBook, the dual-screen YogaBook 9i. Instead of folding like a conventional laptop, this… thing unfurls a screen atop another, with a slimline keyboard at the bottom. Thankfully, as well as the keyboard and stylus accessories, there’s a kickstand to ensure those two 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED displays stay in place. There’s an incredible amount of flexibility here. You can have the screens unfolded like a book, stacked atop each other or as a classic laptop, with the lower screen showing the keyboard.

Then there’s the $400 Smart Paper tablet. An unashamed stab at rivaling Amazon’s Scribe e-ink tablet, there’s a screen to write and annotate on and a battery-less stylus you can holster in the case. There are nine pen settings (such as pencil, ballpoint and marker) and over 4,000 pressure sensitivity levels to ensure your sketches come out as you intended. Lenovo’s Smart Paper can convert your handwriting into text, and you can use keyword searches to find what you’re looking for – something Amazon’s version lacks. Conversely, though, Lenovo won’t have the library of Kindle books to scribble notes on – these are two distinct offerings.

Oh, you wanted a twist? Well, Lenovo isn’t done: It also revealed a new ThinkBook Plus that twists and turns to switch between e-ink and OLED screens. In short, it’s a bit of both. Check out our full impressions and spec rundowns here. We’ll be back Monday with more CES coverage, including Engadget’s Best of CES winners.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Ring offers a first look at its home security drone

The Always Home Cam appeared at CES 2023.

Back in 2020, Ring showed off a concept home drone. Now it’s getting closer to patrolling the homes of anxious types. The mini drone zooms around your home, scouting for intruders when you’re not there. The entire device, including the dock, looks more like a kitchen gadget than a security drone. The Always Home Cam makes that drone-ish hum – don’t expect it to sneak up on any trespassers – and you train it by holding it (without obscuring the camera) and walking around your home in flight paths. There’s also the option to set multiple paths and waypoints. Ring still hasn’t announced a release date or a price.

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ThinkPhone hands-on: Moto’s attempt to woo big business

The main improvements are durability and security.

While Lenovo has been a huge force in the enterprise laptop space thanks to its long line of ThinkPads and ThinkBooks, Motorola is attempting to bring a similar aura to its newest mobile device: the ThinkPhone by Motorola. With an aramid fiber weave back, it certainly looks the part. The big question is: Do people want a phone that matches their work laptop? And will people be willing to choose the ThinkPhone over the usual Apple and Samsung suspects?

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Stellantis reveals its Ram 1500 EV concept truck

The concept will serve as a design template for upcoming production vehicles.

There’s finally an electric Ram truck – or at least a concept of one. Stellantis, an automaker with a stable of more than a dozen North American and European brands, including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Maserati and Fiat, has extremely ambitious goals to make 100 percent of its European sales and half of its US sales fully electric vehicles. The company hasn’t revealed the battery size yet for this concept truck, but it did confirm the system will use an 800V architecture enabling it to add up to 100 miles of range in about 10 minutes on a 350 kW DC fast charger.

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Goodyear shows off 90 percent sustainable tires at CES 2023

The prototypes have reportedly passed Department of Transportation testing.

Goodyear is back with an improved sustainable tire prototype – 90 percent sustainable materials – a full 20 percent improvement over last year. The company says the 90-percent blend has already passed Department of Transportation testing, approving it for road use. The 90 percent tires reportedly offer a lower rolling resistance compared to the company’s reference tires, which translates as better gas mileage and longer EV ranges.

The company is still working with its supply chain partners to secure sufficient precursor materials to produce them at a commercial scale and even plans to have a fully sustainable blend by 2030. The new materials include four types of carbon black made of both organic and inorganic sources: soybean oil and rice husk silica, post-consumer polyester and bio-renewable pine tar resins.

Continue reading.

 

In a few days, the first orbital space flight taking off from UK soil might be launching from Spaceport Cornwell. Virgin Orbit has announced that the initial window for its historic “Start Me Up” mission will open on January 9th, Monday, at 22:16 UTC (5:15PM Eastern Time). If the launch needs to be pushed back due to technical issues or inclement weather conditions, the company has back-up dates lined up throughout the month. 

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved the licenses Virgin Orbit needs to perform launch activities in the UK back in December, following its approval of Spaceport Cornwall’s first launch license. Virgin Orbit is working with the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), Cornwall Council and the Royal Air Force for this mission. 

Seeing as Start Me Up is the “first” in several ways — it’s also the first international launch for Virgin Orbit, as well as the first commercial launch from western Europe — the private space corp said it will “maintain a conservative posture with regard to system health, weather, and all other elements of scheduling.” That ups the probability of a delay, unless everything falls into place for Virgin Orbit on Monday. Even so, the LauncherOne orbital launch vehicle that will be used for this mission is now attached to Cosmic Girl, the Boeing 747 aircraft that will serve as its first stage launch platform. The company had to transport LauncherOne, which was manufactured in Long Beach, California, to the UK to make the journey possible.

In addition to making history, the mission will ferry satellites from seven customers, both commercial and government, to orbit. Its payload include CIRCE (Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment), which is a joint project between the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and the US Naval Research Laboratory, and two CubeSats for the UK Ministry of Defense’s Prometheus-2 initiative.

 

When Tesla started offering a yoke steering wheel in Model X and Model S EVs, CEO Elon Musk rejected the idea of a more conventional option. Now, the company has indeed brought back the round steering wheel as an option in the configurator, Electrek has reported. Selecting it doesn’t appear to change the price or delivery time.

If you already bought a Tesla Model S or X with a yoke and don’t like it, you have options, too. As pointed out by YouTuber and Tesla owner Marques Brownlee, the company is now offering a $700 option to replace the yoke with a round steering wheel. “This retrofit is only compatible with Model S and Model X vehicles configured with a Yoke Steering Wheel. Purchase price includes installation through Tesla Service,” Tesla notes. It adds that the wheel has “no stalks or shifters.”

The yoke divided Tesla fans, as many felt it wasn’t practical for one-handed use and that it was awkward when driving at slow speeds. It was also deemed potentially unsafe by some owners in case you needed to do quick maneuvers like a skid recovery.

When the yoke came along, Tesla also replaced all the stalks with force touch buttons, another thing some drivers weren’t crazy about. As mentioned though, the new wheel option doesn’t have any stalks or shifters either, and the design appears to be based on the yoke in terms of spoke positioning, buttons, etc. 

When asked in a tweet in 2021 if Tesla would offer a round steering wheel as an option to the yoke, he replied simply “No.” He went on to explain that “yet another round wheel is boring & blocks the screen. FSD in panoramic mode looks way better with a yoke.” Apparently, there were enough potential buyers who felt otherwise.

 

Delta is introducing free WiFi on around 80 percent of its domestic US flights starting on February 1st, 2023, confirming rumors from late last year. The service, available through a T-Mobile sponsorship, will come to 700 planes by the end of the year and on regional and international aircraft by the end of 2024. “It’s going to be free. It’s going to be fast. And it’s going to be available to everyone,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian at CES 2023.

Travelers will need to use their Delta SkyMiles information to log in for access, but getting an account is free. The company announced last year that it would be upgrading more planes using Viasat as a provider. It has been charging a $5 flat fee for WiFi to date. 

Apart from any profit motive, airlines have been slow to introduce free WiFi over concerns that the systems wouldn’t be fast enough to accommodate hundreds of people at once. Delta has been working on the system since 2018, with the eventual goal to offer free WiFi. 

“We didn’t just want free Wi-Fi to offer base-level service – we wanted it to be transformative for the entire onboard experience,” he said. “It is imperative all customers onboard can enjoy their favorite content just as they would at home, and we’ve put this system through meticulous tests to make that possible.”

Jetblue also offers free WiFi via corporate sponsorship, but Southwest, United, American and other airlines charge fees, usually in the $8 to $10 range. American has recently been trialing free WiFi for certain customers. 

Delta also announced that it will unveil new in-flight entertainment systems starting this summer, with user preferences traveling from “flight to flight… even where you left off on a movie,” according to the press release.