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FedEx is planning to launch an ecommerce platform called “fdx” later this year. The shipping company announced the move on Sunday, describing fdx as an end-to-end online shopping hub that aims to provide sellers with solutions for everything from reaching potential customers to order fulfillment and returns. Sounds… familiar. FedEx says it’s targeting fall 2024 for the official launch.

The details are so far pretty scant, but fdx is being billed as a “data-driven” platform that will use FedEx’s insights to optimize basically every part of the buying and selling process. From the get-go, sellers on fdx will have access to the existing network of customers on the ecommerce site ShopRunner, which FedEx owns, and customers will be able to see delivery estimates on products as they browse and add things to their carts, even before checkout. Sellers will be provided carbon emissions reports relating to their supply chain decisions, optimal shipping routes and more.

FedEx is calling fdx a “first-of-its-kind” platform, which sure seems like a stretch, but we’ll find out soon enough if it really has something uniquely enticing to offer. It’ll need to if FedEx wants to woo people out of Amazon’s chokehold.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fedex-is-building-its-own-all-in-one-ecommerce-platform-233624131.html?src=rss 

It looks like the Peregrine lunar lander’s final resting place will be back at home where it started. The doomed spacecraft, which experienced an anomaly shortly after launch and has been leaking propellant ever since, is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, Astrobotic wrote in an update on X this weekend. The company plans to host a press conference with NASA on Thursday January 18 at 12PM ET to discuss the lander’s fate.

Peregrine has so far hung on much longer than anyone thought it would after the leak was first detected on January 8, and Astrobotic has been posting round-the-clock status updates. The company days ago ruled out a soft landing on the moon’s surface, but there’s been some uncertainty about where exactly it’ll end up. Peregrine did manage to make it to lunar distance — reaching 238,000 miles from Earth on Friday and then 242,000 as of Saturday — but because of where the moon currently is in its orbit, nothing was there to meet it.

If all had gone according to plan, Peregrine would have met up with the moon about 15 days after launch, at which point it could begin the transition from Earth orbit to lunar orbit. It’s only been six days, and Peregrine’s dwindling fuel supply isn’t likely to carry it for nine more. “Our analysis efforts have been challenging due to the propellant leak, which have been adding uncertainty to predictions of the vehicle’s trajectory,” Astrobotic wrote in its most recent update on Saturday. “Our latest assessment now shows the spacecraft is on a path towards Earth, where it will likely burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.”

It was always a known risk that Peregrine Mission One might end this way; moon landings are notoriously hard. The commercial mission marked the first of those contracted under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, and in a briefing ahead of last week’s launch, NASA’s CLPS Program Manager Chris Culbert said, “We recognize that success cannot be ensured.” 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/peregrine-moon-lander-and-its-cargo-will-likely-burn-up-in-earths-atmosphere-204002942.html?src=rss 

We’re getting closer and closer to launch day for Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which means if you’re not yet sold on ordering one, you’ll soon be able to try it out in the store. But don’t expect the process to be quick and easy. In the Power On newsletter this week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says customers hoping for a demo will each have to go through face scans and the subsequent assembly of a custom Vision Pro, a walkthrough of the interface and all the controls, and device calibration — all before a 25-minute demonstration of the Vision Pro experience.

The Vision Pro is meant to sit just right on its wearer’s face, with multiple sizing options for the light seal, foam cushion and band. And Apple isn’t planning on taking the risk of an attempted universal fit for in-store demos, according to Gurman. In addition to face scans, employees will have a device to scan customers’ glasses to determine the right prescription for Vision Pro lenses. Each store “will have hundreds of lenses on hand for demos,” Gurman says, and employees will tag-team the process, with one on the floor taking customers’ details and another in the back handling assembly.

Some stores will have at least a dozen Vision Pro headsets around for people to try. During the actual demo, according to Gurman, users will be shown a series of normal, panorama and “spatial” photos, spatial videos, immersive experiences including a “scene that makes users feel as if they’re on a tightrope,” and a glimpse at what it will be like using the Vision Pro as a computer. Signups will start at 8AM local time on February 2.

If you’re just walking in to buy a Vision Pro, the process should be much simpler. You’ll have to go through the face scans — as will anyone ordering one online — and then all the correct pieces will be boxed up for you right there, Gurman says. There will also be multiple display-only units in each store, if you just want to take a look.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/if-you-want-to-demo-the-vision-pro-at-an-apple-store-prepare-to-be-there-a-while-172207401.html?src=rss