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The Chinese startup Greater Bay Technology claims its latest EV battery can charge at normal speeds even in cold temperatures. Huang Xiangdong, co-founder and chairman, says the company’s new Phoenix cell uses superconducting materials and thermal management to heat from -4F to 77F in only five minutes, allowing the battery to charge “within six minutes in all weather conditions,” according toBloomberg. “The Phoenix battery not only addresses the long charging time for EVs, but other pain points,” Huang said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a hot day or a cold day, the Phoenix battery’s range won’t be affected.”

A loss of charging efficiency in cold weather has been a persistent obstacle in the EV battery space. Other automakers, including Polestar and GM, have tackled the problem by adding heat pumps — and German company ZF even prototyped a heated seat belt (or “heat belt”) to reduce the energy used for cabin heating.

The new Phoenix cell allegedly has a range of 1,000 km (621 miles). The company expects to launch the battery to the public next year in electric vehicles from Aion, China’s third most popular EV brand. (Aion falls under the umbrella of the state-owned Guangzhou Automobile Corporation, which Greater Bay Technology is incubated within.) In addition, Greater Bay Technology is reportedly “in talks with other carmakers to use the cell.” Summarizing Huang’s long-term vision, he said, “Once EVs can be driven and maintained like gasoline cars, then there’s a greater chance for mass adoption.”

Greater Bay Technology is a two-year-old startup valued at over $1 billion. Its first-generation battery is an extreme fast-charging cell currently equipped in Aion’s V Plus electric SUV.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chinese-startup-says-its-new-ev-battery-doesnt-lose-range-in-the-cold-164149959.html?src=rss 

Until now, you’ve had to buy a Seagate card if you wanted to augment the fast internal storage of your Xbox Series X or S. Now, however, you have a slightly more affordable option. Western Digital has released a WD Black C50 expansion card line that starts at $80 for a 500GB model. That’s $10 less than the recently price-cut Seagate equivalent, and easier to justify if you only need room for a few extra games. A 1TB card sells for the same $150 as its comparably-sized rival.

You’ll need one of these proprietary add-ons if you want to add space for ready-to-play Xbox Series X/S games, which require solid-state drive cards that are as quick as the SSD built into the console. Conventional external USB drives can only be used to archive games or play Xbox One titles. That’s fine if you only have a handful of active games at a time, but you’ll want an Xbox-native card if you want access to many titles at short notice.

These cards are still costlier than the NVMe SSDs you can buy for a PlayStation 5. However, the price gap is now small enough that the storage format probably won’t affect your choice of system. It’s only an issue if you want 2TB of additional capacity. Western Digital doesn’t offer a 2TB C50 card, and Seagate’s $280 Xbox option is decidedly more expensive than PS5 options like Sabrent’s $160 NVMe drive.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/western-digitals-first-xbox-series-xs-storage-cards-start-at-80-171723507.html?src=rss 

Apple is supposed to release an iOS 17 public beta in July, but the company inadvertently gave users an early peek. As AppleInsiderexplains, Connor Jewiss and other users have noticed that the iOS 17 developer beta was available to install in the Beta Updates section of Settings whether or not you paid for the necessary account. The macOS Sonoma and watchOS 10 previews have been available this way, too. 

We wouldn’t count on any of the developer betas being available as we write this. As it is, you likely won’t want to install them. These are the first pre-release versions available to people outside of Apple, and they’re the most likely to include bugs and app compatibility issues. That could cause problems if you install them on must-have devices. Unless you’re a developer who wants to start preparing app updates, you’re probably better off waiting until either the public beta or the finished version releases this fall.

iOS 17 is an iterative upgrade, but it adds more than a few features you might appreciate, such as live voicemail transcripts, easier sharing, more intelligent autocorrection and a journaling app. MacOS Sonoma adds perks like desktop widgets, Safari privacy updates and a Game Mode, while watchOS 10 is a significant revamp that centers on quick-glance widgets. For the most part, there’s no rush to try them right away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-accidentally-released-the-ios-17-developer-beta-to-the-public-155233150.html?src=rss 

On the heels of Apple’s WWDC announcement of a brand new MacBook Air, B&H is now selling last year’s model for an all-time low price. The base configuration of the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip is currently $999 in either the Silver or Midnight colorway. It’s just $50 more for Starlight or Space Gray, which is still a pretty great deal. The base model has 8GB of RAM and 256GM of storage, along with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU on the M2 chip. 

During yesterday’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote, Apple revealed the new 15-inch MacBook Air, which you can pre-order now. But if you don’t need a 15-inch screen, you can get the same M2 chip in the 13-inch model — and save $300 over the larger laptop’s price, thanks to this deal. Apple did announce a lower base price for last year’s laptop, and you can now get it from most retailers for $1,099, but B&H Photo is taking things a step further with an all-time low $999 price. 

The 2022 MacBook Air is our current favorite laptop overall thanks to the excellent performance of Apple’s own M2 processor and the impressive 16-hour battery life — all in a machine that’s highly portable at just 2.7 pounds. Our senior editor Devindra Hardawar called the machine a “near-perfect Mac” in his review, praising the “gorgeous” redesign, the great speakers and the speedy performance of the M2 chip. 

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-13-inch-macbook-air-m2-drops-to-a-record-low-of-999-160029560.html?src=rss 

Ubisoft is bringing its guitar-learning app to mobile devices this week. Rocksmith+ will be available on iOS and Android on June 9th, nine months after the service landed on PC. The company previously said the mobile app would arrive last fall. Meanwhile, there’s still no word on when the Xbox and PlayStation versions will be available.

Rocksmith+ is designed to help folks learn how to play the electric, acoustic or bass guitar. Features include note detection, real-time feedback and practice tools. There are now more than 6,000 songs in the library, with more being added each month.

You’ll need a subscription to use Rocksmith+. It costs $15 for one month, $40 for three months and $100 for a year. There is a seven-day trial available, but you’ll need to sign up for the annual plan and swiftly cancel if you don’t want to keep using the app after the first week.

Ubisoft also offers a free guitar tuning app on iOS and Android. You can connect your instrument directly or use your mobile device’s microphone to make sure you’re in tune. The app has more than 30 presets, so it can help you try a variety of non-standard tunings.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisofts-rocksmith-guitar-learning-app-is-finally-coming-to-ios-and-android-on-june-9th-161519215.html?src=rss