Blue Origin is still eager to grab headlines with spaceflight passengers even as it pushes some boundaries. Jeff Bezos’ outfit has revealed that its New Shepard mission on December 9th will be the first to carry a full six passengers into space, including Laura Shepard Churchley — that is, Alan Shepard’s daughter. You can also expect a swell of TV coverage with Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan also coming along for the ride.
Other passengers include Voyager Space chief Dylan Taylor, engineer and investor Evan Dick, venture capitalist Lane Bess and his child Cameron Bess (who will also be the first Twitch streamer to go to space). The launch is currently slated for 10AM Eastern on the 9th, with Blue Origin’s livestream starting 90 minutes earlier.
This 19th New Shepard flight could be considered a consolation prize following Blue Origin’s failed lawsuit disputing NASA’s SpaceX lunar lander contract. It should show that New Shepard can handle its full complement without a hitch, though, and takes the company one step closer to fulfilling ambitions that include New Glenn and a planned space station.
Amazon has announced
a preview release of its upcoming AL2022 distribution. The company plans
to support AL2022 for five years after its release.
AL2022 uses the Fedora project as its upstream to provide customers
with a wide variety of the latest software, such as updated
language runtimes, as part of quarterly releases. In addition,
AL2022 has SELinux enabled and enforced by default.
Last year, Polestar announced that it’s stunning Precept concept EV sedan would become a real production car. Now, the company has shown the first official images of the production version and confirmed that it will arrive in 2024 as the Polestar 5, Roadshow has reported.
Unlike many auto show concepts, the new vehicle strongly resembles the Precept that it’s based on. That includes the long wheelbase, “shark” nose, fastback design and geometric creasing. “It makes me very proud to see how much of the concept car’s design is making it into the Polestar 5,” said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath in a statement. It’s likely to use a version of parent Geely’s upcoming SPA2 EV platform also earmarked for the Polestar 3 SUV and next-generation Volvo XC90.
With the Polestar 5, the company has nearly fleshed out its EV lineup that includes the current Polestar 2, upcoming Polestar 3 SUV and the original Polestar 1, a PHEV that will no longer be produced after 2021. A Polestar 4 is also in the offing as a smaller crossover-style SUV that could be the analog of Volvo’s C40 Recharge, according to an Autocar report.
That will give it a product lineup roughly equivalent to Tesla, with a sedan, hatchback, crossover and SUV. Given Polestar’s design chops, and the excellent Polestar EV driving characteristics we’ve seen so far, it should be a formidable rival.
Given current memory pricing and extremely limited availability of DDR5 memory modules, many Phoronix readers have been requesting DDR4 vs. DDR5 memory benchmarks for Alder Lake on Linux. After picking up a DDR4 Z690 motherboard, here are some reference benchmarks between DDR4 and DDR5 when testing with the Core i5 12600K on Ubuntu Linux in a variety of real-world workloads.
Apple’s latest smartwatch came out last month and, while not incredibly different than than Series 6, it impressed us with its larger display and faster charging. Being the newest Apple Watch, we don’t expect to see major discounts on the Series 7 this holiday season — but you can get the wearable for $20 less right now on Amazon. The online retailer has a few colors of the Series 7 for $380, which is a record low. Some GPS + Cellular models are also $20 off, if you wanted to spring for the most independent version of the Watch.
The Series 7 retains the same footprint of the Series 6, but Apple enlarged the screen by slimming down the bezels to just 1.7mm. What that means in practice is that you have more screen real estate on your wrist, which makes a noticeably difference in usability. Everything is a bit clearer and less cramped, and more things can fit on the screen — like the on-display QWERTY keyboard that the Series 7 has access to in watchOS 8. That lets you type out iMessages whenever you want, although some may still prefer dictation or quick replies to that method.
This Apple Watch also charges a bit faster than previous versions. In our testing, we got 10 percent juice in just 10 minutes of charging, and the Watch was fully powered in under an hour. This will undoubtably come in handy if you forget to place your Watch in its charger overnight, or if you make use of Apple’s sleep tracking feature and want to power up before heading out for the day.
Otherwise, the Series 7 is the most comprehensive Apple Watch to date. You’re getting all of the sensors and features possible here including a blood oxygen sensor, an ECG measurement tool, GPS, heart rate monitor, altimeter and more. Also, you’re getting an always-on display, which makes it easier to check notifications without raising your wrist. If you’ve had your eye on the Series 7 since it was announced, this is the best deal we’ve seen on it since then. However, those who can give up things like an always-on display and bloody oxygen and ECG tracking, the Apple Watch SE may be the better option since it’s also on sale for an all-time low of $219.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The deluge of emails hitting our inboxes shows no signs of stopping or slowing down maybe ever, so if your email service of choice is going to be in any way usable, it’s crucial that you take steps to protect your primary addresses. There are now numerous options for doing this, and you should be able to find at least…
The Ohio LinuxFest is re-emerging as we reboot Open Libre Free Conference as a hybrid event. Re-emergence can mean simply reopening our non-profit for in-person operation. But to us, it is an invitation to reconsider how you use, experience, modify, and distribute technology in the new economy. Perhaps you are considering re-emerging in a new career path, want to upcycle a computer as a gift or have creative ideas to resolve current challenges. Free Software has the solutions.
After doing the same for Disney, Spotify has launched a Netflix hub bringing all of the streaming service’s soundtracks, playlists and podcasts into one place. While many of Netflix’s soundtracks were already on Spotify, the new feature puts all content related to the service in one place.
Spotify launched some special material for the hub as well, including an enhanced album for the western movie The Harder They Fall and a refreshed content destination for La Casa De Papel. The latter also features a mobile-only character matching experience putting together La Banda characters and soundtracks.
Feature-wise, the Netflix hub goes beyond what Spotify offered for Disney, though the latter’s content is more iconic thanks to soundtracks from properties like Star Wars and Toy Story 4. In a case of reverse synergy, Netflix will soon release a Spotify drama focusing on co-founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, based on the non-fiction book Spotify Untold.
T-Mobile and Hasbro have released a limited edition Lite-Brite that comes with 200 magenta pegs and custom templates related to the carrier, including its 5G logo. You may never have read the words T-Mobile and Lite Brite in the same sentence before this, and even T-Mobile knows the partnership is a bit odd. In its announcement, the carrier said “You may be thinking… 5G… toy from 1967… what the eff? And you wouldn’t be wrong.”
As for why you’d want a T-Mobile Lite-Brite, well, some of the kits come with prize packs, and you’re not exactly stuck with just magenta pegs and the carrier’s templates. The kit has 412 pegs in all — 212 are multicolored — and you can download and upload templates at the product’s official website.
Four of the kits hide a Magenta Ticket, which gives winners two new 5G smartphones with a free year of T-Mobile Magenta Plus service. The prize pack includes an HD flatscreen TV with a free year of the carrier’s Home Internet service, as well. In addition, the winners get an all-expense paid trip for two to an event of their choice to any of the three of the company’s venues: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, T-Mobile Center in Kansas City and T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
If you want to get the Lite-Brite T-Mobile edition for the magenta pegs or for the chance to win those prizes, you can get one from the carrier’s website for $20. It’ll ship for free until Cyber Monday and will only be available for a limited time.
Here’s a serious question: What even happened in 2021? For what feels like a lot of people, the year that was supposed to usher in a slide out of the Covid-19 doldrums simply came and went in the blink of an eye, with way less of the fêting, debauchery and travel than was promised. Obviously, the fact that we’re very…
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Niantic, the augmented reality platform that’s developing games like Pokemon GO, raised $300 million from Coatue, valuing the company at $9 billion. The San Fransisco-based startup, which initially spun out of Google, will use this money to build what it calls the “real-world metaverse.” As early as August, Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke has referred to the metaverse — at least, the one that renders us bound to VR headsets, like in “Ready Player One” — as a “dystopian nightmare.”
Unlike Facebook, which changed its company name to Meta to signal its investment in VR technology, Niantic wants to develop technology that brings people closer to the outside world. Earlier this month, Niantic unveiled its Lightship AR Developer Kit (ARDK), which makes tools to develop AR games publicly available for free to anyone who has a basic knowledge of the Unity game engine. “At Niantic, we believe humans are the happiest when their virtual world leads them to a physical one,” Hanke said at the time. “Unlike a sci-fi metaverse, a real-world metaverse will use technology to improve our experience of the world as we’ve known it for thousands of years.” The funding will help expand the ARDK, which has already been used by companies like Coachella, Historic Royal Palaces, Universal Pictures, SoftBank, Warner Music Group and the PGA of America to create augmented reality experiences.
Intel just released IGC 1.0.9289 as a huge update to their open-source Graphics Compiler used on Linux currently by their OpenCL/oneAPI Level Zero compute stack and also by Windows with their official driver…
The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has fined Apple and Amazon a combined total of €203.2 million (US$228 million) after an antitrust investigation involving the reselling of Beats products. According to the watchdog, the two companies signed an agreement in 2018 that would prohibit both official and unofficial resellers of Apple and Apple-owned Beats products on Amazon’s Italian website. That agreement allegedly contained contractual clauses that only allowed Amazon itself and select sellers “chosen individually and in a discriminatory way” to sell those items.
AGCM said in its announcement that those clauses violate article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In addition, the watchdog said the agreement restricted cross-border sales, ultimately limiting buyers’ options and depriving them of the discounts typically offered by third-party sellers. The Italian authority opened the antitrust case against both companies in 2020 and even searched their offices in the country.
A total of 70 percent of consumer electronics purchases in the country are from Amazon, AGCM explained, and 40 percent were purchases from sellers that use the website as their main platform. That’s why it’s essential for Amazon to implement Italy’s competition rules and ensure a level playing field for all sellers, as well as to ensure that buyers have access to more options.
AGCM imposed a fine of €68.7 million (US$77 million) on Amazon and a fine of €134.5 million (US$151.2 million) on Apple. It also ordered the companies to end the restrictions and allow the sale of Apple and Beats products on Amazon Italy in “non-discriminatory manner.” In a statement sent to Reuters, Amazon called the imposed penalty “disproportionate and unjustified.” A spokesperson said in a statement:
“We reject the suggestion that Amazon benefits by excluding sellers from our store, since our business model relies on their success. As a result of the agreement, Italian customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, benefiting from a catalogue that more than doubled, with better deals and faster shipping.”
Meanwhile, Apple denied any wrongdoing:
“To ensure our customers purchase genuine products, we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold.”
According to Reuters, both companies are planning to appeal the watchdog’s penalty.
GoDaddy recently learned that the impacts of a compromised password can be far-reaching. The domain registrar and web hosting platform revealed on Monday that it had experienced a security breach that disclosed up to 1.2 million email addresses for active and inactive Managed WordPress customers, as well as those…
The ups and downs of smartwear have continued for at least a decade — longer than I’ve written for Engadget. For all the progress, innovation and big-player involvement (Levi’s, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, Google and the rest), you rarely see a professional athlete — let alone a normal runner or gym-goer — in connected clothing.
Instead, we’ve all adopted smartwatches and fitness trackers, from cheap-and-cheerful step counters through to performance-level running watches and the Apple Watch Series. Is that ever going to change?
Engadget
I’ve been testing out a new generation of smart clothing from Prevayl, a UK-based company looking to strike the middle ground between luxe gymwear brands, like Jacques, Lululemon, Castore and the rest, and tech companies that have tried to insert their sensors and technology into less…style-conscious garments. Prevayl’s tiny sensor, which slides into an almost invisible pouch in the tee, tank and crop-tops, has a “clinical-grade” ECG, monitors breathing frequency, motion, body temperature. There’s even a bioimpedance sensor.
You can check out my early impressions here. I’m still intrigued in the future of smartwear, but the pricing (and need for multiple items) remains the big challenge. I don’t need to wash my fitness tracker band after every workout session. That can’t be said for smartwear.
If you loved the oldest Zelda games, this tiny console is worth $50.
Engadget
For the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. last year, Nintendo released a special edition Game & Watch. Nintendo’s pulling the same trick this year with a 35th-anniversary Legend of Zelda-themed Game & Watch that just went on sale. And like last year’s model, it includes a color screen and full games, but the selection is more generous. It includes the original The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, both originally released on the NES. It also includes The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which came out on the Game Boy in 1993. It’s for die-hard Zelda fans, yes.
It also hit altitude and average speed records, the company claims.
John M Dibbs/Rolls Royce
Just two months after its maiden flight, Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation has hit a top speed of 387.4MPH, tentatively smashing the speed record for electric airplanes, Gizmodo has reported. It also claimed the top speed of 345.4MPH over a three-kilometer course and lowest time to a 3,000-meter altitude, doing so in just 202 seconds. The records have yet to be certified, but if the 345.5MPH speed stands, it would beat the current record of 213MPH.
Blade Runner director Ridley Scott has confirmed a TV show based on the sci-fi classic is in the works. The filmmaker also mentioned in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today that work is progressing on the Alien series. Scott didn’t provide any insight about who’s involved with the Blade Runner series — or how it ties into his movie or the sequel.
Uber Eats is moving into the cannabis market. Starting today, users in Ontario can place an order at retailer Tokyo Smoke through the app. Don’t expect an Uber driver to drop off joints, though — it’s pickup-only for the time being.
Users will need to confirm they’re of legal age before they can make their purchase, and orders will be ready for pickup within an hour. At the store, buyers will need to present their ID to Tokyo Smoke staff to prove they’re aged 19 or older.
Wake-on-lan (also known with the “W.O.L” acronym) is a standard ethernet feature which allows a machine to be woken up on the reception of a specific type of network packet (the so called MagicPacket). The main advantage of this feature is that it allows us to keep a machine in a low power consumption state, and be accessed only when needed. In this tutorial we see how to enable the WOL feature on our ethernet card under Linux, and how to send the network packet needed to wake up a machine.
Arcan as an open-source display server stack originally built atop a game engine and embracing VR/XR, and pushing forward on other new technologies is out with a new version…
This holiday season, Twitter has decided it wants in on shopping, so it’s partnering with one of the biggest retailers around: Walmart. The retailer is turning the social media platform into its own version of QVC for one day only this weekend, just in time to kick-off the Cyber Monday fever.
Right from the get go, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé addresses the elephant in the room: “I’m sure at this point you’re wondering, what is the former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America doing at a Microsoft Xbox event?”
The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has called up the National Guard to assist long term care facilities, as the state struggles with a huge surge in covid-19 hospitalizations that has overwhelmed the health care system.
