Sep 30
The two locked horns during an episode Washington directed.
Sep 30
U.K. Ex-Police Officer Who Falsely Arrested, Murdered Sarah Everard Given Life Sentence
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe former Met Police officer faced charges for kidnapping, raping and murdering the 33-year-old woman.
Sep 30
Scientists have long said that the surface of Mars shows a significant presence of water in its distant past. A new study conducted by UT Austin has found that massive floods from overflowing crater lakes played a significant role in shaping the planet’s surface we know today. The team believes the flooding carved deep rifts into the surface and moved … Continue reading
Sep 30
The 2022 Acura NSX Type S is bowing out with a bang. The most potent iteration of Acura’s NSX hybrid supercar has established a new lap record for a production vehicle on the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race circuit. Driven by two-time and defending IMSA prototype series champion Ricky Taylor, a Long Beach Blue Acura NSX Type S … Continue reading
Sep 30
The drama, litigation and tweets continue between Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and all those space-faring companies. As reported by CNET, Musk told Code conference attendees Bezos should put more effort into “getting into orbit than lawsuits,” and that you couldn’t “sue your way to the Moon” as Blue Origin allegedly tried when it lost its lunar lander bid.
SpaceX
NASA legal documents have revealed the space agency felt Blue Origin “gambled” with its originally proposed $5.9 billion lunar lander price. Bezos’ company allegedly set the price far higher than necessary, expecting (hoping?) NASA to award the contract and negotiate a lower cost. Further, it assumed NASA would get the full funding from Congress needed for that initial price. That didn’t happen.
Blue Origin’s VP Megan Mitchell told The Verge the company rejected NASA’s views. She felt it made a “great offer” and that it disagreed with how NASA had framed its bid.
An Amazon representative also got in touch with Engadget to remind us that SpaceX has a “long track record” of suing the US government over contracts and other decisions. Yes, we’re aware.
In the end, SpaceX’s lower bid of $2.9 billion was picked by NASA, despite Blue Origin’s subsequent challenges and a last-minute $2 billion bid — almost a third of its original proposal.
— Mat Smith
Fitbit Charge 5 review
New look, same tricks.
Engadget
Valentina Palladino puts the latest Fitbit through its paces. Don’t expect any major shakeups, but we do get a more modern fitness tracker. Not only is it thinner, lighter and less bulky than the Charge 4 but it now has some features previously reserved for Fitbit’s full-fledged smartwatches, the Versa and Sense. At $180, you will pay a premium for those updates.
‘Mandalorian’ spin-off ‘premieres December 29th
Disney+ will have one more big show before 2021 is over.
Disney
Disney vowed The Book of Boba Fett would premiere this December, and it’s making good on its promise — barely. It’s revealed the Mandalorian spin-off will debut December 29th on Disney+, replete with a little bit of teaser art you can see above. We’d explain more, but spoilers abound. For everyone already caught up with The Mandalorian, click on.
Amazon’s biggest innovation is being cheap
You look familiar, Alexa.
If you were following along with all the Amazon product announcements yesterday, you might have experienced a dose of tech deja vu. Cherlynn Low felt exactly that. With products that borrowed heavily from the likes of Fitbit, Nest (both Google properties now), as she put it, Amazon’s biggest innovation increasingly seems to be: being cheap. Aside from that robot.
Sony’s latest true wireless earbuds are only $100
The company also revealed $250 ANC headphones promising 30-hour battery life.
Sony’s flagship noise-canceling headphones and tech-filled true wireless earbuds have both been updated for 2021. Now, the company’s more affordable options are getting the same treatment. With the WF-C500, you can pick up a solid set of true wireless earbuds capable of handling immersive 360 Reality Audio for $100. And if over-ear noise-canceling headphones are more your vibe, the WF-XB910N pairs ANC (active noise cancellation) with 30-hour battery life for $250.
The biggest news stories you might have missed
Facebook publishes slides on how Instagram affects teen mental health
Valve is reportedly working on a standalone VR headset
Apple finally lets you rate its apps on the App Store
That show with a golden arm returns, thanks to Roku
Nintendo denies it supplied developers with tools for a 4K Switch
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid will arrive in early 2022
GM’s new software hub will update your next EV like a smartphone
Google wants to streamline the tricky process of assigning addresses in rural areas
Engadget Deals: SanDisk memory cards are discounted for today only on Amazon
Sep 30
Fairphone's New Modular Flagship Is Still a Repairable Dream With a Sleek New Design
Posted in: Today's ChiliI’ve been dreaming of a modular smartphone since I first laid eyes on Google’s Project Ara. The concept made so much sense to me, a person who has built PCs before and isn’t afraid to attack a wire (as long as it isn’t live, of course). But despite the relative user-friendliness behind the idea of swappable modules,…
Sep 30
The woman reportedly skipped out on the first day of her trial on charges of accessory to 11,000+ murders.
Sep 30
Virgin Galactic has announced that it has been cleared to resume flight operations by the FAA. Virgin Galactic had been grounded following the conclusion of an FAA inquiry focusing on the spacecraft wandering outside of its flight clearance zone on its Unity 22 flight in July. The FAA has confirmed that Virgin had accepted the corrective actions bringing an end … Continue reading
Sep 30
Google reveals new Maps features
Posted in: Today's ChiliGoogle has announced that it’s using its AI technology and mapping information to help people worldwide access helpful and reliable data to enable progress towards global goals like fighting climate change. Google shared new Maps features intended to help communities be safer and more sustainable while making them discoverable. One of the changes to Google Maps is the addition of … Continue reading
Sep 30
Subaru has showed the first video of its first EV, the 4×4 Solterra crossover, essentially confirming that it’s a slightly reworked version of Toyota’s upcoming bZ4X EV, according to Autoblog. Both electric cars are the fruit of Toyota and Subaru’s collaboration on the e-TNGA platform designed for multiple EVs, first announced in 2019.
Design cues visible in the teaser video, particularly the odd dual roof spoiler, are similar to those on Toyota’s upcoming bZ4X (the “bZ” stands for “beyond zero”). The side profile in a longer shot also looks nigh-on identical, making us wonder why Subaru doesn’t just reveal it in full and be done with it.
It also showed a dim shot of the interior, with the centerpiece being a giant mid-mounted display. Again, that looks mighty similar to what Toyota has shown us with its own EV crossover, though Autoblog pointed out that Subaru appears to have some extra features below the rotary knob. Another notable difference is Subaru’s bolstered seats that might allow for more sporty 4×4 activities.
Other key details, like price and battery capacity, have yet to be released. However, the price could be somewhere in the high $30,000 to low $40,000 range. Like Toyota’s offering, it’s set to arrive in the US and other markets next summer.
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