Dec 16
The first-time NFL head coach had an impressive college career but losses and controversies cost him his job.
Dec 16
Going camping or hiking just got cuter thanks to a new Citroën concept car. The My Ami Buggy is based on the Ami we all know and love, but adds some practical and stylistic touches like wider knobby tires, an LED light bar and removable canvas doors.
The buggy is mainly a way for Citroën’s designers to show off their chops by adding “stylish attributes to assert its intrepid and friendly backpacker personality,” according to the company. As such, they drew inspiration from things like construction games, industrial design and fashion.
To be sure, it looks like your ten-year-old’s idea of a buggy, assuming the kid had some design talent. The khaki, black and yellow color scheme is the first attention-grabbing feature, giving it an outdoorsy camouflage feel and yet high visibility.
Another key feature is the doors, or lack thereof. The regular ones have been replaced by removable canvas doors with zippers, bringing some much-needed air circulation and buggy allure. The knobbier and wider tires will let you take it onto rougher roads, as long as you remember that ground clearance isn’t amazing. It also has headlight protectors and a spare knobby tire mounted on the roof that add a “spirit of adventure” and ratchet up the cuteness factor.
Copyright maison-vignaux @ Continental Productions
Other additions include an LED lightbar, removable “nomadic speaker,” a roof cap to protect against the sun and a graphics package that includes the words “Pilot” and “01” on the driver’s seat and “Copilot” and “02” on the passenger seat. It also offers thicker memory foam in the seats, new storage bins on the dashboard and even a range of luggage designed to “fit perfectly into the vehicle’s interior spaces,” according to Citroën. Other features like smartphone clamps, bottle holders and more were all built using 3D printing so that they can be reproduced on demand.
As a reminder, the Ami can hit a top speed of 28 MPH and go 44 miles on its 5.5 kWh battery. It’s also legal for teenagers 14 and older to drive in France and elsewhere in Europe. The company’s designers must have had a lot of fun with the My Ami Buggy concept, but there’s no word yet on whether Citroën will ever build and sell it — though the kid in all of us certainly hopes so.
Dec 16
You now have another chance to grab Apple’s third-gen AirPods for $140 on Amazon if you missed the sale last week. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen for the wireless earbuds, which originally retailed for $179 and which Apple has been selling for $150 over the past few days. While the model is currently in stock, make sure to check your estimated delivery dates before you decide to buy it as a Christmas gift, because it may arrive after the holidays even if you purchase it right now.
Buy New Apple AirPods (3rd Generation) at Amazon – $140
If you don’t mind the possibility that your order might arrive after the holidays and have been looking to buy a pair of AirPods in the first place, the third-gen model is a great buy. While it still doesn’t come with the Pro’s silicone buds, it represents a complete redesign for the product line. In our review, where we gave it a score of 88, we found it more comfortable than its predecessors due to its new “contoured design.” It’s shorter than previous models and can direct sounds better into your ear, leading to massive improvements to its audio quality.
Apple also paired a custom driver with a high-dynamic-range amplifier to produce “rich consistent bass” and “crisp, clean” sounds that improve audio quality even further, making it more immersive than before. And, thanks to the H1 chip, the third-gen AirPods feature Adaptive EQ, spatial audio, one-touch fast pairing and always-on Siri. Finally, we praised the model for its battery life: The earbuds themselves can last for six hours, and the case can extend your listening time for up to 30 hours total.
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Dec 16
Schwinn’s Tone model electric scooters are being recalled after consumers reported loosened and cracked handlebars, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Dec 16
The talk show host contrasted the change in White House holiday attitude under President Biden.
Dec 16
Secretary of state contests are in the 2022 spotlight as Trump continues to undermine American democracy. None may be bigger than Georgia’s.
Dec 16
Stephen Colbert Savages Republican Party Right Off The Bat On ‘The Late Show’
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe host wasted no time blasting the GOP’s reaction to evidence unearthed in the Jan. 6 investigation.
Dec 16
Square Enix is suspending the sales and delivery of Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition, because it’s doing too well and the company can’t keep up. The decision applies to both physical and digital versions of the game and will be enforced in the coming weeks. It’s a gradual process that will take some time and will require coordination with retail partners — at the moment, both versions are still available in digital game stores — but the company says it will be coordinating with those partners “as swiftly as possible.”
FFXIV players have been struggling with lengthy queues ever since the Endwalker expansion came out in late November. They still have to wait hours to get into a server and be able to play the game. In its announcement, Square Enix explained it has to suspend FFXIV sales because the “dense concentration of play hours… far exceed [its] server capacity, especially during the peak times.” The developer previously said that it’s unable to add more Worlds or servers prior to Endwalker’s release to ensure that it can accommodate all players due to the global semiconductor shortage.
FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida issued an apology in early December for the ongoing issue and granted seven days of free game time to all players who own the full version of the game and have an active subscription. In his newest post, he said Square Enix is now giving those players an additional 14 days.
In addition to halting FFXIV sales, the company will prioritize the logins of people with an active subscription going forward. It will no longer accept free trial subscriptions, and current free trial players won’t be able to log in outside of late night and early morning hours anymore.
Dec 16
Still not sold on foldable smartphones? I get it. But companies continue their efforts to make them happen, with Oppo the latest to reveal its first take on a foldable flagship. Somehow, for a fold-up widescreen phone, it’s kind of cute.
Engadget Chinese
It has a different screen ratio to devices from Samsung and the rest, resulting in a more horizontal (possibly more useful) touchscreen. Unfortunately, it’s still pricey (although it’s cheaper than the Galaxy Fold) and, adding another barrier to entry, it’s only launching in China.
Engadget Chinese Editor-in-Chief Richard Lai is testing one out — expect to hear our full verdict soon.
— Mat Smith
US adds drone maker DJI to investment blocklist
US citizens will be barred from making any investments in the companies.
The US government is adding eight Chinese companies, including drone manufacturer DJI, to an investment blocklist for alleged involvement in the surveillance of Uyghur Muslims. The companies will be put on the treasury department’s “Chinese military-industrial complex companies” list next week, meaning US citizens will be barred from making any investments.
The government said it was among companies that “enabled wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance.” However, unlike products from Huawei and others, DJI drones have not been banned for sale in the US.
NASA’s James Webb telescope launch delayed again until December 24th
The team is fixing a communication issue between the telescope and its launch vehicle.
NASA
NASA was hoping to send the James Webb telescope to space by December 22nd, but its launch has been delayed yet again. Yes, again. In an announcement posted on the project’s official page, NASA said the James Webb team is working on a communication issue between the telescope and its Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Disney+ adds SharePlay group viewing for the iPhone and iPad
Watch ‘Boba Fett’ or ‘Encanto’ with 31 of your friends.
The latest Disney+ app update adds SharePlay group viewing to its iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, letting up to 32 people watch and chat together. To ensure it works, everyone in the call needs Disney+ to stream, and you need to ensure the title is available to everyone in your virtual gathering. You might also find that some titles don’t work across different regions and countries.
Homeland Security offers bug bounties as part of new ‘Hack DHS’ program
Researchers could receive up to $5,000.
The US Department of Homeland Security is offering up to $5,000 in bug bounties under a new program called Hack DHS. Vetted security researchers invited by the agency will get access to select external DHS systems to identify vulnerabilities bad actors could exploit. Payments will vary between $500 and $5,000, depending on the severity of the bug. The DHS said attacks against it were up fourfold in 2021.
Huawei documents reportedly show involvement in China’s surveillance efforts
‘The Washington Post’ said it found PowerPoint slides that detail its surveillance technologies.
Huawei has long denied working with the Chinese government to spy on other countries and China’s own citizens. But The Washington Post has reviewed 100 PowerPoint presentations from the company that, Post reporters say, can show Huawei’s links to China’s surveillance projects. While many of the slides were marked confidential, they were reportedly posted on a public-facing Huawei website until they were removed in 2020. Many of them were created back in 2014 and edited as recently as last year.
A ‘Splinter Cell’ remake is underway
Ubisoft wants to meld classic stealth gameplay with modern tech.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is finally ready to make a new Splinter Cell game — in a manner of speaking. The game developer has revealed plans for a Splinter Cell remake that aims to recreate the stealth action of the early games while embracing modern technology.
The project will use the Snowdrop engine present in newer games like The Division 2 and the upcoming Avatar game, but you’ll play in small linear environments, unlike most of Ubisoft’s AAA titles. Check out the announcement video at the link.
The biggest news stories you might have missed
Polk Audio reveals its first Dolby Atmos soundbar
Samsung’s Tab A8 adds a faster processor, more RAM and storage options
Meta and Ray-Ban’s Stories glasses can now send and read Messenger texts
Google employees who don’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine rules will reportedly be fired
NASA spacecraft enters the Sun’s corona for the first time
The entry-level 2022 Polestar 2 will have an EPA-estimated range of 270 miles
Apple removes mentions of controversial child abuse scanning from its site
Dec 16
The United Kingdom, Denmark, and Australia have all reported the highest daily covid-19 case counts of the entire pandemic on Wednesday, a troubling sign that the world’s global health emergency is far from over.
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