BotGadget: August 2022

Wednesday, August 31

The 2023 Genesis GV60 is a strong contender for EV of the year

The 2023 Genesis GV60 is the third E-GMP-based EV we've tested in the last few months, and like the other two it is extremely impressive.

The rise of the Korean automotive industry over the past few years has been fascinating to watch. Years of lackluster products and difficult dealerships still carry some stigma, but the truth is that we haven't driven a bad new car from Hyundai Motor Group in some time. That's particularly true when it comes to its electric vehicles, especially those built using the company's latest platform, called E-GMP.

Kia and Hyundai have each delivered their first E-GMP EVs, and both have seriously impressed. Now it's time for Genesis to apply its first take on automotive luxury as applied to the E-GMP platform with this electric crossover, the GV60.

It builds on what we already knew to be a competent skeleton, adding a hefty dose of style, some intriguing convenience tech that might not be reliable enough just yet, and in the case of the all-wheel drive Performance version we tested, more than enough power. It's even what currently passes for reasonably priced in terms of specification, finish, and the generally over-exuberant state of the EV market, starting at $58,890.

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FDA authorizes BA.4/5-targeting COVID boosters from Moderna and Pfizer

An Army veteran waits the recommended 15 minutes to see if he will have any adverse reactions after receiving his second COVID-19 booster shot at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital on April 1, 2022, in Hines, Illinois.

As expected, the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized second-generation COVID-19 boosters from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. The newly authorized boosters are bivalent, targeting both the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the BA.4/5 omicron subvariants, which share the same spike protein and are currently the dominant variants circulating.

The new Pfizer-BioNTech boosters—which the FDA calls "updated boosters"—will be available to everyone 12 and above. The updated Moderna boosters will be available to anyone 18 and up. In both cases, the boosters should be given at least two months after the last COVID-19 vaccine or booster.

The FDA's authorization comes ahead of a scheduled meeting Thursday and Friday of an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC panel of independent expert advisors—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—will vote on whether the updated boosters should be recommended for use as early as Thursday.

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Google gives developers a way to sidestep Android 13’s one-way update

With the rollout of Android 13 to the Pixel 6 and 6a, Google posted an interesting warning on the system image website: Once you flash Android 13, you can never go back to the old version. That's still the case for anyone wanting a fully functional phone, but now, Google has posted an Android 12 "developer support image" that will let developers roll back their phones even after upgrading. The "developer" branding on the image means it's not fully functional, but it will be good enough for app testing.

The reason for Google's one-way Android 13 update is a bootloader vulnerability. The bug is in the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6a, so only those Pixels got a one-way update. Android 13 has a fix for the bootloader vulnerability, and to stop attackers from rolling back a device to get around the patch, the company triggered anti-rollback protection on the Pixel 6 and 6a. Anti-rollback protection blows a physical fuse inside the phone SoC. There are several of these fuses, and each OS version has a count of how many blown fuses it expects. If the number is too high, that means Google has flagged that OS as insecure and out of date, and it will no longer boot.

This "developer support image" is new territory for Google. The company says this special image of Android 12 fixes the bootloader bug and has the fuse counter incremented so it will still boot. It won't get any automatic updates, though, and it's not Compatibility Test Suite (CTS)‑approved. The CTS is a check that promises an OS is unmodified, not rooted, and secure, and some banking apps and online games require passing this check in order to work. You'll also have to do a full wipe of a device if you ever want to go back to the normal, "public" builds and updates.

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Crypto firm accidentally gave $10.5M to sisters, now wants their $1.35M house

After a Crypto.com employee entered the wrong account number and mistakenly sent AU$10.5 million to an Australian woman who had requested an AU$100 refund, a court document shows it took seven months for the cryptocurrency exchange platform to discover its error. By that point, the transfer error could not be reversed, and some of the money had allegedly already been spent.

The recipient, Thevamanogari Manivel, didn’t notify Crypto.com, instead allegedly transferring funds to bank accounts held by her and her family. Crypto.com claims Manivel used the money to buy her sister a modern million-dollar house, complete with a home gym and theater.

Last Friday, Justice James Elliott, a judge for the Victorian Supreme Court in Australia, issued a default judgment in the case. This became necessary because, as Crypto.com alleged in the court document, Manivel and other named defendants, including her sister Thilagavathy Gangadory, failed to respond to a court summons.

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Dell confirms some XPS 13 Plus laptop screens may detach inadvertently

The Dell XPS 13 Plus laptop released this year was billed as the fancier version of one of the most well-known thin-and-light laptops, the Dell XPS 13. The XPS 13 didn't necessarily need a fancier version, but added features like a capacitive touch function row and support for a higher wattage CPU gave Dell enough justification to produce a new SKU carrying the "Plus" moniker. Ironically, though, early versions of one of the highest configurations of the XPS 13 Plus have a problem that's surprising for a laptop with its background.

A Dell representative confirmed to Ars Technica today that an "early batch" of Dell XPS 13 Plus laptops with OLED screens "may become loose because of problems with the third-party adhesive used." The issue was reported on yesterday by The Verge.

According to the rep, "only a small number of screens will detach" from laptops of the impacted batch. Dell wouldn't provide an exact number of units affected, but the laptops in question seem to include the first XPS 13 Pluses sent out to reviewers and early purchasers. Dell's rep said that once the issue with the adhesive was discovered, Dell corrected its production process, so other units should not be affected. Units with LCD-LED screens are unaffected, Dell said.

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The Last Of Us Pt 1 remake review: Enough upgrades to leave us stunned

This moment from <em>The Last Of Us Pt 1</em> was captured as a real-time cinematic on PlayStation 5. All images of the PS5 version were directly captured by Ars Technica, except where noted (though Sony's own supplied screens are in line with how the game looks on current-gen hardware).

A little over a decade ago, developer Naughty Dog diverged from its base of amusing, swashbuckling video games by revealing its most intense project yet: The Last of Us. The game's first-look trailer, which premiered at E3 2012, appeared almost too good to be true.

In some ways, this new series looked like the stunning Uncharted games we'd already seen on the PlayStation 3. It was full of realistic characters, detailed environments, and convincing movie-like dialogue. But this wasn't a shooting gallery interrupted by wild train sequences and epic climbs up mountains. Instead, TLOU appeared to host the tensest and most brutal combat ever seen on a gaming console. A camera dramatically swung around two survivors of an apocalypse, and these resource-starved protagonists tiptoed around dangerous foes (humans and zombies alike), always one low-on-ammo gun jam or wrong step away from certain doom.

One year later, the game launched to accolades and high sales figures, but it didn't quite resemble that dramatically staged "real gameplay" trailer. The final game's enemy AI, battle choreography, and presentation of player choices felt more video gamey than we saw in the trailer.

I remembered that old sense of disappointment while I played The Last Of Us Pt. 1, this week's PS5 remake of the 2013 original. Honestly, there were moments while I tested this note-for-note remake where I felt adrift, enough so that I saw cracks in its handsome, "current-gen" facade. This is not a perfect remake, and it may leave both brand-new players and Naughty Dog diehards disappointed in some respects.

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A faulty sensor may have scrubbed the launch of NASA’s massive SLS rocket

NASA's SLS rocket may now launch on Saturday, September 3, 2022.

After scrubbing a launch attempt of the Space Launch System rocket on Monday, NASA officials said they're working toward a second attempt to fly the Artemis I mission on Saturday, September 3.

NASA flight controllers halted the first launch attempt after they were unable to verify that one of the SLS rocket's four main engines—engine no. 3—had been properly cooled to a temperature of -420 degrees Fahrenheit prior to ignition. The engines must be chilled to very cold temperatures in order to handle the injection of very cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants.

During a news conference on Tuesday evening, NASA's program manager for the SLS rocket, John Honeycutt, said his engineering team believed the engine had actually cooled down from ambient temperature to near the required level but that it was not properly measured by a faulty temperature sensor.

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Tuesday, August 30

New technique shows old temperatures were much hotter than thought

Image of long tubes holding layered deposits.

In a paper recently published in Science, Professor Nele Meckler of the University of Bergen and colleagues argue that the climate between around 35 and 60 million years ago may have been considerably warmer than we thought. Their finding suggests that a given level of CO₂ might produce more warming than prior work indicated, and it hints that the ocean circulated differently during that warm, ice-free climate.

Their conclusions come from new measurements of carbon and oxygen isotopes found in the shells of tiny creatures, called benthic foraminifera or “forams,” that lived on the seafloor at the time. Earlier work with similar samples had estimated temperatures using oxygen isotopes—a technique that could be confused by changes in how much water was locked away in ice at the poles and, to a lesser extent, variations in ocean salinity. The new study used a technique that registers temperatures more reliably and produced much warmer numbers.

A newer, clearer thermometer

Benthic foram oxygen isotopes have been a mainstay of ancient global climate studies, with the latest most detailed record extending back 60 million years. Deep ocean temperatures reflect ocean surface temperatures over timescales longer than about 1,000 years because the global “conveyor belt” of ocean circulation turns over on that timescale. Oxygen isotopes in that water reflect ocean surface temperature, and by extension global climate, because water with the heavier isotope oxygen-18 is a bit harder to evaporate than water with oxygen-16; when the sea is warmer and there’s more evaporation, oxygen-18 builds up in the oceans.

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France reveals hidden swimming pools with AI, taxes them

Using an artificial intelligence computer vision system developed by French IT firm Capgemini, the French tax office (often called "Le Fisc") has identified 20,356 residential swimming pools that had previously gone undeclared. According to The Guardian, this has opened up €10 million in additional tax revenue, leading the way to the government taxing other undeclared architectural features such as annexes or verandas.

To find undeclared pools, Capgemini's software—with help from Google's cloud processing—automatically recognizes pools in aerial photographs (by looking for blue rectangles, for instance) and compares the results to records in real estate and tax databases. If it finds that a relevant address doesn't have a pool registered, the owner is in violation of tax law. The program began last October on a limited basis, covering only nine out of 96 metropolitan departments. At first, the system confused solar panels for swimming pools with an error rate of 30 percent, but Le Fisc says that it has since increased the accuracy.

The French government taxes real estate based on its rental value, which increases when owners build additions or improvements such as swimming pools. For example, a 30 square meter swimming pool will result in around €200 of extra taxes per year. Private pools have lately become more popular in France due to the recent heat wave, but they're also controversial due to their water usage during a historic drought.

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To save lives, issue connected vehicle technology waiver, NTSB tells FCC

Aerial view road traffic with Technology HUD Multi path Visual tracker target,connection technology

In mid-August, the Federal Communications Commission succeeded in its long-held plan to reallocate a portion of the spectrum from car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication (known as V2X) to Wi-Fi instead. However, the FCC didn't reassign that entire region of bandwidth—30 MHz remains set aside for "intelligent transportation systems." And the FCC should grant automakers a waiver to allow them to start deploying cellular-based V2X (C-V2X) safety systems, said the National Transportation Safety Board in a letter it sent the FCC on Monday.

The saga of V2X is a long-running one. The FCC originally saved the spectrum around 5.9 GHz for use with V2X in 1999, but despite keen interest from some automakers and industry groups like the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), the technology still has not been deployed.

Seeing that failure, the FCC decided in 2020 to reallocate some of the bandwidth to Wi-Fi, leaving the frequencies between 5.895 and 5.925 GHz for V2X. ITS America and AASHTO sued the FCC to prevent this, but the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the FCC in August, allowing the commission to go through with its plan.

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The Telegram-powered news outlet waging guerilla war on Russia

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - JULY 31: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) seen during the Navy Day Parade, on July, 31 2022, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

On the evening of August 20, Russian TV pundit and conspiracy theorist Darya Dugina was killed on the outskirts of Moscow when a powerful explosion ripped apart her Toyota Land Cruiser. Dugina was a vocal supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the daughter of fascist philosopher and writer Alexander Dugin, nicknamed “Putin’s brain” thanks to his perceived ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin. According to Russian authorities, a remote-controlled “explosive device,” presumably installed in her car, went off at around 9 pm local time.

News of Dugina’s assassination spread like wildfire through social media, most notably on the instant messaging service Telegram, where it was shared approvingly by a vast network of Russian and Ukrainian channels. But in the hours that followed, it became clear that one channel, operated by the media outlet Utro Fevralya, or February Morning, is more than just a place to share the news. It aims to play a key role in the story.

Created by exiled former Russian MP and dissident Ilya Ponomarev, February Morning was the first to report on a group claiming responsibility for Dugina’s death. Ponomarev himself took to YouTube, where February Morning airs its shows, claiming that the perpetrators were a little-known Russian resistance group called the National Republican Army. According to Ponomarev, an all-out war against “Putinism” had just begun.

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Monday, August 29

Review: Netflix’s exquisite The Sandman is the stuff dreams are made of

Neil Gaiman's classic "unfilmable" graphic novel series gets the adaptation he always wanted.

Like many nerds of a certain age, I have long adored Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series; it was an enormous influence on my younger self. So I was thrilled to hear of Netflix's planned adaptation when it was announced in 2019—but I also experienced some trepidation given the past misguided efforts to bring the story to the screen. That trepidation was unwarranted because The Sandman is a triumph. It's everything I had hoped to see in an adaption, and it has been well worth the wait.

(Warning: Some spoilers for the original graphic novels and the Netflix series below.)

The titular "sandman" is Dream, but he is also called Morpheus, among other names. He is one of seven entities known as the Endless. (The other Endless are Destiny, Destruction, Despair, Desire, Delirium, and Death.) Gaiman's 75-issue revival of the DC character is an odd mix of mythology, fantasy, horror, and history, rife with literary references and a fair bit of dark humor. There really is nothing quite like it, and the series proved to be hugely popular and enduring. One standalone story, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (The Sandman No. 19) even won the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction, the only time a comic has been so honored.

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Honda is the latest automaker looking to build a US battery factory

A Honda worker assembles a battery pack.

North American lithium-ion battery production is set to soar over the next decade. The Biden administration and Congress have both put policies in place to incentivize domestic manufacturing over imports, and startups, battery companies, and automakers are responding. Honda and LG Energy Solutions are the most recent to make moves; on Monday morning, the companies announced that they are forming a $4.4 billion joint venture to build a US battery factory.

"Our joint venture with Honda, which has significant brand reputation, is yet another milestone in our mid- to long-term strategy of promoting electrification in the fast-growing North American market," said Youngsoo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution. "Since our ultimate goal is to earn our valued customers' trust and respect, we aspire to position ourselves as a leading battery innovator, working with Honda in achieving its core initiatives for electrification, as well as providing sustainable energy solutions to discerning end consumers."

In May, the Department of Energy announced $3 billion in funding to boost domestic battery production. Much of that battery production will be destined for electric vehicles, particularly since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law this month. The law ties an EV's tax credit to where its battery pack was made—if an ever-increasing proportion of the pack is not domestic, there is no credit.

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Heat waves + air pollution can be a deadly combination

A smoggy sunrise in Krakow, Poland earlier this summer.

On the morning news, you see the weather forecast is for high heat, and there is an “excessive heat watch” for later in the week. You were hoping the weather would cool down, but yet another heat wave is threatening human health and increasing the chance of wildfires. On top of these warm days and nights, air quality data has been showing unhealthy levels of pollution.

Sound familiar? This scenario is increasingly the new normal in many parts of the world.

High heat and air pollution are each problematic for human health, particularly for vulnerable populations such as older adults. But what happens when they hit at the same time?

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TMNT Cowabunga Collection review: A ‘90s dream, a few months too late

In any other year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection would be a no-brainer recommendation for '90s gaming nostalgia. Who could turn down an invite to an arcade stocked with 13 of the series' earliest hit games, all set up for free play with welcome modern tweaks?

But this far into 2022, another arcade filled with Turtles fun has already opened on the same block. Shredder's Revenge, a new title featuring the series' old-school arcade action, earned a spot in our year-end best-of list barely two months ago—and its brilliant, beautiful, six-player fun costs $15 less.

TMNT fanatics with big gaming budgets can look forward to a competent and content-rich Cowabunga compilation, and we generally recommend the new collection to that crowd, despite some issues. But for fans with more limited time and money, Shredder's Revenge is the better '90s-styled arcade brawler by far—and it shows that The Cowabunga Collection's games have aged somewhat poorly.

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The final countdown begins for NASA’s hulking new rocket

NASA's Space Launch System, reflected in the turn basin at the Kenendy Space Center in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.—It is time.

Shortly after midnight local time, NASA began loading liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen on board its Space Launch System rocket ahead of a Monday morning launch attempt.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this mission for NASA. This will be the space agency's first launch of one of its own rockets since 2011, the final mission of the space shuttle. Even more significantly, this Artemis I mission is the first stepping stone on a path that could lead NASA, along with a bevy of international partners, back to the Moon and on to Mars.

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Saturday, August 27

The weekend’s best deals: Apple iPad, MacBook Pro, OLED TVs, and more

It's the weekend, which means it's time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes the lowest price we've tracked for Apple's 10.2-inch iPad, which is currently down to $280 at various retailers. That's about $50 off Apple's MSRP and roughly $25 off the average street price we've seen online in recent months.

You can read our review from last September for more details, but in short, we consider the 10.2-inch iPad to be the best option for most people in the market for an Apple tablet. Yes, its A13 Bionic chip isn't as powerful as the M1 SoC found in the iPad Air and iPad Pro, and the device's older design language means it lacks the USB-C ports, laminated touchscreens, upgraded cameras, and wider accessory support of those higher-end models. The 64GB of storage in this entry-level variant isn't a ton, either. But as a pleasant-to-use screen for reading, streaming, web browsing, and playing the occasional game, the base iPad is still plenty competent. It's fast enough for the essentials, it's still usable for lighter work when paired with a good keyboard case, and it supports all the same apps as any other iPad. It's a boring device, but it works, and it remains a significant step-up from cheaper Android tablets. Most importantly, it's far and away the most affordable iPad, particularly at this deal price.

The caveat here is that Apple is expected to introduce a new entry-level iPad by the end of the year. We don't expect a refreshed model to arrive during the company's just-announced September 7 event, but if history holds, we could very well see it announced in October. Recent rumors suggest this new model could feature a major redesign that brings the device more in line with the look and feel of the iPad Air, iPad Pro, and iPad Mini. (This could also result in a removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack, though it's hard to say that for sure just yet.) Either way, if you don't need a new tablet right now, it's probably worth waiting. But if you do, this is a new low for a tablet that was already a decent value.

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Review: HP’s 13.5-inch Spectre x360 is a top ultralight—with flair

Specs at a glance: HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch
	Worst	Best	As reviewed
Screen	13.5-inch 1920×1280 IPS touchscreen	13.5-inch 3000×2000 OLED touchscreen
OS	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Pro	Windows 11 Home
CPU	Intel Core i5-1235U	Intel Core i7-1255U
RAM	8GB LPDDR4-4267	16GB LPDDR4-4267
Storage	512GB NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD	2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD	1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD
GPU	Intel Iris Xe
Networking	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports	2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB-A (3.2 Gen 1), 1x 3.5 mm jack, 1x microSD card reader
Size	11.73×8.68×0.67 inches (297.94×220.47×17.02 mm)
Weight	3.02 pounds (1.37kg)
Battery	66 Wh
Warranty	1 year
Price (MSRP)	$1,100	$1,760	$1,610
Other	Stylus, sleeve included

HP's 13.5-inch Spectre x360 has a little something for almost everyone. An ultralight build puts it a desirable class of convertibles with a frosted finish and flashy accents. A 3:2 screen stands taller than most and includes an OLED option that's vivid yet natural looking. There are also clever design choices, like a chamfered edge with a charging port, light-up volume/mic mute/camera shutter keys, plus decent port selection.

The Spectre x360 13.5-inch gets an A+ in looks and scores high (but not perfectly) in design details. But it has some room to grow when it comes to productivity, especially when compared against other highly capable ultralights in its price range.

For those who insist on squeezing every ounce of performance out of a sub-1-inch-thick convertible, there are stronger competitors. But for the rest, the 2022 Spectre is near the top of its class.

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Friday, August 26

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 review: A fast-but-flawed version of a great laptop

Specs at a glance: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10
Display	14.0-inch 1920×1200 touchscreen (162 PPI)
OS	Windows 11 Pro
CPU	Intel Core i7-1260P (4 P-cores, 8 E-cores)
RAM	16GB LPDDR5 5200 (soldered)
GPU	Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
Storage	1TB NVMe SSD
Networking	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
Battery	57 Wh
Ports	Two Thunderbolt 4, two 5Gbps USB-A, HDMI 2.0b, headphones
Size	8.76×12.43×0.6 inches (222.5×315.6×15.36 mm)
Weight	2.48 lbs (1.12 kg)
Warranty	1-year
Price as reviewed	$1,891

Dell's XPS 13 has been the pace car for the Windows side of the thin-and-light laptop race for years now, ever since it adopted the now-ubiquitous ultra-thin display bezel back in 2015. Dell was also a step ahead of the competition a couple of years ago when it moved to a slightly taller screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, further improving the design's usability without increasing its size.

But for power users who can afford to spend a few hundred extra dollars, Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon has always been an appealing upsell. It's a little lighter than Dell's ultraportable, but it nevertheless manages to fit in a bigger screen and a better port selection. Lenovo's laptop keyboards and trackpads are almost always best in class. And the ThinkPad's pedigree as a business laptop means that the Carbon's design still makes nods to repairability and upgradability, even if many of its internal components have still been soldered down to save space.

This year's version of the X1 Carbon—we're up to Gen 10, if anyone's counting—doesn't change much on the outside. But it includes new 12th-generation Intel Core processors, which, as we've seen in other laptops, can be a blessing and a curse. Performance in CPU-heavy tasks can be faster, sometimes dramatically so. But it comes at the expense of extra heat and less battery life, and that's a tough trade-off to recommend for a general-use ultraportable.

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LG’s 4K monitor physically adjusts itself so you don’t have to

https://www.lgnewsroom.com/2022/08/lg-ultragear-debuts-240hz-curved-oled-gaming-monitor-at-ifa-2022/

LG last night announced plans to demo a 4K monitor that it claims will help workers maintain an ergonomically friendly view by automatically adjusting itself based on the user's positioning.

LG will demo its UltraFine Display Ergo AI 32UQ890 (which it first lightly announced with minimal details at CES 2022) at IFA 2022 in Berlin from September 2–6, it said.

The monitor gets its name because it uses AI via an integrated camera to interpret a user's eye level. It leverages an AI algorithm to collect and analyze video frames, using a neural processing unit to make what it determines are appropriate adjustments to the screen’s height by up to 6.3 inches (160 mm) or angle by up to 20 degrees forward or backward. The monitor does not use deep learning, an LG spokesperson told Ars Technica.

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MacBook self-repair program highlights Apple’s flawed repairability progress

The front of a closed, silver-colored laptop on a table

On Tuesday, Apple expanded its self-service repair program to M1-based MacBooks. Giving customers repair manuals and the ability to buy parts and buy or rent tools for M1 MacBook Airs and M1 MacBook Pros is a far cry from the Apple of yesteryear. After a few days of availability, the MacBook self-repair program shows welcome progress, but work is still needed before Apple is considered a true right-to-repair ally.

The past few days have seen numerous right-to-repair activists critique Apple's MacBook self-repair program. Perhaps most notable is a strongly worded blog from iFixit, which said the program "manages to make MacBooks seem less repairable." While iFixit found the MacBook Air repair manual to be "in-depth, mostly logical, and well worth an additional repairability point," it was less impressed with the MacBook Pro repair manuals.

iFixit focused heavily on Apple's approach to MacBook Pro battery replacements, citing the natural degradation of lithium batteries. Apple's 13, 14, and 16-inch 2021 MacBook Pro self-repair manuals say that to replace the battery, you need to remove far more than just the battery. The manuals instruct users to remove the entire top case, bottom case, battery management unit, flex cable, lid angle sensor, the trackpad and its flex cable, the vent/antenna module, the logic board, display hinge covers, the display, the laptop's audio board, fans, the MagSafe 3 board, as well as the USB-C boards and Touch ID board.

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Rocket Report: At long last the SLS is ready, Alpha gets a launch date

Welcome to Edition 5.08 of the Rocket Report! This weekend I'll be traveling to the Artemis I launch in Florida on Monday. It's remarkable that launch day is finally here for NASA's big rocket and a big moment for the space agency, which has not launched its own rocket since 2011, and the final flight of the space shuttle. Here's hoping everything goes well with the launch and Orion's flight to the Moon.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Firefly sets September 11 launch date. The Texas-based launch company announced this week the launch window for the second flight of its Alpha rocket. The window for the launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California opens at 3 pm local Pacific time (22:00 UTC). Alpha's first test flight, in September 2021, ended in failure 150 seconds into the flight after a problem with one of the rocket's four main Reaver engines.

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Thursday, August 25

Amazon to close US telehealth service as it shifts sector ambitions

Amazon is closing its telehealth service, Amazon Care, ending an ambitious plan to roll out its homegrown platform to “millions” of patients around the country, part of a long-stated goal of disrupting the US health care industry.

A memo sent to Amazon Care staff on Wednesday by Neil Lindsay, head of Amazon Health Services, said Amazon Care—which promised a doctor, nurse, or other health practitioner on demand, 24 hours a day—was not the right “long-term solution” for the external companies to which it had hoped to sell the service.

“This decision wasn’t made lightly and only became clear after many months of careful consideration,” Lindsay wrote, according to the memo seen by the Financial Times.

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Sony raises PlayStation 5 console prices in many regions, effective immediately

Wanna buy one of these in many parts of the world? Starting today, that's gonna cost you a little bit more.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Sony announced massive news for its PlayStation 5 console family. Around the world, console prices are going up.

The price hike for both models of PlayStation 5 (one with a disc drive, one without) is effective immediately in at least six regions, with Japan joining the price-hike fray on September 15. Sony's announcement lists specific price increases for some of its biggest gaming territories, yet it additionally warns that "select markets" may see their own price hikes in the coming days. These include territories in the Asia-Pacific region, Central and South America, and the massive cluster of nations that comprises the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).

Somehow, one particular region is out of Sony's price-hike crosshairs for now: the United States.

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HP’s new Thunderbolt 4 monitor uses contrast-rich IPS Black tech

HP announced a 31.5-inch monitor today at its Amplify partner conference that's aimed at workers with data-heavy setups and strong image quality needs. The 4K resolution HP Z32k G3 claims to be the first monitor to use an IPS Black panel along with a Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port.

Dell was the first to use IPS Black, tapping the LG Display tech for 27-inch and 31.5-inch USB-C UltraSharp monitors. IPS Black is a type of IPS panel that's supposed to double the typical contrast ratio of traditional IPS by delivering darker black levels. LG Display claimed that IPS Black's black levels are "35 percent deeper than existing IPS products."

HP's Z32k G3 claims a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, compared to the standard IPS monitor, which is typically around 1,000:1, with premium IPS examples reaching around 1,300:1. Assuming HP's shared an accurate figure, it's worth noting that the spec doesn't match a strong VA monitor or, compared to contrast afforded by displays with more expensive backlighting technology, Mini LED or OLED.

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HP’s 5K ultrawide all-in-one has workhorse specs, dual magnetic webcams

Companies haven't paid all-in-one (AIO) PCs a lot of love lately. Exciting AIO releases in the US are few and far between, and ever since Apple discontinued the 27-inch iMac, there has been somewhat of a gap for users seeking the simplicity of an AIO, along with ultra-high resolution and strong components. HP has apparently noticed that gap because in September, it will release a 34-inch AIO with 5120×2160 resolution, current-generation Intel and Nvidia parts, and flashy features aimed at workers.

Magnetic webcam(s)

A webcam that can magnetically attach to anywhere on the display's bezel is one of the hallmark features of HP's 34-inch all-in-one Desktop PC announced today at HP's Amplify channel partner conference.

The cameras use temporal noise reduction when producing an image, and there's Windows Hello support for facial recognition logins. (credit: HP)

This is similar to a magnetic webcam concept Dell showed us in December, but the camera isn't wireless and can't attach directly to the display. The AIO also supports up to two of these magnetic cameras; they would use pixel binning for 4 MP per still or video image, according to HP.

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What to expect from Apple’s September 7 “Far Out” event

Futuristic glass-walled building permits views of surrounding forest.

Apple announced a new product launch event for September 7, and it's a safe bet that we'll see the next wave of flagship iPhone models when the company's executives and product managers take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater.

Curiously, this is the earliest in the month we can remember Apple recently hosting a September event, and it also might be the earliest the company has announced the event before it happens, given that it's more than two weeks away.

But those aspects aside, we don't believe this will be an especially unusual event. Apple always uses the September event to announce new iPhone and Apple Watch models, which is exactly what we expect on September 7.

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Former NASA official on trying to stop SLS: “There was just such visible hostility”

Lori Garver, right, and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden did not always work well as a team.

Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver published a book earlier this year, Escaping Gravity, that tells the tale of her nearly three decades in US space policy.

Garver played an important and at times controversial role in the history of NASA over the last 15 years, having served as leader of President Obama's transition team on space issues in late 2008 and early 2009, and later as deputy administrator for the space agency until 2013.

At NASA she had a strained relationship with the agency's administrator, Charlie Bolden. Garver pushed for substantial change at the behest of the Obama administration and more investment in the commercial space industry; whereas, Bolden was more supportive of traditional space and represented the views of many people at NASA at the time resistant to change. Bolden and his allies won the battle, ensuring NASA's development of the Space Launch System rocket.

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Dr. Oz emailed Trump admin. to push notoriously useless COVID treatment

Mehmet Oz, US Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, speaks during a campaign event in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday, June 9, 2022.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mehmet Oz—aka Dr. Oz—repeatedly emailed top-level Trump administration officials, urging them to push the ineffective malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID-19 based on scant, sketchy data from a now-disgraced French researcher.

Emails from the notorious celebrity doctor were revealed for the first time Wednesday in a report from the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis. The report, titled "A 'Knife Fight' with the FDA," delved into how the Trump administration worked to undermine, pressure, and bully the Food and Drug Administration during the pandemic.

Specifically, it unearthed how the Trump White House pressured the FDA to bend safety standards so that COVID-19 vaccines could be released before election day. It also revealed the tenacious efforts and subterfuge by top Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro and advisor Steven Hatfill to pressure the FDA into supporting the use of the debunked malaria drug. The report's title stems from a direct quote from Hatfill that the White House had a "knife fight scheduled with the FDA" over hydroxychloroquine.

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“Spanish Stonehenge” emerges from watery grave for second time in last 3 years

The Dolmen of Guadalperal completely visible in July 2019 due to a low water level in the Valdecañas reservoir.

Last week we told you about the flurry of recent coverage resurfacing 2018 news stories about the re-emergence of so-called "hunger stones" due to extreme drought conditions in Europe. We also noted that Europe is once again in the midst of a historically severe drought. Now an ancient site known as the "Spanish Stonehenge"—submerged underwater by a reservoir for decades—has been fully exposed for the second time since 2019 due to low water levels in the reservoir.

The site is also known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, a circular grouping of 150 large vertical granite stones (called orthostats) dating back to between 2000 and 3000 BCE. However, Roman artifacts recovered at the site—a coin, ceramic fragments, and a grinding stone—suggest it might have been used even earlier. A team led by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier discovered the monument in 1926 near a town called Peraleda de la Mata.

Among the recovered artifacts were 11 axes, flint knives, ceramics, and a copper punch. A nearby settlement likely housed the people who built the monument, given the presence of houses, charcoal and ash stains, pottery, and stones to hone axes. Obermaier restored some of the granite stones to their rightful places and made reproductions of the engravings, which were published in 1960.

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Wednesday, August 24

Data privacy bill would give you more control over info collected about you

Data privacy in the U.S. is, in many ways, a legal void. While there are limited protections for health and financial data, the cradle of the world’s largest tech companies, like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta (Facebook), lacks any comprehensive federal data privacy law. This leaves U.S. citizens with minimal data privacy protections compared with citizens of other nations. But that may be about to change.

With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce by a vote of 53-2 on July 20, 2022. The bill still needs to pass the full House and the Senate, and negotiations are ongoing. Given the Biden administration’s responsible data practices strategy, White House support is likely if a version of the bill passes.

As a legal scholar and attorney who studies and practices technology and data privacy law, I’ve been closely following the act, known as ADPPA. If passed, it will fundamentally alter U.S. data privacy law.

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Fitbit announces new Sense 2, Versa 4, and Inspire 3 fitness trackers

Today, Fitbit announced the availability of three new fitness trackers: the Inspire 3, Versa 4, and Sense 2. All successors to previous-generation devices, the three run the gamut from Fitbit’s highest-equipped to most basic fitness wearables.

“Basic” is a relative term among fitness trackers, as they all continuously edge closer to full-blown smartwatch functionality. The Inspire 3, in particular, adds blood oxygen monitoring during sleep and a full-color AMOLED touchscreen to the entry-level tracker, which already can receive phone alerts, like texts, calls, and app notifications. Setting the display to the optional “always on” setting takes battery life estimates down from 10 days to only three, which is much more in line with full-featured smartwatches, though less than Fitbit’s Sense and Versa watches.

By contrast, the Sense 2 and Versa 4 are the two most-capable trackers Fitbit offers. They’re both rated for about six days of use (without the always-on-display enabled) and now feature fast-charging capability that Fitbit claims can give you a day of battery life from only 12 minutes of charging.

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SARS-CoV-2 has evolved an incubation time more like seasonal coronaviruses

The incubation period for COVID-19—the time between when SARS-CoV-2 first infects a person and when resulting COVID-19 symptoms first appear—has gradually shortened as the pandemic has stretched on and the virus has mutated. That's according to a new meta-analysis published this week in JAMA Network Open by researchers in Beijing, who harvested data on over 8,000 patients from 142 COVID-19 studies.

When the original version of the novel virus mushroomed out of Wuhan, China, the mean incubation period was 6.65 days, according to pooled data from 119 studies. But then, the incubation period got shorter as the variants evolved. The alpha variant had a mean incubation of 5 days, according to one study; beta, 4.5 days, according to another; delta had a mean of 4.41 days, according to pooled data from six studies; and now with omicron, the incubation period has shrunk to 3.42 days, according to data from five studies.

The current shortened incubation period now puts SARS-CoV-2 more in line with commonplace respiratory viruses, including the four human coronaviruses that circulate seasonally and cause mild infections similar to the common cold. Their incubation period is 3.2 days. Rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, has a mean incubation period of 1.4 days. For influenza it can range from 1.43 to 1.64 days, and parainfluenza has a mean of 2.6 days.

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Tuesday, August 23

We’re loving the lavish epic visuals in the new LOTR: Rings of Power trailer

Prime Video's new original series, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

With HBO's House of the Dragon debuting to a record nearly 10 million viewers, one might have forgotten that another new big-budget fantasy series is waiting in the wings. Prime Video reminded us of that by dropping a new trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Based on notes and lore penned by J.R.R. Tolkien, the eight-episode series will revolve around the late author's "Second Age" era. Per the official description:

This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

As we've reported previously, the large ensemble cast includes Morfydd Clark as a young Galadriel, "now a hardscrabble warrior leading the Northern Armies," who is determined to hunt down her brother's killer. She ends up adrift at sea with a new character named Halbrand (Charles Vickers). Charles Edwards plays Celebrimbor, whom hardcore LOTR fans will recognize as the elven smith who forged the legendary rings. Robert Aramayo plays a younger version of Elrond, and Maxim Baldry will play the infamous Isildur, ancestor of Aragorn, who eventually defeated Sauron but fell victim to the One Ring's corrupting power. Peter Mullan plays the dwarf King Durin III.

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Does turning the air conditioning off when you’re not home save energy?

A person's hand adjusting a thermostat that is set to 77° F.

Hot summer days can mean high electricity bills. People want to stay comfortable without wasting energy and money. Maybe your household has fought over the best strategy for cooling your space. Which is more efficient: running the air conditioning all summer long without break, or turning it off during the day when you’re not there to enjoy it?

We are a team of architectural and building systems engineers who used energy models that simulate heat transfer and A/C system performance to tackle this perennial question: Will you need to remove more heat from your home by continuously removing heat throughout the day or removing excess heat only at the end of the day?

The answer boils down to how energy intensive it is to remove heat from your home. It’s influenced by many factors such as how well your house is insulated, the size and type of your air conditioner, and outdoor temperature and humidity.

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The SLS rocket is the worst thing to happen to NASA—but maybe also the best?

NASA's Space Launch System Rocket at LC-39B, preparing to lift off at 8:33 am ET on August 29th, 2022.

President Eisenhower signed the law establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 29, 1958. At the time, the United States had put about 30 kg of small satellites into orbit. Less than 11 years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon.

President Obama signed a NASA Authorization Act on October 11, 2010. Among its provisions, the law called on NASA to create the Space Launch System rocket and have it ready for launch in 2016. It seemed reasonable. At the time, NASA had been launching rockets, including very large ones, for half a century. And in some sense, this new SLS rocket was already built.

The most challenging aspect of almost any launch vehicle is its engines. No problem—the SLS rocket would use engines left over from the space shuttle program. Its side-mounted boosters would be slightly larger versions of those that powered the shuttle for three decades. The newest part of the vehicle would be its large core stage, housing liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks to feed the rocket's four main engines. But even this component was derivative. The core stage's 8.4-meter diameter was identical to the space shuttle's external tank, which carried the same propellants for the shuttle's main engines.

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Computers vs. TV: Which is less likely to promote dementia?

Standing desks—and even biking desks—are a response to a growing body of studies showing that a sedentary lifestyle creates many health risks. Regular physical activity appears to confer a degree of protection from various problems, both physical and mental, and many results indicate that this doesn't have to be Olympic-level training. Simply walking around the apartment a few times a day appears to help.

Now, a team of researchers has looked at the opposite question: Are all forms of inactivity equal? The answer is probably not. While the details depend on the health issues involved, there's likely to be some good news for people reading this, in that computer use appears to be somewhat protective against dementia.

Get off your chair

The physical risks associated with inactivity are generally associated with lower cardiovascular health, either directly or via obesity. Even a small amount of physical activity appears capable of limiting these impacts, although increased exercise generally seems to be even better (details vary depending on the study and the exact risk being examined).

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Pfizer completes FDA request for fall BA.4/5 boosters; feds expect doses in Sept.

Doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a health campaign in Sylhet, Bangladesh on July 19, 2022.

Vaccine-making partners Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday that they had completed their request to the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization of their bivalent, omicron BA.4/5 booster doses, which the Biden administration is planning to distribute beginning in early September.

The request follows guidance from the FDA in late June directing vaccine makers to ready second-generation COVID-19 booster doses for the fall that target both the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and BA.4/BA.5, two omicron subvariants that share the same spike protein. Currently, BA.5 is the dominant variant in the world and in the US, where it accounts for 89 percent of infections, according to the latest estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FDA booster guidance

The FDA's guidance was based on the advice of its committee of independent vaccine advisors, who in a June meeting felt that a bivalent, BA.4/5-targeting vaccine offered the best chances for improving efficacy against the currently circulating variants. The current COVID-19 booster doses, which target only the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, are still strongly effective against severe disease and death from COVID-19 but have been losing efficacy against infection amid a rapid succession of variants and omicron subvariants.

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Monday, August 22

Fauci to step down in December; Biden extends “deepest thanks”

Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci gestures as he waits for the beginning of a hearing before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies of Senate Appropriations Committee at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, May 17, 2022, in Washington, DC.

Anthony Fauci—President Biden's chief medical adviser and longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—will retire from his government positions this December.

The 81-year-old infectious disease expert has worked at the National Institutes of Health since 1968, holding the position of director of the NIAID for nearly four decades, since 1984. In that time, he has advised seven presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan. He played a crucial role in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, notably as a key architect behind PEPFAR, the global AIDS response program begun by President George W. Bush that is estimated to have saved 21 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections.

Fauci had noted for some time that he soon planned to step down from his positions, citing his long tenure at the NIH, his age, and his interest in other pursuits. "Obviously, you can't go on forever," Fauci told CNN in July. "I do want to do other things in my career, even though I'm at a rather advanced age."

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VESA wants to replace monitor response time specs with ‘ClearMR’ stamps

computer monitor displaying blurry motorcycle rider

Let's say you're buying a new PC monitor, TV, or laptop and want an idea of how clear fast movement would appear on it. What information would you consider? Specs like response time and refresh rate provide an idea of display speed. But if you think about it, a measurement of time isn't a particularly straightforward answer to the question of, "How much motion blur will I see?" In response, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), which makes other display standards, including DisplayPort and Adaptive-Sync, today announced a new specification program that puts a label on displays quantifying their expected motion blur performance.

The Clear Motion Ratio Compliance Test Specification (ClearMR) is a standard and logo program for consumer displays, including PC monitors, TVs, laptops, tablets, and all-in-ones (several products are already certified). It introduces a series of tiers with a numerical value that's supposed to indicate to consumers the display's ratio of clear pixels to blurry ones during fast-paced movement. For example, ClearMR 7000, which has a "Clear Motion Ratio" range of 6,500 to 7,500, means the display would have a clear-to-blurry ratio of 65–75:1 or 65–75 times more clear pixels than blurry ones.

VESA ClearMR Tier	Clear Motion Ratio (CMR) Range
ClearMR 3000	2,500 ≤ CMR < 3,500
ClearMR 4000	3,500 ≤ CMR < 4,500
ClearMR 5000	4,500 ≤ CMR < 5,500
ClearMR 6000	5,500 ≤ CMR < 6,500
ClearMR 7000	6,500 ≤ CMR < 7,500
ClearMR 8000	7,500 ≤ CMR < 8,500
ClearMR 9000	8,500 ≤ CMR

In an interview with Ars Technica, Dale Stolitzka, senior principal researcher at Samsung Display’s America R&D Lab and lead contributor to ClearMR, said that VESA settled on ClearMR 3000 as the lowest tier befitting laptops with screens in the 90–120 Hz range. Displays that are 60 Hz would typically not qualify for ClearMR certification.

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Apple expands self-service repair program to M1 MacBooks

Tomorrow, Apple will start providing repair manuals, parts, and tools for US customers to repair their own M1-based MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. M2-based Macs will not be supported at that time, but Apple said the program will extend to more Mac models "later this year."

Apple launched its Self Service Repair Store in April with repair manuals and the option to order tools and parts for the iPhone 12 series, iPhone 13 lineup, and latest iPhone SE.

As of tomorrow, the store will offer the same services to M1 MacBook Air and Pro owners, including the same parts made available to Apple Stores and authorized repair providers, according to Apple's announcement.

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