Tesla has reduced the price of the Model 3, Model S, and Model X in North America, Electrek reports. The Model S and X both saw $5,000 price cuts to $74,990 and $79,990 respectively for their entry-level Long Range Plus versions, while their more expensive Performance versions have also been cut by $5k. The Model 3 has received a smaller $2,000 price cut across all versions, with the online entry-level Standard Range Plus Model 3 now starting at $37,990. Pricing for the Model Y, Tesla’s newest car, is unchanged. A Weibo post from Tesla’s official account confirmed that the company will also reduce the prices of the Model S and Model X cars sold in China. However, the Chinese price of its Model 3 cars, which it produces domestically in the country, will not be cut as part of the changes. Th...
YouTube says it’s begun fixing an error in its moderation system that caused comments containing certain Chinese-language phrases critical of China’s Communist Party (CCP) to be automatically deleted. The issue meant that comments containing the phrases “共匪” (“communist bandit”) and “五毛” (“50-cent party”) were removed from the site in a matter of seconds. The former phrase is an insult dating back to China’s Nationalist government, while the latter is derogatory slang for internet users paid to defend the CCP from criticism online. It originates from the claim that these users are paid 50 Chinese cents per post. YouTube told The Verge that the issue that caused comments containing these phrases to be deleted had been fixed for a number of these terms, but that it was still investigating th...
Sadly, the time has come for me to write about Rich Communication Services again. There have been a few pieces of news about it in the past week or so and I find myself vaguely optimistic that by this time next year Google will be offering properly encrypted messaging to Android users with a relatively simple, seamless experience that’s well on its way to being universally available. Plus, Google is finally starting to transition users from Hangouts to Google Chat in a real way under new management that is motivated to finally get it right because everybody is paying way more attention during the pandemic. But let’s stick with RCS for the moment. Google has me at the spot where Charlie Brown is at his most tragically hopeful and Sisyphean: right before he resolves to run at the football an...
Texas Instruments has removed the ability for some of its most popular calculators to run programs written in assembly or C, Cemetech reports. Hobbyists are not happy with the changes. In addition to being used as educational tools, TI calculators are also relatively simple and cheap programming devices. According to a customer support email posted on TI-Planet (via Linus Tech Tips), affected calculators include the popular TI-84 Plus CE, as well as the TI-83 Plus CE-T, and the TI-83 Premium CE. The functionality is disappearing in the devices’ latest firmware update, and there’s currently no way to roll back the software. The popular TI-84 Plus CE is one of the calculators affected The change is being made to try and stop students from circumventing the calculators’ exam mode restrictions...
Many true wireless earbuds now let you “find” them by either playing a sound (if they’re powered on, out of their case, and nearby) or pulling up the location where they were last paired to your phone. But what if you could track your earbuds even when they’re powered down? That’s the appeal that has led an increasing number of brands to build Tile’s tracking technology into their devices — including laptops, suitcases, and headphones from Bose and Sennheiser — and now Skullycandy is joining in. Today the company is announcing several models of true wireless earbuds, and all of them offer Tile integration, letting you pinpoint their location just like the company’s standalone tracking tags. If the earbuds are somewhere close, the Tile app will let you know that they’re nearby. For cases wh...
Zipline’s drones are delivering medical supplies and personal protective equipment to a Novant Health Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, the two companies announced today. Importantly, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the deliveries are entirely contactless. Zipline says this is the first emergency drone logistics operation to help hospitals respond to the pandemic, and it’s also the longest-range drone delivery service that’s been approved in the US. “We’re likely in for a long-term fight against COVID-19,” Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo said in a statement. “Using contactless drone logistics will be an important tool in that effort. The work underway here in North Carolina will provide the rest of the country with a blueprint for how to build the most resilient and responsive hea...
Fujifilm has released new software that lets you use certain X-series and GFX-series mirrorless cameras as ultra-high-quality webcams. The app is called Fujifilm X Webcam and works over USB, letting you benefit from much sharper lenses and larger image sensors than the potato camera in your laptop. You’re even able to use Fujifilm’s renowned film simulation modes. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven unprecedented demand for webcams due to the shift to remote work, with extreme stock shortages and jacked-up prices. Canon has already released a similar webcam utility for many of its digital cameras, and it’s possible to make other companies’ cameras work as webcams with a little extra hardware. We published a guide to doing this earlier in the month. Here’s how Dan Seifert’s laptop webcam compa...
A new collection of Samurai Shodown games is coming out in a couple of weeks, and it marks another notable exclusivity deal for the Epic Games Store. Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection will be released on Steam on June 18th and PS4 and Switch on June 28th for $39.99, but you’ll be able to get it first on the Epic Games Store on June 11th, and it’ll be completely free for a week. Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection includes all six Neo Geo iterations of the classic fighting series, plus a completed version of Samurai Shodown V Perfect, an unreleased game that was supposed to be the final Neo Geo title. Each game has online modes and includes both the Japanese and English arcade versions. There’s also a “museum” featuring interviews, music, development documents, and more. So, it has finally ...
On Tuesday, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a bill that would upend political advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google. The Banning Microtargeted Political Ads Act would bar platforms like Google and Facebook from allowing advertisers to target messages based on the demographic or behavioral data of their users. The Federal Elections Commission would act as the primary enforcer of these proposed rules, but the bill leaves room for individuals to bring civil action on companies accused of violating it. A court could award anywhere from $100 to $1,000 in relief for negligent violations and $500 to $5,000 for reckless ones. “Microtargeting political ads fractures our open democratic debate into millions of private, unchecked silos, allowing for the spread of false promises, polariz...
Short-form mobile video service Quibi now supports Apple’s AirPlay protocol, which means you’ll be able to stream content from Quibi on your phone to AirPlay-enabled TVs and devices. Quibi is also “working hard” to have support for Chromecast available in June, according to Tom Conrad, chief product officer at Quibi. That should let Android users cast content from the Quibi app to their TVs as well, once it’s rolled out. Sure we designed Quibi for on-the-go, but these days visiting the family room is like a day trip… so AirPlay support is live for iOS in Quibi 1.3. Working hard on Chromecast too which will be available in June. — Tom Conrad (@tconrad) May 26, 2020 It first came to light that Quibi would be offering some sort of way to stream shows to TVs from the iOS app in a May 11th arti...
Google will begin reopening offices starting on July 6th for a limited number of employees. In a blog post published on Tuesday, CEO Sundar Pichai said that, while returning to work will be optional for the rest of the year, those who need to come in will be able to on a rotating basis — one day every couple weeks. The company is also giving workers a $1,000 stipend for home office equipment to make remote work easier. In September, Google plans to let more people back into the office, until buildings reach about 30 percent capacity. Those who need to come in to do their jobs will be notified by June 10th. Pichai also said the company will be more flexible with remote working options after the pandemic lifts. “Moving ahead, we are looking to develop more overall flexibility in how we work,...
Amazon has been successfully feeding talking points, video footage, and other corporate messaging to local television news stations ahead of its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. The footage and script are designed to paint Amazon in a positive light as it faces a torrent of bad media coverage and criticism from activists and politicians over its handling of workplace safety issues during the coronavirus pandemic. As Zach Rael, an anchor for ABC affiliate KOCO 5 News in Oklahoma City, pointed out on Twitter earlier this morning, Amazon’s public relations team has been emailing TV stations around the country with prepared scripts and b-roll packages that promote the company’s safety precautions and other measures to combat COVID-19 among its warehouse workforce. So far, eight Amazon ...