Monthly Archives: January 2024

Porsche’s all-electric Macan SUV boasts a 381-mile range and up to 621hp

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Porsche just officially revealed the new all-electric Macan SUV, after giving us a little tease last year. Along with the reveal, the company dropped specs, pricing information and an approximate release date. 

This looks to be a direct rival to vehicles like Jaguar’s I-Pace and the Polestar 4. To that end, this is a well-equipped vehicle. First and foremost, the battery is on point, allowing for 381 miles before running out of power. That’s Miami to Jacksonville on a single charge, with some juice to spare. It’ll be available in two variants: the 397hp Macan 4 and 621hp Macan Turbo. The company promised 600 horsepower and it looks to have delivered, with the Turbo at least. It’s worth noting that the range here dwarfs the popular Porsche Taycan EV, though that model’s made for speed and not distance.

An image of the dashboard.
Porsche

On the interior, the EV Macan features three digital displays as part of a robust infotainment system. There’s a standard 12.6-inch curved instrument cluster and an 11-inch infotainment touchscreen. The vehicle also offers another 11-inch touchscreen for passengers, to allow them to stream content and adjust controls. The whole platform’s powered by Porsche’s proprietary voice assistant, which is built on top of the Android Automotive operating system. There’s even a dedicated app store, appropriately named the Porsche App Center.

You’ll also notice a streamlined exterior that looks exceptionally sleek when compared to earlier iterations of the Macan. The rear even boasts a retractable spoiler that automatically adjusts positioning to increase downforce. The front motor was developed by Bosch, but the rear motor was made in-house at Porsche’s manufacturing center in Zuffenhausen, Germany.

A white exterior near a ferris wheel.
Porsche

There’s also a new electronically-controlled traction management system, which Porsche says is up to five times faster than the four-wheel drive system of the existing gas-powered Macan. The vehicle also includes Porsche’s Torque Vectoring Plus system, for enhanced steering behavior.

The Porsche Macan EV, which is no longer called the E-Macan, will be sold alongside the gas-powered version until next year, at which point the company will sunset the OG model. This is part of the company’s promise to transition 80 percent of global sales to electric vehicles by 2030.

Porsche should release the car by the end of the year, though it was originally supposed to show up in 2023, so we shall see. The EV Macan SUV will cost $88,600 for the standard model and a whopping $120,000 for the Turbo, according to Autocar.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/porsches-all-electric-macan-suv-boasts-a-381-mile-range-and-up-to-621hp-163940921.html?src=rss

Samsung Galaxy Watch non-invasive glucose monitor will be a live-saving game-changer

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While there seems to be a rising interest in smart rings as condensed fitness monitors, smartwatches are hardly done growing. Smart rings, at least in their current incarnation, promise a discreet way to keep track of your body’s state, but smartwatches have more room for more advanced sensors and features that you can never fit inside a ring. Some of those features might even make the difference between life and death, as proven time and again by Apple Watch anecdotes. Samsung, however, is setting its sights on a more ambitious goal that’s considered to be one of the Holy Grails of home healthcare. In the near future, its Galaxy Watch line could tell the wearer if their blood sugar is dangerously low or high, all without having to prick their skin and draw blood.

Designer: Samsung (via Bloomberg)

Next to heart-related disorders, diabetes is considered to be one of the most serious diseases plaguing people today. In fact, it’s also labeled as a “silent killer” because of how too late a diagnosis often comes. Monitoring one’s glucose or blood sugar levels, after all, is a literally painful procedure that most people would avoid, including diabetics themselves. There is a great and urgent demand for non-invasive glucose monitoring solutions, and Samsung is apparently already eyeing that achievement.

According to the company’s digital health chief, Hon Pak, Samsung is really pushing hard to make this innovation available in a future version of its Galaxy Watch wearables, like the Galaxy Watch 6 pictured in this piece. A non-invasive blood sugar monitor, together with continuous blood pressure monitoring, would definitely put Samsung at the head of the race. Of course, it’s easier said than done, and even the exec can only hope that the technology and the product will be available within the next five years.

It can’t take its sweet time either, because in addition to medical equipment manufacturers trying to cash in on this potentially lucrative future market, Samsung is also racing against Apple. The Cupertino-based company whose Apple Watch has become synonymous with life-saving wearables, has long been reported to be working on a solution as well. Such a smartwatch with a non-invasive glucose monitor will surely be a reality, but whoever gets there first will be able to claim a large share of the market.

Then again, diabetics and healthcare workers probably care less about who launches a design first, as long as a reliable product does indeed arrive. There are already a few non-invasive monitors that indirectly compute glucose levels from other biometrics, but their accuracy is often still in question. A smartwatch might not even be as accurate as those, but anything that will give wearers the faintest clue is still significantly better than not knowing at all until it’s far too late to make a difference.

The post Samsung Galaxy Watch non-invasive glucose monitor will be a live-saving game-changer first appeared on Yanko Design.

Improve iPhone audio quality with Conversation Boost and AirPods Pro

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improve iPhone audio quality with airpods

If you have been struggling with the audio quality of your conversations on iOS devices. You may be interested to know that Apple has a unique feature for its iPhone called Conversation Boost which is been specifically designed to work with the companies AirPods Pro to improve audio quality when in conversation. Imagine being able […]

The post Improve iPhone audio quality with Conversation Boost and AirPods Pro appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Microsoft slashes 1,900 jobs across Xbox and Activision Blizzard

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We're not even one month into 2024 and it's already been another brutal year for workers in the video game industry. Microsoft is the latest company to announce a major round of layoffs in its gaming division as it's cutting around 1,900 workers from its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (aka Bethesda) teams. That brings the total number of video game layoffs this year to around 6,000 already. There were around 9,000 layoffs in the industry in all of 2023, according to some estimates. 

"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told employees in a memo obtained by The Verge. "As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team."

The majority of the cuts are said to be within Activision Blizzard, three months after Microsoft finally closed its $68.7 billion takeover of the publisher. Some positions on the Xbox and ZeniMax teams will be affected too. The cuts equate to around eight percent of Microsoft's gaming division.

"The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here," Spencer wrote. "We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws."

Spencer added that Microsoft will "continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together."

Xbox confirmed to Engadget that Spencer sent this memo to Microsoft employees on Thursday morning.

Among those leaving the company is Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who is exiting of his own accord. "I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted — this is in no way a reflection on your amazing work," Ybarra wrote on X.

"To the Blizzard community: I also want to let you all know today is my last day at Blizzard. Leading Blizzard through an incredible time and being part of the team, shaping it for the future ahead, was an absolute honor," Ybarra continued. "Having already spent 20+ years at Microsoft and with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard behind us, it’s time for me to (once again) become Blizzard’s biggest fan from the outside." Microsoft’s game content and studios president Matt Booty told staff that the company plans to appoint a new Blizzard president next week.

The layoffs included most of those remaining in Activision Blizzard's esports organization, according to reports. The publisher previously let go around 50 esports staffers last summer ahead of a reorganization of the Overwatch competitive circuit — Blizzard has outsourced operations of the new Overwatch Champions Series to ESL FACEIT Group. This round of layoffs included Call of Duty League and Overwatch League broadcast staff, onscreen talent and observers (folks who keep an eye on the action to make sure the broadcast team is catching the biggest plays). 

“Our esports business is not going away, but we’re being thoughtful about how to evolve to better deliver for our players and fans. With a continued commitment to competitive esports, we have landed on a model that more closely aligns with our game franchises," Activision Blizzard told GamesBeat. "We’re not stopping esports, instead, we are adapting to a new business model to better serve the community. The people who are directly impacted have all played an important role in the success of our team, and the success of Activision Blizzard. We are grateful for their contributions, and we will provide our full support with severance, equity, bonus, healthcare, and job support.”

One other major consequence of this reorganization, according to The Verge, is that Blizzard's survival game, codenamed Odyssey, has been cancelled. That would have marked Blizzard's entry into a new genre, but it did not reveal any other details about the project since announcing it two years ago. Some of the developers who were working on the survival game are being moved over to "one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development," Booty wrote.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Odyssey had been in the works for six years. Partway through development, Blizzard execs reportedly told the team to switch from making the game in Unreal Engine to an in-house engine called Synapse. However, the tech was taking too long to come together. Despite positive feedback for early versions of the game, it was going to take several more years before Odyssey would be finished. In the end, Activision Blizzard canceled the game after reportedly determining that Synapse was not ready for prime time.

Layoffs are commonplace following major mergers, especially once higher-ups pinpoint areas of overlap. Oftentimes, that's seen in positions on the corporate side, such as marketing and human resources. 

This is the largest single slate of layoffs in the gaming industry so far this year, outstripping the 1,800 workers that Unity is letting go. Twitch and Discord are also laying off hundreds of people each. This week, Riot Games said it was reducing its headcount by around 530 people. Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive, Tiny Tina's Wonderland developer Lost Boys Interactive and Outriders maker People Can Fly are also among the many gaming companies to have conducted layoffs so far in 2024.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) told Engadget in a statement that none of its members were hit by the layoffs. The union represents hundreds of people across Microsoft's gaming division, including around 300 quality assurance workers at ZeniMax and others at the likes of Raven Software. 

Last June, as it was trying to appease regulators and close its purchase of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft pledged to adopt a neutral stance when employees covered by an agreement with the CWA express interest in joining a union. In turn, the CWA backed the planned merger.

Update 1/25 3:59PM ET: Added more details regarding the cancellation of Odyssey from Bloomberg's report.

Update 1/26 1:20PM ET: Added confirmation from the CWA that none of its members were laid off.

Update 1/30 3:14PM ET: Added details about layoffs in Activision Blizzard's esports division.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-slashes-1900-jobs-across-xbox-and-activision-blizzard-145304693.html?src=rss

Sonicwave OWS wireless earbuds offer massive 168hrs of playback thanks to replace batteries

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Sonicwave OWS earbuds

Immerse yourself in the latest advancement in personal audio with the Sonicwave OWS wireless earbuds. These open-ear devices are designed to transform the way you listen to music, manage calls, and interact with the world around you. With a host of cutting-edge features, the Sonicwave OWS earphones are crafted to enhance your listening sessions while […]

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T-Force GE PRO NVMe Gen 5 SSD designed for gamers

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T-Force GE PRO NVMe Gen 5 SSD

In the fast-paced world of high-performance gaming, a new solid-state drive (SSD) has emerged that promises to elevate the experience of gamers everywhere. Team Group Inc.’s T-FORCE brand has introduced the T-FORCE GE PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD, a device that combines speed, reliability, and innovative technology to meet the demands of the most avid gamers […]

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Motorola Moto G04 smartphone gets official

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Motorola Moto G04

Motorola has added a new Android smartphone to its range with the launch of the Motorola Moto G04 smartphone, and the handset comes with a 6.6-inch display with an HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The handset comes with an octa-core processor and it also features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of included storage, […]

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Phantom 2 Titanium folding utility knife

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Phantom 2 folding utility knife Kickstarter

The Phantom 2.0 Titanium Folding Utility Knife is a tool that stands out for its precision and durability, designed to meet the needs of professionals and DIY enthusiasts who demand the best in performance. This new model is an upgrade from its predecessor, crafted from Gr5 titanium and reinforced with carbon fiber sheets, offering a […]

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