Tag Archives: region|US

Ford throws in a free home charger and installation with new EV purchases and leases

Posted on by

Ford is looking to take some of the sting out of EV charging by offering a free home charger. The automaker will even send out a technician to install it at no cost to you if you buy or lease a retail Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit between October 1 and January 2. However, Ford may opt to extend the program if it proves successful. (Ford Pro fleet customers will get a $2,000 commercial charging cash incentive instead.)

According to Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal, those who take up the offer will get a Level 2 charger at home. This should save Ford EV buyers and lessees a pretty penny, since the Ford Charge Station Pro costs $1,310 and the company typically charges $2,000 for installation. Still, those who want to take up the deal may need to make sure their garage is wired up properly to fully take advantage of Level 2 charging.

The EV side of Ford's business has been struggling as of late — the company expects that division to lose as much as $5.5 billion this year. In January, it cut production of the F-150 Lightning due to lower than expected demand and shifted resources to make more Broncos and Rangers. A few months later, the company delayed some EV models, including a planned three-row SUV, and placed more focus on hybrids. But in August, the automaker killed the three-row SUV project entirely while further delaying some other EVs.

Incentivizing EV purchases and leases with a free home charger and installation is smart and it could pay off for Ford. However, it may turn out to be little more than a Band-Aid for the division's deeper-set problems.

Update 9/30 2:53PM ET: The headline has been updated to reflect that the offer is available for all new EV purchases and leases in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ford-chucks-in-a-free-ev-home-charger-and-installation-with-some-models-160138994.html?src=rss

ByteDance will reportedly use Huawei chips to train a new AI model

Posted on by

As first reported by Reuters, ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is planning to train and develop an AI model using chips from fellow Chinese company Huawei. Three anonymous sources approached Reuters with this information; a fourth source couldn’t confirm that ByteDance was using Huawei chips but did say that a new AI model was in development.

Previously, ByteDance’s AI projects used NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips, which were designed for the Chinese market and avoided the trade restrictions the US government placed in 2022. Chinese customers were only allowed to purchase select models of AI chips, which was an attempt to slow down Chinese technological advancement.

ByteDance has ordered 100,000 Ascend 910B chips from Huawei this year but only received 30,000 of them. Huawei’s Ascend 910B chips are said to be superior to NVIDIA’s A100 chips in GPU performance and computing power efficiency. Nevertheless, the chip shortage halted ByteDance’s AI model development project.

The news isn’t confirmed by ByteDance yet, but it’s not the only company to switch away from NVIDIA products. Many other Chinese companies are slowly transitioning to local chips. Even though ByteDance had previously used loopholes to get NVIDIA AI chips, the latest development shows how China is attempting to reduce its dependence on Western products.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/bytedance-will-reportedly-use-huawei-chips-to-train-a-new-ai-model-154846749.html?src=rss

DirecTV to acquire rival Dish Network for $1, subject to regulatory approval

Posted on by

It’s always beautiful when two lonely corporations find one another. DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish Network, according to reporting by The New York Times. This would create a global behemoth in the satellite TV space.

It would also provide some financial armor for the struggling Dish Network. The company’s in debt to the tune of billions of dollars because, well, satellite TV isn’t exactly a growth industry anymore. Stream, baby, stream. All told, Dish has $2 billion in debt that’s due in November and only $500 million in available cash. That math don’t add up to anything but bankruptcy.

The specifics of the deal are pretty dang convoluted. It’s a multi-step transaction with a few players. First, the private equity firm TPG will acquire a majority stake in DirectTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. Next, DirecTV will buy Dish Network for just a single dollar. However, it’ll also take on that $2 billion in debt. EchoStar, the parent company of Dish, will hold onto some parts of the business as part of the transaction, including over $30 billion in wireless spectrum investments. DirecTV will get the Sling TV video service as part of the deal.

The acquisition would create a massive pay-TV provider, with a combined total of around 19 million subscribers. As a counterpoint, cable TV leader Comcast has 13.2 million subscribers. Netflix is creeping up on 300 million subscribers, to show the stark contrast between pay-TV and streaming.

The companies say they expect the deal to close in the second half of 2025, though the whole thing is subject to regulatory approval. The Justice Department denied a similar merger back in 2002, but that was when the satellite TV industry was at its peak.

More recently, the federal government side-eyed a potential merger between the two companies in 2020 on the grounds that it would deprive rural customers a viable alternative to Dish and DirecTV when looking to purchase 5G wireless service.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/directv-to-acquire-rival-dish-network-for-1-subject-to-regulatory-approval-152041300.html?src=rss

Early Prime Day Apple deals include the USB-C Apple Pencil at a record-low price

Posted on by

If you're eager to snag some tech deals during October Prime Day next week, you'll be happy to know you can already do so today. Apple deals can be hit or miss during sale events like this, but at the moment, we're seeing a record-low price on the USB-C Apple Pencil. You can grab the peripheral for onl y $69, which is $10 off and the lowest price we've seen. While not a huge discount, it does represent a savings of 13 percent, and it is currently the most affordable Apple Pencil you can buy.

Apple debuted this model last year as its most budget-friendly Apple Pencil so far, and this sale makes the peripheral even more wallet-friendly. However, Apple's long had a problem with making it clear to consumers which version of the stylus is compatible with their iPad.

For the sake of clarity, here are all the iPad models with which the USB-C Apple Pencil works:

  • iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later )

  • iPad Pro 11-inch (all models)

  • iPad Air 13-inch (M2)

  • iPad Air 11-inch (M2)

  • iPad Air (4th generation and later)

  • iPad (10th generation)

  • iPad mini (6th generation)

Although being able to charge the peripheral with a USB-C cable is handy, this version does lack some of the fancier features of the Apple Pencil Pro (which you can also snag on discount now for $116) and second-gen Apple Pencil. While you can attach it to the side of iPads with magnetic holders for safekeeping and convenience, there's no support for magnetic charging. Pressure sensitivity isn't available and you can't use Apple's nifty double-tap feature. However, the company says the USB-C Apple Pencil does support pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency and tilt sensitivity.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/early-prime-day-apple-deals-include-the-usb-c-apple-pencil-at-a-record-low-price-144636083.html?src=rss

Epic is suing Google and Samsung for making it too hard to download Fortnite

Posted on by

Some users may know that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has had its own app store for a while now, the Epic Games Store. The company also won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last December that found Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Despite that win, it seems that Epic’s court war has only begun. Epic Games is now suing Google again, but it also named Samsung in the lawsuit as a defendant. This time, its sights are trained on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature.

In the latest lawsuit, Epic Games is claiming that Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is making it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices. This is because Samsung now activates Auto Blocker, which only allows app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, by default and prevents third-party app installation unless you disable the function. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is even suggesting that Google and Samsung are working together, though he admits there’s no concrete evidence for this claim.

The Verge’s Sean Hollister put these claims to the test and discovered that his Samsung smartphone did prevent him from installing Epic Games Store, but it wasn’t so simple. There were no instructions on how to deactivate Auto Blocker. He then searched “turn off auto blocker” in the search bar, which yielded results but required jumping through several screens.

Besides winning against Google and legally proving that Google had a monopoly over Android app sharing, Epic Games also won a lawsuit against Apple. Apple had refused to let Epic Games launch its app store on iOS devices, but the EU forced Apple’s hand. However, Apple is still resisting and claims that its acceptance is only temporary.

How Google and Samsung will respond remains to be seen, but it’s possible that both companies will resist and claim they aren’t making it difficult to install the Epic Games Store. Once again, we’ll likely be waiting for the legal system to sort things out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/epic-is-suing-google-and-samsung-for-making-it-too-hard-to-download-fortnite-142846819.html?src=rss

Football Manager 25 is out on November 26

Posted on by

Football Manager 25 is finally on its way, with Sports Interactive confirming the news and announcing a release date. The game will arrive for PC, Mac, Xbox and PS5 on November 26, just in time for some Thanksgiving gameplay. At the same time, FM25 Mobile is launching exclusively on Netflix, while FM25 Touch should come to Nintendo Switch on December 3.

FM25 comes with two big updates: a switch to the Unity engine (everywhere except mobile) and women's football (or soccer, depending on where you're reading this from) arriving into the same world as the men's teams. Sega-owned SI first announced the development of women's games in 2021, claiming it would take a while to do in order to provide the same depth as the men's ones. Last year, it confirmed women's teams would be in FM25.

In a statement, Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson said, "The world gets to see two of our multi-year projects come to fruition: the switch to the Unity engine and the introduction of Women's Football. It gives us a real sense of achievement to begin sharing our hard work with you and we're really looking forward to showing you more of the game in the weeks before the game's release."

Right now, anyone who pre-orders FM25 for PC or Mac from a SEGA-approved digital retailer will get 10 percent off. SI will announce pre-orders for Xbox and PS5 editions later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/football-manager-25-is-out-on-november-26-140032348.html?src=rss

AMD’s latest updates address 9000X desktop CPU performance issues

Posted on by

After arriving two weeks late, AMD's Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors disappointed some buyers and reviewers due to lackluster performance. Now, the company has addressed those issues with several new updates. 

The biggest speed brake for Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs was the lack of Windows 11 branch prediction optimizations. For relief, you needed to either wait for Windows 11 24H2 (currently in the release preview channel), or add the optional KB5041587 update. However, AMD announced that the fix is now included by default in both Windows 11 version 23H2 build 22631.44112 or the latest 24H2 builds. That should boost performance by 3-13 percent across various games, with the biggest gains in Ryzen 9000 and Zen 5 processors. 

On top of that, AMD released the AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 BIOS update for Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 9700X processors. That extends the warranty on those processors to allow for a TDP (max power) level of 105W, way up from the 65W launch TDP. That alone will boost speeds up to 10 percent on AM5 and X870 series motherboards, AMD said. 

It also introduced core-to-core latency optimization for Ryzen 9000 series multi-CCD (chiplet) models. Testers noticed that it sometimes took two transactions to both read and write when information was shared across cores on different CCDs. Though AMD called this a "corner case," the latest BIOS update cuts the number of transactions in half, helping latency in that scenario. "Our lab tests suggest Metro, Starfield and Borderlands 3 can show some uplift, as well as synthetic tests like 3DMark Time Spy," AMD wrote. 

Still on the speed theme, AMD noted that X870 and X870E motherboards are now available with support for PCIe Gen 5 graphics (i.e., the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs), NVMe storage and USB4 as standard. AMD also introduced support for "enthusiast-class" DDR5-8000 EXPO memory support, with 1- to 2-nanoseconds of latency improvement. While not for everyone, "it's a great option for enthusiasts who want to push their systems to the limit," AMD said. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amds-latest-updates-address-9000x-desktop-cpu-performance-issues-130038015.html?src=rss

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is now available for some Cybertrucks

Posted on by

Buyers that paid at least $93,990 to be among the first to own (and beta test) Tesla's Cybertruck are finally getting a key, promised feature: Full Self-Driving (FSD). Several people on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum — including an Angeleno who posted a video — say that it has finally arrived in early access to select users, Electrek reported. 

After Tesla promised that FSD would arrive to Cybertrucks in September, the supervised version 12.5.5 v12 (the latest available) is shipping, but only to users in the early access program. That means the feature (included in the Tesla Cybertruck Foundation package) won't be available to most buyers for at least another month, based on Tesla's previous FSD history.

FSD worked smoothly for the short amount of time it was shown, according to the video above from Cybertruck Owner's Club forum user espresso-drumbeat. It guided the vehicle through an urban area then onto a freeway ramp before arriving on the I5 toward LA, all in relatively light evening traffic.

According to the update description, FSD (Supervised) v12 includes vision-based attention monitoring with sunglasses and merges city and highway into a single software stack. In other words, it's the first version to fully manage driving using end-to-end AI. 

Cybertruck deliveries first started 10 months ago, so FSD has been a long time coming. Recent testing by the independent automotive testing group AMCI determined that Tesla's FSD can only go 13 miles on average before requiring human intervention. 

Elon Musk recently promised unsupervised self-driving by the end of 2025, but he has been making that same claim for nearly 10 years and it's still not here. There's more pressure now than ever, though, as the company is set to reveal its FSD-dependent robotaxi product on October 10th. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-full-self-driving-is-now-available-for-some-cybertrucks-120055932.html?src=rss

The UK says goodbye to coal production

Posted on by

The UK's last coal plant will sigh out its final pollutants Monday before shutting down for good and officially ending the country's century and a half of coal production. Nottinghamshire's Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant was the last of its kind following Britain's 2015 commitment to close all coal power plants by 2025. Ratcliffe was originally scheduled to shut down in 2022 but stayed open after Russia invaded Ukraine and Europe entered a gas crisis.

The Ratcliffe plant once had 3,000 engineers but only employs 170 staff now. That group will gather to watch a livestream of the plant being turned off, and over 100 of them are set to work on decommissioning the plant over the next two years. Many of the other employees will enter new jobs at different power plants owned by Uniper, Raticliffe's German owner, while others will enter training programs to work on other aspects of the industry.

Britain opened the world's first coal power plant in 1882, London's Holborn Viaduct, with the help of Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Company. Coal has played a major part in the UK until very recently. According to a report from energy think tank Ember, coal was responsible for 39 percent of the UK's energy supply in 2012 but shrunk to just two percent in 2019. The decrease in coal production was reportedly equal to double the amount of all greenhouse gases used in the UK in 2023. Between 2012 and 2023, wind and solar generation also increased from six percent to a 34 percent share of the UK's energy. Britain still has a long way to go, but this step has made it the first G7 country to remove all coal power production.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-uk-says-goodbye-to-coal-production-114520865.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple’s rumored smart display may arrive next year

Posted on by

Remember those rumors of an Apple smart display suspended on a robot arm? According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to debut the first device as soon as 2025, alongside a new operating system called homeOS.

It could be a device with a robotic arm or a simpler HomePod-with-screen affair. Gurman elaborated on this, claiming two versions are in the works: a low-end display for the basics, like FaceTime and smart home controls, and a high-end robotic variant that’ll cost upwards of $1,000. According to the report, Apple Intelligence will be a key part of the experience for both devices. I’m intrigued to see how Apple’s flavor of AI can help me run my home. I literally have no idea how it would.

— Mat Smith

TMA
Engadget

Old-school upright vacuums left a lot to be desired, and cordless models right many of those wrongs. They’re thinner, lighter and easier to maneuver, and you don’t really have to sacrifice suction power anymore. Dyson isn’t your only option these days either — there are dozens of cordless vacuums. After testing a bunch of the best cordless stick vacuums, we’ve come up with our top picks, including our best budget pick at $300.

Continue reading.

Fujifilm’s original GFX100S was a popular alternative to the GFX100, offering the same picture quality in a slimmer body at a much lower price. It did have some flaws, though. Now, the company has released the $5,000 GFX100S II as a smaller, cheaper alternative to the $7,500 flagship GFX100 II. It’s a big improvement on the original and offers the same picture quality as the GFX100 II for $2,500 less. It lacks all the video talents of the pricier camera, though. 

Check out our full review.

TMA
Engadget

A Minecraft Movie is slated for release in April 2025 and will star Jack Black as Steve, alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks and Emma Myers. The team behind it shared a new clip during Minecraft Live, which expands on the brief crafting moment seen in the first trailer. The segment also gives us our first look at the movie’s interpretation of a Minecraft bee. I’ll let you form your own opinions — the teaser starts at 4:51.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-apples-rumored-smart-display-may-arrive-next-year-112222362.html?src=rss