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This will fit in most parking spots. | Image: Hyundai

The reviews for Hyundai’s little electric SUV that could are trickling in, and it’s clear that the Inster is a delightful way to move about town — regardless of its lack of quickness compared to other similarly-sized EVs. The Inster’s top speed for the long-range version is about 93 miles per hour (or 150 km/h), and it has a zero to 62 mph (100km/h) acceleration in 10.6 seconds, according to the specs Hyundai published today.
Hyundai also revealed more details about the Inster’s price, with European reviewers saying it’s expensive compared to similar competition at £23,495 (about $25,477). In the US, however, that’s a price we can only dream about since our most affordable options include the $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV or the hope Tesla will deliver a cheaper car for around $25,000.

Image: Hyundai
Hyundai uses the Casper name in Korea only.

Although we’ve been pretty sad Hyundai isn’t planning to release the Inster in the US, it’s understandable America’s appetite for big, powerful AWD vehicles might be a factor (the Inster only has a single 84.5kW motor). Heck, if you look at Hyundai’s latest sales numbers, the hybrid Tucson SUV is having its best-ever month here.
One newer compact EV that has made it to the US is the Fiat 500e. At 143 inches in length, it’s only about 7 inches shorter than the Inster at 150.59 inches. However, the Inster has more internal storage since it’s SUV-shaped, plus it has a range of about 230 miles WTLP on the long range 49 kWh battery compared to the 500e’s, which is under 200 miles.
So why aren’t we getting the Inster in the US again? Maybe things could change, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

This will fit in most parking spots. | Image: Hyundai

The reviews for Hyundai’s little electric SUV that could are trickling in, and it’s clear that the Inster is a delightful way to move about town — regardless of its lack of quickness compared to other similarly-sized EVs. The Inster’s top speed for the long-range version is about 93 miles per hour (or 150 km/h), and it has a zero to 62 mph (100km/h) acceleration in 10.6 seconds, according to the specs Hyundai published today.

Hyundai also revealed more details about the Inster’s price, with European reviewers saying it’s expensive compared to similar competition at £23,495 (about $25,477). In the US, however, that’s a price we can only dream about since our most affordable options include the $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV or the hope Tesla will deliver a cheaper car for around $25,000.

Image: Hyundai
Hyundai uses the Casper name in Korea only.

Although we’ve been pretty sad Hyundai isn’t planning to release the Inster in the US, it’s understandable America’s appetite for big, powerful AWD vehicles might be a factor (the Inster only has a single 84.5kW motor). Heck, if you look at Hyundai’s latest sales numbers, the hybrid Tucson SUV is having its best-ever month here.

One newer compact EV that has made it to the US is the Fiat 500e. At 143 inches in length, it’s only about 7 inches shorter than the Inster at 150.59 inches. However, the Inster has more internal storage since it’s SUV-shaped, plus it has a range of about 230 miles WTLP on the long range 49 kWh battery compared to the 500e’s, which is under 200 miles.

So why aren’t we getting the Inster in the US again? Maybe things could change, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Read More 

Image: Epic Games

Fortnite is rewinding the clock once again. After a bit of teasing, Epic is about to kick off a new period in the battle royale game dubbed The Remix: Chapter 2 — and it’s not only looking back in time, it’s integrating music in an ambitious new way.
The launch of the remixed season was preceded by a musical event, similar to the Eminem concert that teased a new era for Fortnite. This time around, Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice took the stage — both in the game and IRL at Times Square in New York — and once the season kicks off, the musical aspects will go a step farther.

Image: Epic Games

As the name implies, the new mini season brings back many of the characters, gameplay elements, and locations of the game’s second chapter, which launched in 2019. Chapter 2 was notable in particular because it erased the original battle royale map to start over fresh for the first time. (The Chapter 2 map itself would be swapped out in 2021 when it flipped over in dramatic fashion.) The month-long event will change things up weekly, with new elements themed around a different musical artist. Snoop Dogg is up first, followed by Eminem, Ice Spice, and culminating with Juice WRLD.
The remixed version of Chapter 2 begins on November 2nd and will run through November 30th, with Epic teasing a “finale” event to wrap things up. It’s also introducing a new cosmetic item: kicks, so that you can put a pair of Nikes on Peely the banana.

Image: Epic Games

Going back in time isn’t new for the game. A year ago Epic kicked off Fortnite OG, a throwback mini season that was designed specifically to lure back lapsed players, before the game dramatically expanded with new experiences like Lego Fortnite. Similarly, music has long been a large focus for the game, with virtual concerts from the likes of Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, along with a rhythm game called Fortnite Festival featuring stars like Billie Eilish.
More recently, Epic has started streamlining Fortnite’s battle passes to better accommodate all of its many games. Meanwhile, a number of notable places have been crafting Fortnite islands of late, including Hasbro, ESPN, and the Kamala Harris campaign.

Image: Epic Games

Fortnite is rewinding the clock once again. After a bit of teasing, Epic is about to kick off a new period in the battle royale game dubbed The Remix: Chapter 2 — and it’s not only looking back in time, it’s integrating music in an ambitious new way.

The launch of the remixed season was preceded by a musical event, similar to the Eminem concert that teased a new era for Fortnite. This time around, Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice took the stage — both in the game and IRL at Times Square in New York — and once the season kicks off, the musical aspects will go a step farther.

Image: Epic Games

As the name implies, the new mini season brings back many of the characters, gameplay elements, and locations of the game’s second chapter, which launched in 2019. Chapter 2 was notable in particular because it erased the original battle royale map to start over fresh for the first time. (The Chapter 2 map itself would be swapped out in 2021 when it flipped over in dramatic fashion.) The month-long event will change things up weekly, with new elements themed around a different musical artist. Snoop Dogg is up first, followed by Eminem, Ice Spice, and culminating with Juice WRLD.

The remixed version of Chapter 2 begins on November 2nd and will run through November 30th, with Epic teasing a “finale” event to wrap things up. It’s also introducing a new cosmetic item: kicks, so that you can put a pair of Nikes on Peely the banana.

Image: Epic Games

Going back in time isn’t new for the game. A year ago Epic kicked off Fortnite OG, a throwback mini season that was designed specifically to lure back lapsed players, before the game dramatically expanded with new experiences like Lego Fortnite. Similarly, music has long been a large focus for the game, with virtual concerts from the likes of Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, along with a rhythm game called Fortnite Festival featuring stars like Billie Eilish.

More recently, Epic has started streamlining Fortnite’s battle passes to better accommodate all of its many games. Meanwhile, a number of notable places have been crafting Fortnite islands of late, including Hasbro, ESPN, and the Kamala Harris campaign.

Read More 

Thanks to their superb ANC, the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are our No. 1 pick when it’s time to hop aboard a plane. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Well, the early Black Friday deals took less than a day to begin. Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, and a number of other major retailers have officially begun running their holiday promotions in anticipation of the annual shopping event, though few of them are offering discounts as steep as Bose. For a limited time, you can grab the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for an all-time low of $329 ($100 off) or the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds for $229 ($100 off) via the same retailers (Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy).

Unsurprisingly, the QC Ultra Headphones and QC Ultra Earbuds are incredibly similar, form factor notwithstanding. Both offer exceptional comfort and best-in-class noise cancellation, allowing you to eliminate the cacophony of daily life with ease and rendering either a terrific pick for travel. They also support Bose’s “immersive audio” mode — the company’s take on spatial audio — and AptX Adaptive Bluetooth, the latter of which allows for improved audio fidelity on Android devices. Plus, thanks to a recent software update that rolled out over the summer, they both support multipoint, so you can pair them with two devices simultaneously.
Read our Bose QC Ultra Headphones and QC Ultra Earbuds reviews.

Other ways to save right now

If you like to play games directly on your phone or via remote play, the latest Backbone One controller is available with a PlayStation layout through the PlayStation Direct storefront for an all-time low of $59.99 ($40 off). The second-gen mobile controller packs a few minor improvements over the original, including a reshaped D-pad and greater compatibility, though you’ll want to make sure you grab the appropriate version for your phone. The Lightning version only works with older iPhones, after all, while the USB-C option lets you use an iPhone 15- or 16-series phone or an Android device.

Amazon is currently offering a lightning deal on the OnePlus Pad, which drops the first-gen Android tablet to an all-time low of $340 ($140 off) for a limited time. The OnePlus Pad 2 is slightly larger and offers improved performance; however, the last-gen model still offers a stellar 144Hz LCD display, quick performance, and great speakers that can rival those on Apple’s 11-inch Air. Just don’t expect it to offer the kind of dedicated app ecosystem you’d get with one of Apple’s devices — or Samsung’s, for that matter. Read our review.
Grovemade remains my go-to for wooden desktop accessories, but Oaky isn’t far behind. And now through the end of November, the latter is hosting a Black Friday sale on a variety of goods, dropping prices on everything from standup desks to laptop docks. My personal picks are the 105-inch Desk Shelf, which is on sale for $150 ($50 off), and the angular Laptop Stand, which is going for $120 ($30 off). Neither is cheap, mind you, but oak rarely is.

Thanks to their superb ANC, the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are our No. 1 pick when it’s time to hop aboard a plane. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Well, the early Black Friday deals took less than a day to begin. Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, and a number of other major retailers have officially begun running their holiday promotions in anticipation of the annual shopping event, though few of them are offering discounts as steep as Bose. For a limited time, you can grab the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for an all-time low of $329 ($100 off) or the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds for $229 ($100 off) via the same retailers (Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy).

Unsurprisingly, the QC Ultra Headphones and QC Ultra Earbuds are incredibly similar, form factor notwithstanding. Both offer exceptional comfort and best-in-class noise cancellation, allowing you to eliminate the cacophony of daily life with ease and rendering either a terrific pick for travel. They also support Bose’s “immersive audio” mode — the company’s take on spatial audio — and AptX Adaptive Bluetooth, the latter of which allows for improved audio fidelity on Android devices. Plus, thanks to a recent software update that rolled out over the summer, they both support multipoint, so you can pair them with two devices simultaneously.

Read our Bose QC Ultra Headphones and QC Ultra Earbuds reviews.

Other ways to save right now

If you like to play games directly on your phone or via remote play, the latest Backbone One controller is available with a PlayStation layout through the PlayStation Direct storefront for an all-time low of $59.99 ($40 off). The second-gen mobile controller packs a few minor improvements over the original, including a reshaped D-pad and greater compatibility, though you’ll want to make sure you grab the appropriate version for your phone. The Lightning version only works with older iPhones, after all, while the USB-C option lets you use an iPhone 15- or 16-series phone or an Android device.

Amazon is currently offering a lightning deal on the OnePlus Pad, which drops the first-gen Android tablet to an all-time low of $340 ($140 off) for a limited time. The OnePlus Pad 2 is slightly larger and offers improved performance; however, the last-gen model still offers a stellar 144Hz LCD display, quick performance, and great speakers that can rival those on Apple’s 11-inch Air. Just don’t expect it to offer the kind of dedicated app ecosystem you’d get with one of Apple’s devices — or Samsung’s, for that matter. Read our review.
Grovemade remains my go-to for wooden desktop accessories, but Oaky isn’t far behind. And now through the end of November, the latter is hosting a Black Friday sale on a variety of goods, dropping prices on everything from standup desks to laptop docks. My personal picks are the 105-inch Desk Shelf, which is on sale for $150 ($50 off), and the angular Laptop Stand, which is going for $120 ($30 off). Neither is cheap, mind you, but oak rarely is.

Read More 

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

But Marvel’s WandaVision follow-up stuck the landing by spelling out the secrets that were hiding in plain sight. When Agatha All Along was first announced back in 2021 as a music-heavy follow-up to WandaVision, it was hard to imagine how showrunner Jac Schaeffer could recreate the magic that made the original such an inspired piece of storytelling. WandaVision’s shows-within-a-show premise and clever use of practical effects, along with being one of the first Disney Plus series, helped to set it apart from previous Marvel projects. But Schaeffer also used WandaVision to weave beats from the franchise’s tentpole films into a cohesive narrative that helped bring the entire MCU into its multiversal era.
From its very first episode, Agatha All Along went to great lengths to show us that, even with WandaVision’s lead killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there was still plenty of — and perhaps too much — meat for Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness to chew on. The show’s two-part finale stuck the landing by living up to its title in more ways than one. Though the MCU’s interconnectedness has felt increasingly wobbly post-WandaVision, Agatha All Along ended in a way that feels poised to put (at least some of) the franchise back on track. And with another follow-up series already in development, it seems like Marvel has figured out that these specific stories are the ones it has the best shot of knocking out of the park.
This piece contains spoilers about Agatha All Along’s finale.

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

WandaVision briefly touched on covens in a flashback to the 17th century when Agatha killed her mother Evanora (Kate Forbes) and their group of sister witches. But Agatha All Along digs deeper, introducing characters like Agatha’s ex-lover Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) and a mysterious teen who’s unable to share his name (Joe Locke). Because Agatha herself was already framed as a unique threat to magic users, it was difficult to suss out what kinds of dangers were lying in wait for the coven as she and the teen recruited fortune teller Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), potions master Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), protection witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), and ordinary Jersey woman Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) to their ranks.
But Agatha All Along established a very clear focus for all of its players. The “Witches’ Road” — a realm entered by covens singing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” — and its ability to grant wishes to those who passed its trials gave the witches a reason to work together. And similar to how Agatha All Along’s send-up of Mare of Easttown was a callback to WandaVision’s sitcom spoofs, the Witches’ Road felt like the show’s biggest way of emphasizing the power of practical effects.
The Road, with all of its hand-painted leaves and trees that transformed the set into an otherworldly forest, hammered home how Agatha All Along’s creative team was smartly using its lean budget to create magic that felt more real than its predecessor’s. And the Road’s horror movie-inspired trials to test witches’ skills gave the show a narrative structure that was similar to but distinct enough from WandaVision’s to make it seem like Agatha All Along truly was the second chapter in a trilogy of stories rather than just a spinoff.

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

As tends to be the case with genre TV shows with big casts, Agatha All Along occasionally struggled to keep all of its plates spinning at the same speed as Agatha’s. Each witch got a chance to shine when facing a different trial, but some of their backstories — especially Jennifer’s and Alice’s — felt rushed and went largely unexplored. Some of the trials themselves were a bit shaggy. (At one point, the witches brew a poison antidote by dumping a bunch of ingredients into a sink.) As unwieldy as Agatha All Along sometimes was, though, it was also willing to kill characters off with a finality that helped it become sharper as the season progressed.
There was still some question as to what Agatha All Along’s big bad might end up being by the season’s midway point, when Sharon and Alice had already bitten the dust. But all of the show’s puzzle pieces began fitting together in episodes five and six as the teen was revealed to be Billy Maximoff / William Kaplan, one of the Scarlet Witch’s sons, who had possessed the body of a dead person.
One of the more impressive things about WandaVision was the way it managed to rework some of Marvel’s most convoluted Scarlet Witch and Vision comics arcs into a story that was concise and compelling enough to keep people who weren’t readers of the comics consistently engaged. Much of Billy’s comics lore — he and his brother wind up having their souls reabsorbed by the demon Mephisto before being reincarnated as strangers — is even wilder than his spiritual mother’s. But Agatha All Along made quick work of incorporating many of those beats with a story reminiscent of WandaVision’s “We Interrupt This Program,” which cleverly stepped outside of the series’ sitcom conceit.
Unlike Alice’s and Sharon’s arcs, it was clear early on that Agatha All Along was teasing something important with Lilia’s many moments of confusion stemming from her power to see the future. What was far less obvious, however, was that the show was using her to set the stage for a time-jumping episode that would provide key context for some of the show’s most satisfying twists: Rio was actually the personification of death in disguise.

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

Of all the Marvel characters who might pop up in a Disney Plus show, it was genuinely surprising to see Death given how, in the comics, she’s a cosmic entity most often associated with Thanos (and occasionally Spider-Man’s clone). But Death’s arrival also brought a fascinating gravity to everything happening to the coven. It added some context to the show’s rising body count and a new layer of intrigue to Agatha and Rio’s romantic past — another beat that could have benefitted from more fleshing out. Death gave Jennifer, Billy, and Agatha a clearly defined foe to rally against as they neared the Road’s end. And while the witches’ final battle against Death wasn’t all that much to write home about, it brought Agatha All Along’s own story and its deeper connections to WandaVision into much clearer focus.
Agatha All Along’s final two episodes establish how, right up until Agatha and Billy’s coven sang the ballad together and created a doorway, the Witches’ Road never truly existed. It was just a myth that began in Agatha’s early days of being a witch and a new mother to her son. Spreading the idea of the Road’s existence gave Agatha an easy way to lure witches into the woods under the pretense of opening a portal, only for her to steal their magic. That was her plan all along with the present-day coven, and she probably would have gotten away with it, too. But in the show’s final episode, Agatha returns as a ghost to tell Billy that things worked out very differently in this instance because of his desire for the Witches’ Road to be real.
That plot point and Agatha’s insistence on remaining with Billy as a spectral mentor crystalized the degree to which Agatha All Along really was continuing WandaVision’s story — pushing forward its characters and also what a Marvel show can do.

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel

But Marvel’s WandaVision follow-up stuck the landing by spelling out the secrets that were hiding in plain sight.

When Agatha All Along was first announced back in 2021 as a music-heavy follow-up to WandaVision, it was hard to imagine how showrunner Jac Schaeffer could recreate the magic that made the original such an inspired piece of storytelling. WandaVision’s shows-within-a-show premise and clever use of practical effects, along with being one of the first Disney Plus series, helped to set it apart from previous Marvel projects. But Schaeffer also used WandaVision to weave beats from the franchise’s tentpole films into a cohesive narrative that helped bring the entire MCU into its multiversal era.

From its very first episode, Agatha All Along went to great lengths to show us that, even with WandaVision’s lead killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there was still plenty of — and perhaps too much — meat for Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness to chew on. The show’s two-part finale stuck the landing by living up to its title in more ways than one. Though the MCU’s interconnectedness has felt increasingly wobbly post-WandaVision, Agatha All Along ended in a way that feels poised to put (at least some of) the franchise back on track. And with another follow-up series already in development, it seems like Marvel has figured out that these specific stories are the ones it has the best shot of knocking out of the park.

This piece contains spoilers about Agatha All Along’s finale.

WandaVision briefly touched on covens in a flashback to the 17th century when Agatha killed her mother Evanora (Kate Forbes) and their group of sister witches. But Agatha All Along digs deeper, introducing characters like Agatha’s ex-lover Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) and a mysterious teen who’s unable to share his name (Joe Locke). Because Agatha herself was already framed as a unique threat to magic users, it was difficult to suss out what kinds of dangers were lying in wait for the coven as she and the teen recruited fortune teller Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), potions master Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), protection witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), and ordinary Jersey woman Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) to their ranks.

But Agatha All Along established a very clear focus for all of its players. The “Witches’ Road” — a realm entered by covens singing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” — and its ability to grant wishes to those who passed its trials gave the witches a reason to work together. And similar to how Agatha All Along’s send-up of Mare of Easttown was a callback to WandaVision’s sitcom spoofs, the Witches’ Road felt like the show’s biggest way of emphasizing the power of practical effects.

The Road, with all of its hand-painted leaves and trees that transformed the set into an otherworldly forest, hammered home how Agatha All Along’s creative team was smartly using its lean budget to create magic that felt more real than its predecessor’s. And the Road’s horror movie-inspired trials to test witches’ skills gave the show a narrative structure that was similar to but distinct enough from WandaVision’s to make it seem like Agatha All Along truly was the second chapter in a trilogy of stories rather than just a spinoff.

As tends to be the case with genre TV shows with big casts, Agatha All Along occasionally struggled to keep all of its plates spinning at the same speed as Agatha’s. Each witch got a chance to shine when facing a different trial, but some of their backstories — especially Jennifer’s and Alice’s — felt rushed and went largely unexplored. Some of the trials themselves were a bit shaggy. (At one point, the witches brew a poison antidote by dumping a bunch of ingredients into a sink.) As unwieldy as Agatha All Along sometimes was, though, it was also willing to kill characters off with a finality that helped it become sharper as the season progressed.

There was still some question as to what Agatha All Along’s big bad might end up being by the season’s midway point, when Sharon and Alice had already bitten the dust. But all of the show’s puzzle pieces began fitting together in episodes five and six as the teen was revealed to be Billy Maximoff / William Kaplan, one of the Scarlet Witch’s sons, who had possessed the body of a dead person.

One of the more impressive things about WandaVision was the way it managed to rework some of Marvel’s most convoluted Scarlet Witch and Vision comics arcs into a story that was concise and compelling enough to keep people who weren’t readers of the comics consistently engaged. Much of Billy’s comics lore — he and his brother wind up having their souls reabsorbed by the demon Mephisto before being reincarnated as strangers — is even wilder than his spiritual mother’s. But Agatha All Along made quick work of incorporating many of those beats with a story reminiscent of WandaVision’s “We Interrupt This Program,” which cleverly stepped outside of the series’ sitcom conceit.

Unlike Alice’s and Sharon’s arcs, it was clear early on that Agatha All Along was teasing something important with Lilia’s many moments of confusion stemming from her power to see the future. What was far less obvious, however, was that the show was using her to set the stage for a time-jumping episode that would provide key context for some of the show’s most satisfying twists: Rio was actually the personification of death in disguise.

Of all the Marvel characters who might pop up in a Disney Plus show, it was genuinely surprising to see Death given how, in the comics, she’s a cosmic entity most often associated with Thanos (and occasionally Spider-Man’s clone). But Death’s arrival also brought a fascinating gravity to everything happening to the coven. It added some context to the show’s rising body count and a new layer of intrigue to Agatha and Rio’s romantic past — another beat that could have benefitted from more fleshing out. Death gave Jennifer, Billy, and Agatha a clearly defined foe to rally against as they neared the Road’s end. And while the witches’ final battle against Death wasn’t all that much to write home about, it brought Agatha All Along’s own story and its deeper connections to WandaVision into much clearer focus.

Agatha All Along’s final two episodes establish how, right up until Agatha and Billy’s coven sang the ballad together and created a doorway, the Witches’ Road never truly existed. It was just a myth that began in Agatha’s early days of being a witch and a new mother to her son. Spreading the idea of the Road’s existence gave Agatha an easy way to lure witches into the woods under the pretense of opening a portal, only for her to steal their magic. That was her plan all along with the present-day coven, and she probably would have gotten away with it, too. But in the show’s final episode, Agatha returns as a ghost to tell Billy that things worked out very differently in this instance because of his desire for the Witches’ Road to be real.

That plot point and Agatha’s insistence on remaining with Billy as a spectral mentor crystalized the degree to which Agatha All Along really was continuing WandaVision’s story — pushing forward its characters and also what a Marvel show can do.

Read More 

Image: Hyundai

Hyundai is one of several automakers working to make hydrogen-powered electric vehicles a thing, and a good first step is making sure they’re not ugly. I think the designers hit the target with the “Art of Steel” design language used in the Initium concept SUV revealed this week at an event in Korea. It seems to borrow some of the fearlessly angular and retro-inspired looks it’s teased over the years on other vehicles like the N Vision 74 concept and the Seven (which will eventually become the Ioniq 9).
According to Hyundai’s estimates, the Initium can drive more than 400 miles (650km) on a single refuel — about 30 miles further than its production Nexo fuel cell SUV. Hyundai says the Initium is a “preview” of an upcoming fuel cell EV it will reveal in the first half of next year.

Image: Hyundai
Not too shabby for an anti-greenhouse gas machine.

Earlier this year, Hyundai claimed hydrogen vehicles will “play a prominent role” in the company’s goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. It plans to use hydrogen in cars, commercial trucks, buses, generators, and other applications. Hyundai is building it all under its “HTWO” hydrogen business brand.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world, and vehicles that use it release water vapor instead of tailpipe emissions. However, it’s not easy to package and distribute, and its infrastructure is still in its infancy (despite development lasting decades) compared to how far EV charging networks have come in just over one decade.

Image: Hyundai

Hyundai is one of several automakers working to make hydrogen-powered electric vehicles a thing, and a good first step is making sure they’re not ugly. I think the designers hit the target with the “Art of Steel” design language used in the Initium concept SUV revealed this week at an event in Korea. It seems to borrow some of the fearlessly angular and retro-inspired looks it’s teased over the years on other vehicles like the N Vision 74 concept and the Seven (which will eventually become the Ioniq 9).

According to Hyundai’s estimates, the Initium can drive more than 400 miles (650km) on a single refuel — about 30 miles further than its production Nexo fuel cell SUV. Hyundai says the Initium is a “preview” of an upcoming fuel cell EV it will reveal in the first half of next year.

Image: Hyundai
Not too shabby for an anti-greenhouse gas machine.

Earlier this year, Hyundai claimed hydrogen vehicles will “play a prominent role” in the company’s goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. It plans to use hydrogen in cars, commercial trucks, buses, generators, and other applications. Hyundai is building it all under its “HTWO” hydrogen business brand.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world, and vehicles that use it release water vapor instead of tailpipe emissions. However, it’s not easy to package and distribute, and its infrastructure is still in its infancy (despite development lasting decades) compared to how far EV charging networks have come in just over one decade.

Read More 

Image: Disney

Disney released a new trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, its new Star Wars Disney Plus show premiering next month, and it looks like the show is going to be pretty fun.
“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy,” according to Disney’s official description. “Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”
One of the people the kids meet along the way is the mysterious Jod, who is played by Jude Law.
Skeleton Crew was originally announced in 2022 with an intended release of 2023. That obviously didn’t happen, but Disney confirmed earlier this year that the show would debut on December 3rd. The show will have a two-episode premiere that day.
The Daniels — aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who directed Everything Everywhere All at Once — will direct an episode of the show.

Image: Disney

Disney released a new trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, its new Star Wars Disney Plus show premiering next month, and it looks like the show is going to be pretty fun.

“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy,” according to Disney’s official description. “Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”

One of the people the kids meet along the way is the mysterious Jod, who is played by Jude Law.

Skeleton Crew was originally announced in 2022 with an intended release of 2023. That obviously didn’t happen, but Disney confirmed earlier this year that the show would debut on December 3rd. The show will have a two-episode premiere that day.

The Daniels — aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who directed Everything Everywhere All at Once — will direct an episode of the show.

Read More 

Photo by David Pierce / The Verge

Meta is introducing some big changes with its Quest v71 update, including a redesign of Meta Horizon OS, a calendar app, and the ability to use Travel Mode on a train. The update will start rolling out gradually next week.
Let’s start with the redesign. Meta says that it’s “tweaking the look and feel of Horizon OS” and that new headsets will use an “improved” light theme by default. (Dark mode fans, fear not: the dark theme is still present, and if you’re already using it, Meta won’t switch you over automatically.) Meta has “also made assorted changes to the way panels look and behave, where the control bar resides, the colors of various UI elements, and so on,” according to a blog post. And the Settings menu has “a new look and layout” and improved search.

Image: Meta
An image of the updated settings menu.

The calendar app looks like, well, a calendar app, and based on a brief video, it appears you’ll be able to look through different days while you’re in VR. Meta says the app can integrate with Google and Outlook calendars and will also include Meta Horizon Worlds events you subscribe to and meetings you’re invited to that take place in Meta Horizon Workrooms.
With the update to Travel Mode, you’ll be able to use the feature when on trains. Meta first introduced the feature in May, but at the time, it was only available to use on airplanes. Note that when in Travel Mode, you can’t use the Quest Pro or Touch Plus controllers, so some games might be difficult to play. Instead, Travel Mode is probably better suited for watching a movie or TV show while in transit. (Meta also explicitly says that you should not use travel mode in a car.)
You can see the full release notes for v71 on Meta’s website.

Photo by David Pierce / The Verge

Meta is introducing some big changes with its Quest v71 update, including a redesign of Meta Horizon OS, a calendar app, and the ability to use Travel Mode on a train. The update will start rolling out gradually next week.

Let’s start with the redesign. Meta says that it’s “tweaking the look and feel of Horizon OS” and that new headsets will use an “improved” light theme by default. (Dark mode fans, fear not: the dark theme is still present, and if you’re already using it, Meta won’t switch you over automatically.) Meta has “also made assorted changes to the way panels look and behave, where the control bar resides, the colors of various UI elements, and so on,” according to a blog post. And the Settings menu has “a new look and layout” and improved search.

Image: Meta
An image of the updated settings menu.

The calendar app looks like, well, a calendar app, and based on a brief video, it appears you’ll be able to look through different days while you’re in VR. Meta says the app can integrate with Google and Outlook calendars and will also include Meta Horizon Worlds events you subscribe to and meetings you’re invited to that take place in Meta Horizon Workrooms.

With the update to Travel Mode, you’ll be able to use the feature when on trains. Meta first introduced the feature in May, but at the time, it was only available to use on airplanes. Note that when in Travel Mode, you can’t use the Quest Pro or Touch Plus controllers, so some games might be difficult to play. Instead, Travel Mode is probably better suited for watching a movie or TV show while in transit. (Meta also explicitly says that you should not use travel mode in a car.)

You can see the full release notes for v71 on Meta’s website.

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The Hurricane Compact Electric Bike offers a range of 30 miles. | Image: Schwinn

The Schwinn Hurricane, an iconic kids bike of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, could soon be a staple of the suburbs once again thanks to an electric revival. The new Schwinn Hurricane Compact Electric Bike isn’t an exact dupe of the original, but shares a lot of the classic’s styling, with the added convenience of an electric motor and a rechargeable battery.
The electric Hurricane is designed for riders 13 years and older who weigh up to 260lb, but its smaller frame and 14-inch aluminum wheels make it better suited for teens. It’s available now through Schwinn’s website for $599.99.
That’s not necessarily cheap as smaller bikes go, but it is cheaper than e-bikes from brands like Juiced Bikes and Super73 which have already attracted the attention of younger riders with similarly-styled offerings. However, with their prices starting at well over $1,500, Schwinn’s electrified Hurricane might be an easier sell.

Image: Schwinn
The electric Hurricane uses standard disc brakes, so there’s no power regeneration when bringing the bike to a stop.

The bike’s top speed is limited to 17.5mph given it’s targeted at younger riders (that’s actually a little faster than the permitted top speed of unlicensed e-bikes in Europe, as New Atlas points out) with power provide by a 250-watt hub motor and a 36V 7.8Ah lithium-ion battery.

Schwinn says the electric Hurricane has a range of about 30 miles after a full five hour charge, but that’s when the bike is assisting the rider while they’re constantly pedaling. A twist throttle built into the handlebar grip allows the bike to be ridden without pedaling, but that will result in a much smaller range, particularly when heavily relying on the electric motor while tackling steep hills.
Other features include an over-sized “moto-style” padded seat design carried over from the original Schwinn Hurricane, a basic LED-based battery indicator on the handlebars, disc brakes, and front and rear lights that are always on while the bike is powered up.

The Hurricane Compact Electric Bike offers a range of 30 miles. | Image: Schwinn

The Schwinn Hurricane, an iconic kids bike of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, could soon be a staple of the suburbs once again thanks to an electric revival. The new Schwinn Hurricane Compact Electric Bike isn’t an exact dupe of the original, but shares a lot of the classic’s styling, with the added convenience of an electric motor and a rechargeable battery.

The electric Hurricane is designed for riders 13 years and older who weigh up to 260lb, but its smaller frame and 14-inch aluminum wheels make it better suited for teens. It’s available now through Schwinn’s website for $599.99.

That’s not necessarily cheap as smaller bikes go, but it is cheaper than e-bikes from brands like Juiced Bikes and Super73 which have already attracted the attention of younger riders with similarly-styled offerings. However, with their prices starting at well over $1,500, Schwinn’s electrified Hurricane might be an easier sell.

Image: Schwinn
The electric Hurricane uses standard disc brakes, so there’s no power regeneration when bringing the bike to a stop.

The bike’s top speed is limited to 17.5mph given it’s targeted at younger riders (that’s actually a little faster than the permitted top speed of unlicensed e-bikes in Europe, as New Atlas points out) with power provide by a 250-watt hub motor and a 36V 7.8Ah lithium-ion battery.

Schwinn says the electric Hurricane has a range of about 30 miles after a full five hour charge, but that’s when the bike is assisting the rider while they’re constantly pedaling. A twist throttle built into the handlebar grip allows the bike to be ridden without pedaling, but that will result in a much smaller range, particularly when heavily relying on the electric motor while tackling steep hills.

Other features include an over-sized “moto-style” padded seat design carried over from the original Schwinn Hurricane, a basic LED-based battery indicator on the handlebars, disc brakes, and front and rear lights that are always on while the bike is powered up.

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Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is modernizing how its Windows Hello authentication, which includes facial and fingerprint recognition, works in Windows 11. The revamp to the Windows Hello experience is now in beta testing with Windows Insiders, and includes visual changes, new iconography, and improvements to passkeys.
Not only will this new UI appear on the Windows 11 login screen, but also when you’re using passkeys to sign into websites and apps. “We redesigned Windows security credential user experiences for passkey creating a cleaner experience that supports secured and quick authentication,” explains the Windows team. “Users will now be able to switch between authentication options and select passkey / devices more intuitively.”

Image: Microsoft
The new Windows Hello UI on the login screen of Windows 11.

Microsoft currently supports passkeys in Windows 11, but the experience of using one from a mobile device involves scanning QR codes and an outdated UI. A new sign-in UI for passkeys and Microsoft account authentication will improve this greatly, as part of this Windows Hello UI overhaul.
Microsoft has also built a new API for third-party password and passkey managers that can let developers plug directly into this modern Windows Hello experience. It will also allow Windows 11 users to use passkey from a mobile device to authenticate with apps and websites on a PC. This new passkeys experience will also support saving passkeys to third-party apps or syncing them to your Microsoft account.

Image: Microsoft
The new passkey sign-in process.

Microsoft has started testing this new Windows Hello experience for the beta channel (23H2), and it should also appear in the dev channel (which is based on 24H2) once builds resume soon. I’d expect we’ll see this new Windows Hello UI appear for all Windows 11 users in the coming months.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is modernizing how its Windows Hello authentication, which includes facial and fingerprint recognition, works in Windows 11. The revamp to the Windows Hello experience is now in beta testing with Windows Insiders, and includes visual changes, new iconography, and improvements to passkeys.

Not only will this new UI appear on the Windows 11 login screen, but also when you’re using passkeys to sign into websites and apps. “We redesigned Windows security credential user experiences for passkey creating a cleaner experience that supports secured and quick authentication,” explains the Windows team. “Users will now be able to switch between authentication options and select passkey / devices more intuitively.”

Image: Microsoft
The new Windows Hello UI on the login screen of Windows 11.

Microsoft currently supports passkeys in Windows 11, but the experience of using one from a mobile device involves scanning QR codes and an outdated UI. A new sign-in UI for passkeys and Microsoft account authentication will improve this greatly, as part of this Windows Hello UI overhaul.

Microsoft has also built a new API for third-party password and passkey managers that can let developers plug directly into this modern Windows Hello experience. It will also allow Windows 11 users to use passkey from a mobile device to authenticate with apps and websites on a PC. This new passkeys experience will also support saving passkeys to third-party apps or syncing them to your Microsoft account.

Image: Microsoft
The new passkey sign-in process.

Microsoft has started testing this new Windows Hello experience for the beta channel (23H2), and it should also appear in the dev channel (which is based on 24H2) once builds resume soon. I’d expect we’ll see this new Windows Hello UI appear for all Windows 11 users in the coming months.

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Image: Intel

Intel is rolling back one of the biggest changes to its laptop chips in years. Remember how this fall’s Lunar Lake laptops ditched the idea of memory sticks, putting a fixed amount of RAM on the processor package instead? Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger now says that turned out to be a financial mistake, and Intel won’t do it again. Oh, and he may be axing desktop GPUs, too.

Future Intel generations of chips, including Panther Lake and Nova Lake, won’t have baked-on memory. “It’s not a good way to run the business, so it really is for us a one-off with Lunar Lake,” said Gelsinger on Intel’s Q3 2024 earnings call, as spotted by VideoCardz.
“We’ll build it in a more traditional way with memory off-package, and the CPU and I/O capabilities in the package. But volume memory will be off-package in the roadmap going forward,” he said.
It may seem a bit of a head-scratcher, because Intel touted Lunar Lake’s on-package memory as a competitive advantage when it came to laptop battery life — boasting that it reduced the power consumption of moving data through the system by 40 percent.
But on the earnings call, Gelsinger suggested that Lunar Lake was supposed to be more of an experiment, rather than the core of Intel’s laptop efforts it became:
Lunar Lake was initially designed to be a niche product that we wanted to achieve highest performance and great battery life capability, and then AI PC occurred. And with AI PC, it went from being a niche product to a pretty high-volume product.
Don’t we all want the best performance and battery life from our laptops? Perhaps — but Lunar Lake became a problem for Intel because it relied too much on external partners for the memory chips and wafers from rival TSMC. Last quarter, when Intel announced its mass layoffs and restructuring, Intel’s CFO revealed that Lunar Lake was too costly to help turn Intel’s fortunes around. Gelsinger says Lunar Lake hasn’t shipped 100 million units or anything like that, but it became “a meaningful portion of our total mix.”
Unfortunately for PC graphics enthusiasts, it seems like Intel’s discrete GPU efforts are similarly seen as a failed experiment now. Gelsinger says he’s focused on simplifying the company’s consumer products now, and dedicated graphics cards / chips are apparently on the chopping block. He said:
How are we handling graphics? That is increasingly becoming large, integrated graphics capabilities, so less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward.
If Intel axes them, it won’t come as a huge surprise — its gaming graphics initiative only had very limited success with standalone cards, and only ever managed to play at the ultra-budget end of the field, which AMD is now threatening even more.
But it’d be a bit of a shame if Intel never manages to get past the letter A — Alchemist — and the gamers waiting for Intel’s Battlemage dGPUs never manage to see its sophomore effort. At least Intel’s Arc graphics efforts, including Battlemage, did trickle down to the increasingly powerful integrated graphics aboard its laptop chips.

Image: Intel

Intel is rolling back one of the biggest changes to its laptop chips in years. Remember how this fall’s Lunar Lake laptops ditched the idea of memory sticks, putting a fixed amount of RAM on the processor package instead? Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger now says that turned out to be a financial mistake, and Intel won’t do it again. Oh, and he may be axing desktop GPUs, too.

Future Intel generations of chips, including Panther Lake and Nova Lake, won’t have baked-on memory. “It’s not a good way to run the business, so it really is for us a one-off with Lunar Lake,” said Gelsinger on Intel’s Q3 2024 earnings call, as spotted by VideoCardz.

“We’ll build it in a more traditional way with memory off-package, and the CPU and I/O capabilities in the package. But volume memory will be off-package in the roadmap going forward,” he said.

It may seem a bit of a head-scratcher, because Intel touted Lunar Lake’s on-package memory as a competitive advantage when it came to laptop battery life — boasting that it reduced the power consumption of moving data through the system by 40 percent.

But on the earnings call, Gelsinger suggested that Lunar Lake was supposed to be more of an experiment, rather than the core of Intel’s laptop efforts it became:

Lunar Lake was initially designed to be a niche product that we wanted to achieve highest performance and great battery life capability, and then AI PC occurred. And with AI PC, it went from being a niche product to a pretty high-volume product.

Don’t we all want the best performance and battery life from our laptops? Perhaps — but Lunar Lake became a problem for Intel because it relied too much on external partners for the memory chips and wafers from rival TSMC. Last quarter, when Intel announced its mass layoffs and restructuring, Intel’s CFO revealed that Lunar Lake was too costly to help turn Intel’s fortunes around. Gelsinger says Lunar Lake hasn’t shipped 100 million units or anything like that, but it became “a meaningful portion of our total mix.”

Unfortunately for PC graphics enthusiasts, it seems like Intel’s discrete GPU efforts are similarly seen as a failed experiment now. Gelsinger says he’s focused on simplifying the company’s consumer products now, and dedicated graphics cards / chips are apparently on the chopping block. He said:

How are we handling graphics? That is increasingly becoming large, integrated graphics capabilities, so less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward.

If Intel axes them, it won’t come as a huge surprise — its gaming graphics initiative only had very limited success with standalone cards, and only ever managed to play at the ultra-budget end of the field, which AMD is now threatening even more.

But it’d be a bit of a shame if Intel never manages to get past the letter A — Alchemist — and the gamers waiting for Intel’s Battlemage dGPUs never manage to see its sophomore effort. At least Intel’s Arc graphics efforts, including Battlemage, did trickle down to the increasingly powerful integrated graphics aboard its laptop chips.

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