Tesla’s long-delayed semi-truck has started production, and the company will begin making deliveries as soon as December 1st, Elon Musk has announced on Twitter. When the automaker unveiled the Tesla Semi way back in 2017, it expected to start manufacturing the electric big rigs by 2019. While that obviously didn’t happen, Musk told employees in an email back in early 2020 that the vehicle was already in limited production and that it was “time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production.” In April that year, however, the automaker announced in an earnings call that it’s delaying deliveries yet again to 2021.
Alas, 2021 wasn’t the Semi’s year either. Tesla notified shareholders in another earnings call that deliveries would be delayed to 2022 due to the global supply chain shortages affecting the tech and auto industries, as well as its then-limited production capability for the vehicle’s 4680 style battery cells. Musk didn’t say outright that the company’s component shortage issues for the semi-truck have already been addressed. But if it has started building the vehicles, and there’s already an expected delivery date, Tesla must have at least enough parts to build Semis for its first customer.
The first batch of Semis will be delivered to Pepsi, which ordered 100 vehicles from the company back in December 2017. As TechCrunch notes, other big companies had also ordered trucks from the automaker, including Walmart and UPS. And in May this year, the automaker opened reservations to more customers for a deposit of $20,000. A Semi costs between $150,000 and $180,000, depending on the range, and it could go as far as 500 miles on a single charge.
At this point, we’re all pretty used to seeing Instagram copy TikTok. Now, in a new twist, TikTok is copying Instagram with a new feature called “Photo Mode.” The update allows TikTok users to share multiple still photos in a post, along with captions …
If you’ve been waiting for Valve to release its delayed Steam Deck dock instead of opting for a third-party version, there’s some good news: the company has opened up pre-orders. The Steam Deck Docking Station, as the unit is officially known, costs $89.
While you can hook the Steam Deck up to an external display directly, the dock should make life a little easier if you want to play games on a bigger screen. You can simply use it as a charging station as well.
The dock has three USB-A 3.1 Gen1 ports, but you can connect peripherals to your Steam Deck wirelessly too. It has a gigabit Ethernet port, which could help you to download games faster. As for connecting your Steam Deck to external displays, the dock has DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 ports. There’s a passthrough USB-C charging port too.
Valve
The unit ships with the same power supply that comes with the Steam Deck — it won’t enhance the Steam Deck’s performance when it’s docked. Even so, you don’t actually need to plug a charger into the Dock. It can run off the Steam Deck’s battery, but in that case the USB ports will have reduced throughput to conserve power.
Valve will provide ongoing support and make improvements to the Docking Station through software updates. A firmware installation wizard may pop up when you slot in your Steam Deck.
In June, Valve said it had to delay the dock indefinitely due to supply chain issues. Those who are pre-ordering may be able to get their hands on the device as soon as this quarter.
Meanwhile, the Steam Deck itself no longer needs a reservation in some regions. At least in the US and Canada, you can now simply order a Steam Deck from Valve. The expected shipment date is between one and two weeks. Over the last few months, Valve has been able to significantly ramp up production capacity and said it would be able to fulfill all reservations by the end of the year. It looks like the company is well ahead of that schedule.
On another note, I received my Steam Deck just as I started writing this story and, oh, look at that. It’s suddenly lunch time. What a coincidence.
✨ Yes, it’s true: Starting today Steam Deck is available without a reservation! Order one now, and we’ll ship it to you now. Look at all these Steam Decks rolling off the factory line. It’s a beautiful thing. https://t.co/uVdBCpJVuXpic.twitter.com/lYe5kv9OUn
The Need for Speed series hasn’t been heard from since 2019’s so-so Need for Speed Heat, but Criterion and EA are ready to bring it back — and they’re tinkering with the formula once again. They’ve revealedNeed for Speed Unbound, a follow-up to the fantasy racer that melds elements of street art (such as cel-shaded graphics and graffiti flourishes) with realistic-looking cars and a gameplay system that promises “true consequence[s]” for your decisions. And did we mention that A$AP Rocky plays a prominent role?
You play a new racer who has to rise to the top of a street racing league to recover a “priceless” car stolen from a family auto shop. A$AP Rocky will lead the Takeover Scene, a “precision driving” mode that rewards style. His music (along with other hip-hop artists) will soundtrack the experience, and the trailer hints that you might even get to drive his custom Mercedes 190E.
Unbound will include familiar Need for Speed mechanics like police “heat,” but you’ll also get nitrous-fueled speed boosts in return for stylish driving. To no one’s surprise, you’ll have virtual currency-based customization that extends to elements like clothing and license plates. Free updates will include new features, modes and raw content.
The new title will be available December 2nd for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Sorry, you’re high and dry if you hoped for a PS4 or Xbox One release. The bigger question is whether or not Unbound will accomplish what Heat didn’t — that is, restore some of the excitement from Need for Speed’s glory days.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I frequently get lost. Even in the middle of well laid-out Manhattan, my friends cannot trust me with directions. So while the idea of wandering in the wilderness with nothing but the stars and a compass to guide me is a…
Motive and EA have finally shared a gameplay trailer for their long-expectedDead Space remake. To an extent, the clip shows what you’d expect. It’s a familiar retelling of Isaac Clarke’s horror-filled mission to the mining ship USG Ishimura, but with much-improved visuals and sounds that make better use of modern hardware. You’re still severing the limbs of Necromorphs and floating through zero-gravity segments, just with eerie volumetric lighting and more realistic, context-sensitive sounds.
It’s not quite a rehash, thankfully. Isaac is no longer silent like he was in the 2008 original, and there’s a better feel for a story that involves the battle for sanity and discovering the fate of Isaac’s girlfriend Nicole. To some extent, the remake is an opportunity to refine Dead Space rather than simply profiting from a well-known name.
The revived Dead Space will be released January 27th, 2023 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. While it isn’t a brand new game like fans might want, this preview suggests Motive is at least delivering what you’d expect from a remake: a modernization of graphics and gameplay that’s still true to the experience that drew people in the first time around.
CD Projekt Red may be much busier than you expect. The developer has shared a long-term roadmap that elaborates and expands on its plans. To start, a project codenamed “Orion” is effectively a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 that will “further develop the potential” of the sci-fi franchise. It’s in development by CDPR’s teams in Boston and Vancouver.
And while it’s no secret that there’s a new Unreal Engine 5-based The Witcher game in the works (it entered pre-production this spring), it’s really just the start of a new trilogy. You might not have to wait long to see the story reach its conclusion, either. CDPR hopes to release all three games within a six-year span, with the first (codenamed “Polaris”) serving as a technology foundation for the remaining two.
Other titles include “Sirius,” a The Witcher spinoff with solo and multiplayer elements aimed at a “broader audience.” It’s developed by The Flame and the Flood studio The Molasses Flood. Another project, “Canis Majoris,” is a “full-fledged” Witcher universe game built by an outside developer using UE5. And no, CDPR won’t be stuck making Cyberpunk and Witcher games for all eternity. “Hadar” will be new, from-scratch universe. It’s still in the extremely early stages of development (conceptual work only began in 2021), so it’s likely years away.
Regardless of what you play, you should expect online gameplay to become a staple feature. In its roadmap presentation, CDPR said “most” of its new games will have a multiplayer component. The company was shy on what this will entail.
CDPR isn’t shy about the reasons for the expansion. The wider catalog and cooperation with outside developers will help it “reach new consumers” while maintaining three lasting franchises. If all goes well, a producer best known for rare, single player-focused releases will offer a steady stream of games that help it become more of a household name akin to Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft — in size, if hopefully not in quality.
Almost two years after the PlayStation 5 went on sale, it seems that modders have found a way to jailbreak the console, albeit with some significant limitations. As IGN notes, a modder known as SpecterDev revealed the apparent jailbreak, which is described as an experimental IPV6 kernel exploit that takes advantage of a WebKit vulnerability.
It appears the jailbreak will only work on PS5 systems that run firmware version 4.03 or earlier. If you have updated your PS5 since last October, you’re probably not going to be able to try the exploit. Even then, it seems that trying to install the jailbreak only works around a third of the time.
As for what you can actually do with a jailbroken PS5 right now, you’ll gain access to the system’s debug menu. You might be able to install games from outside of the PlayStation Store as well, but it’s not possible to run sideloaded software.
Modder Lance McDonald tried the jailbreak and was able to install the PS4 demo P.T., Hideo Kojima’s famed, delisted teaser for the canceled Silent Hills. (PS4 units with P.T. installed often pop up on eBay.) However, McDonald wasn’t able to start playing the game. While the exploit offers read/write access to the PS5, there’s currently no way to execute sideloaded files. P.T. isn’t backward compatible on PS5 in any case.
As it stands, it doesn’t seem likely that this jailbreak will be in widespread use anytime soon, due to its limitations and the fact that Sony could ban modders’ accounts. On top of that, there’s the risk of bricking the console at a time when it still isn’t super easy to buy one. Still, this could give other hackers and modders a foundation on which to build more robust jailbreaking tools.
After pandemic-related disruptions in Q2, Tesla ramped up its manufacturing capacity again last quarter, leading the company to make a record number of deliveries between July 1st and September 30th. The company built 365,923 electric vehicles during the period. That marks a year over-year production increase of nearly 54 percent, as Tesla manufactured 237,823 cars in Q3 2021. Production was also up by 41.5 percent from Q2 2022, when the automaker built 258,580 vehicles.
The company produced 19,935 Model S and Model X cars in Q3 and delivered 18,672. For the Model 3 and Model Y, those figures were 345,988 and 345,988, respectively. In total, Tesla says it was able to deliver 343,830 vehicles in Q3, the most it has delivered in any quarter to date. However, that was below expectations, according to Reuters. On average, analysts anticipated that Tesla would deliver 359,162 EVs during the quarter.
Tesla built around 20,000 more vehicles that it was able to deliver during Q3. “As our production volumes continue to grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost during these peak logistics weeks,” Tesla said in a statement.
CEO Elon Musk noted last year that Tesla sees a significant increase in deliveries at the end of every quarter. That’s because the Shanghai Gigafactory, which recently built its 1 millionth car, manufactures EVs bound for Europe and other countries in the first half of each quarter, “then cars for far away parts of China, then cars for nearby parts of China,” Musk said.
“In Q3, we began transitioning to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds each week, which led to an increase in cars in transit at the end of the quarter,” Tesla said. “These cars have been ordered and will be delivered to customers upon arrival at their destination.”
The number of cars Tesla manufactured and delivered dropped dramatically in Q2 2022. It was forced to suspend work at the Shanghai factory in March due to a COVID-19 outbreak in China. Production at the plant has resumed, while recently opened Gigafactories in Berlin and Texas have helped the company significantly improve its manufacturing numbers. We’ll learn more about what the uptick in production and deliveries means for Tesla’s bottom line when the company announces its Q3 financial results on October 19th.
Despite denials until mid-2022, Stadia is winding down. The technically impressive game streaming service, which delivered current-gen games through smartphones, PCs, tablets and even Chromecast, is the latest victim of Google’s long list of service casualties. Google said the service “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.” That’s entirely true. Google closed its internal game development studios early last year, and the company sadly failed to turn things around, even as rumors swirled that Stadia wasn’t long for this world. It’s a shame, as the service worked incredibly well, especially at the nascent beginnings of cloud gaming.
The good news is if you invested in the standalone games, Google “will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store.” This was outlined by Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison in a blog here.
If you subscribed to Stadia Pro and built up a catalog of games, there are no reimbursements. You’ll be able to play your games until January, but it’ll serve as a reminder that streaming services, if they go, can leave you with nothing. Except maybe a Chromecast.
The first time both telescopes observed the same celestial target at the same time.
NASA made history this week when it slammed its DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft into an asteroid nearly seven million miles away. Now, we can see the test from afar, thanks to the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes. JWST and Hubble picked up different wavelengths of light (infrared and visible, respectively), and NASA says that observing data from multiple wavelengths will help scientists figure out if big chunks of material left Dimorphos’ surface or if it was mostly fine dust. This is an important aspect of the test: The ultimate aim is to develop a system that can divert incoming asteroids away from Earth. Like 1998’s Armageddon, just with less Bruce Willis and Aerosmith.
Finally, after only 10 years, Sonos has launched the Sub Mini, and at $429, it’s relatively affordable. It’s perfectly sized for apartments and small rooms, and it’s a simple upgrade to your Sonos Beam or Ray. Finally, you have a viable, moveable way of beefing up your sound, which isn’t obscenely expensive. Check out our full review.
Meta unveiled its Make-a-Scene text-to-image generating AI in July, which, like Dall-E and Midjourney, can create fantastical depictions based on written prompts. On Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed Make-a-Scene’s more animated contemporary, Make-a-Video. Functionally, Video works the same as Scene – combining natural language processing and generative neural networks to convert non-visual prompts into images – it’s just pulling content into a different format.
The Swedish brand, best known for electronic music toys and tools, has released the decidedly more analogue PO-80 Record Factory. As the name implies, it can cut vinyl records as well as play them back. The orange and white design is cute, as is the simplicity. You just need to plug an audio device into the 3.5mm jack and start recording. You’re limited to monophonic sound, and you won’t be cutting more than a single with a B-side. The Record Factory is available for $149.
Dorsey asked Musk to join Twitter’s board long before he tried to buy the company.
A tranche of Elon Musk’s private messages has been made public as part of his ongoing lawsuit with Twitter. The messages, revealed in a court filing Thursday, shed new light on Musk’s behind-the-scenes negotiations with Twitter’s leadership, discussions with former CEO Jack Dorsey, and how Musk talks with CEO Parag Agrawal quickly soured. The messages include the moment Musk tells Agrawal he wants to acquire Twitter and take it private, rather than join the board, as well as Agrawal confronting Musk about an April 9th tweet questioning if “Twitter is dying.”
