Month: April 2021

The Apple TV 4K set-top box will receive some needed upgrades, particularly to the remote. Today at an event largely focused on the new M1-powered iMacs, Apple told attending press and livestream viewers that the device will begin shipping with the A12 Bionic CPU inside it. The previous model introduced in 2017 included the A10X.

The A10X was a system-on-a-chip that included several components including a CPU and GPU; it was included in Apple's 2017 iPad Pro tablets and is based on the same architecture as the iPhone. (The iPhone chips lack the X or Z in the name—for example, A13 or A14.) The A10X and the A12 Bionic are more powerful than their iPhone counterparts, though, especially when it comes to graphics performance.

The Apple TV 4K uses the chip for image processing—for example, to upscale and code 1080p, standard-dynamic-range content for 4K HDR displays. The A12 bionic further enables 4k high frame rate HDR. However, few if any critics or users reported that the Apple TV 4K was performing sluggishly or needed an upgrade here.

Enlarge / Carolyn Wolfman-Estrada, engineering program manager at Apple, presents AirTags (with one visible in her right hand). (credit: Apple)

In a now-rare announcement of a completely new product category, Apple today introduced AirTags, a Tile-like personal location device.

AirTags can be placed in or on personal possessions to be tracked with the Find My app (formerly Find My iPhone) on iPhones, iPads, or Macs. Users can then find those devices, including those detected by any other Apple devices nearby.

The new devices play off Apple's work in bringing augmented reality features to its devices. Users will be able to lift their phone cameras and see the locations of their AirTags positioned accurately in real physical space on the screen. Like some other similar products, AirTags will also be able to emit a noise to make them easier to find.

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  Roze's "Rook" skin in Call of Duty: Warzone drapes the player head to toe in black.

When it comes to in-game DLC and microtransactions, developers and players often take pains to draw a bright line between purely "cosmetic" DLC—which lets users pay optional money to change their in-game appearance—and DLC that impacts competitive gameplay stats—raising the specter of the dreaded "pay-to-win" upgrade. Recently, though, purchasable outfits in some high-profile shooters have ended up giving players a distinct in-game advantage, blurring the line between cosmetic and pay-to-win items.

The latest example of this problem comes from Call of Duty: Warzone. Last year, players who purchased the Season 5 premium battle pass and reached Tier 100 in the game could earn access to an all-black "Rook" skin for the character Roze.

As you can see in the images above, that skin covers the player from head to toe in skintight black fabric, even including black facepaint around the eyes. It's a striking "black ops" look in isolation, but during a game, it can make a player nearly invisible when they're hiding in the abundant dark corners in many maps.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

In the grand scheme of things, I have little to complain about in terms of the pandemic. I haven't lost my job, my residence, or any of my family, and since my wife and I both worked at home already, there wasn't even an office to stop commuting to. The biggest work-related impact is probably not having to set foot on an airplane for over a year, but the automakers have been pretty good about bringing Ars new models for shorter first drives, as well as the usual press fleet loans.

But one type of vehicle remains difficult to test, which is a shame because it's a kind I enjoy driving. In fact, it's one that I think is due for a revival, the same way that kids have unironically revived mom jeans and fanny packs. I'm talking about the minivan.

But the SUV is king?

It is impossible to deny the American love affair with the SUV. From high up in the driver's chair, you have a commanding view of the road, and with three rows of seats, there's room for the entire family. But let's be honest with ourselves: no one buys a Toyota Highlander, Kia Sorento, or Chevrolet Suburban with the intention of using it to cross the Darien Gap. Any off-road ability these SUVs do or don't have is entirely incidental.

Enlarge (credit: felixmizioznikov / Getty)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is fighting back against speculation that a deadly Tesla crash in the Houston area on Saturday might have occurred while Tesla's Autopilot driver-assistance software was active.

"Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled," Musk tweeted on Monday afternoon.

The vehicle was totaled, so it's not clear if crash data on the vehicle survived. But Tesla vehicles are equipped with cellular connections, and the 2019 Model S may have transmitted key data wirelessly to Tesla's servers in the seconds after the crash.

Enlarge (credit: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

What if the British crown had offered the Luddites a retraining program and the promise of good-paying factory jobs? Perhaps they would have accepted the textile transition?

That’s essentially what the nation’s largest coal miner union is suggesting. In exchange for job retraining, wage replacement, and preferential hiring for out-of-work coal miners, the United Mine Workers of America would support the transition away from carbon-polluting fossil fuels. It’s also calling for tax incentives to build portions of the renewable energy supply chain in coal country.

“We’ll take good paying jobs any way we can get them,” said Cecil Roberts, the president of the UWMA, in a talk hosted by the National Press Club. “The government has not done a good job, if at all, managing what’s going on in the coal fields,” he said, citing rounds of layoffs and mine closures.