Month: July 2022

Enlarge / Macs running macOS Ventura. (credit: Apple)

Apple has released the betas for its next major operating systems to the public today, making it relatively easy for adventurous users to download and install rough versions of the software that will begin powering Macs, iPhones, iPads, and other devices starting sometime in the fall.

We'll publish full reviews of those new OSes when they're officially released, but for Mac users who want to jump into the public betas today, we'll be covering a few macOS Ventura features we've learned about in our time with the developer betas (the first public beta build corresponds roughly to the third developer beta build, which was released last week).

Rather than focus on high-profile changes, like Continuity Camera, search improvements, Passkeys, or the overhauled Settings app, we've focused on smaller but still significant improvements, including a few that show us where Apple is trying to steer the Mac in the next few years.

Enlarge / An EV's battery represents as much as 25 percent of the cost of the car, so it's understandable that people are nervous about longevity. (credit: Aranga87/Getty Images)

It's often said that the easiest way to get people to buy an electric vehicle is to let them test-drive one. But here in the US, EVs only accounted for 3 percent of the 15 million new vehicles sold in 2021. That means there are an awful lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to these newfangled machines.

The top concern is probably range anxiety, a fear that is usually dispelled as someone gets used to waking up to a full battery every morning. I won't dwell on that today, but the next-most common point of confusion about EVs has to be the traction battery's longevity, or potential lack thereof.

It's an understandable concern; many of us are used to using consumer electronic devices powered by rechargable batteries that develop what's known as "memory." The effect is caused by repeatedly charging a cell before it has been fully depleted, resulting in the cell "forgetting" that it can deplete itself further. The lithium-ion cells used by EVs aren't really affected by the memory effect, but they can degrade storage capacity if subjected to too many fast charges or if their thermal management isn't taken seriously.

Enlarge / The Pixel 6 Pro. (credit: Google)

Google is offering some steep discounts on the Pixel 6 line for the holiest of made-up corporate holidays, Amazon Prime Day. You can get $200 off the Pixel 6 Pro, which brings the $899 MSRP down to $699, while the Pixel 6 gets $100 off, changing from $599 to $499. The deals are now live on the Google Store (or Amazon or Target).

We're big fans of both phones, as it seems like Google finally hit on a winning combination for its long-running smartphone line. The combination of a low price, good specs, fast updates, and the unique camera bar design make the phones a great buy, provided you live in one of the countries where Google sells the phone. In the US, both phones were already one of the best deals you can get for a 2022 smartphone, with their MSRPs both clocking in at $300 less than a comparable Samsung phone. With discounts, they are pretty hard to pass up.

If you need a quick recap, the Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.7-inch 120 Hz display OLED display, 12GB of RAM, and a 5000 mAh battery, while the Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch 90 Hz display, 8GB of RAM, and a 4600 mAh battery. Both have Google's custom-made (by Samsung) Tensor SoC, a new camera system headlined by a 50 MP main sensor, Wi-Fi 6E, and Android 12, with a promised three years of major updates.

Enlarge (credit: Chris Delmas/Getty Images)

Twitter has hired an elite law firm to handle its forthcoming lawsuit against Elon Musk, which could be filed any day now.

After Musk pulled out of his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion on Friday, Twitter Board Chairman Bret Taylor said the company will sue Musk to enforce the merger contract and force him to complete "the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon." Twitter then hired the "merger law heavyweight" Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to work on a lawsuit it expects to file early this week in the Delaware Court of Chancery, Bloomberg reported.

"Wachtell Lipton has perhaps the leading litigation practice in Delaware, where the majority of US public companies are incorporated," the Financial Times wrote. "It defends companies in lawsuits over breach of fiduciary duty and broken merger agreements in the state."

Enlarge / A Great White shark swims off the coast of South Africa. The new NatGeo documentary Camo Sharks explores whether these apex predators of the deep are capable of changing color to better sneak up on prey. (credit: National Geographic/Hansa Winshaw)

This year marks the 10th anniversary of National Geographic's Sharkfest, and the NatGeo channel is marking the occasion with an intriguing new documentary exploring whether great white sharks can change their color to hunt more effectively. Camo Sharks follows marine biologist and research coordinator for Blue Wilderness Research Unit Ryan Johnson and graduate student Gibbs Kuguru in the field as they attempt to gather evidence to support the hypothesis that these ocean predators can tweak the dermal cells in their skin to change color as a means of camouflage.

A native of New Zealand, Johnson grew up in a beach-side town, absorbing the conventional wisdom that dolphins were "the good guys" and sharks were "the bad guys." When he decided to become a marine biologist, he wanted to work with dolphins. When he was 20, he had the chance to do some research on great white sharks in South Africa, which were facing tremendous pressure at the time from over-fishing, leading to a rise in shark attacks.

"They had just become very popular as a delicacy," Johnson told Ars. "The shark fin soup trade had gone crazy, and [sharks] were getting mass slaughtered. It was an awakening of awareness for me. I realized this needs attention, a lot more so from my perspective, at least, compared to dolphins."