Month: January 2023

Enlarge (credit: Lightrocket via Getty Images)

Renault and Nissan have hammered out a historic deal to salvage their troubled 24-year-old alliance and convince both sides that the partnership can survive without its former supremo, Carlos Ghosn.

The hard-fought agreement creates a pathway for the carmakers to restore a working level of trust and resume cooperation in select technical areas after the disruption and internal rows that followed the arrest of Ghosn more than four years ago.

Under the deal, which has yet to be formally approved by the Nissan board, the carmakers have agreed to equalize their stake-holdings in each other, removing a source of tension that has dogged the relationship since its inception.

Anker's PowerExpand Direct USB-C hub. (credit: Corey Gaskin)

If you’ve purchased or are considering buying Apple’s new M2-powered MacBook Pro—which comes with even more processing power and longer battery life than last generation’s M1 model—you’ll definitely want to pick up a few extra accessories to get the most out of your laptop.

Whether you need a laptop stand for an ergonomic setup while working from home, an external solid-state drive to augment your storage space in the field, or a comfortable keyboard and mouse, we’ve scoured the Internet for some of the top deals on Mac accessories. Our curated picks on some of the top discounted Mac accessories will save you money, bring a better ergonomic experience, and deliver added capabilities to Apple's already excellent notebook. And even if you're an iPad user or a fan of Windows or Linux, you can use many of these accessories as well.

Laptop stands

(credit: Corey Gaskin)

Whether you need a durable aluminum-clad riser to elevate your MacBook Pro’s display to a more ergonomic viewing angle or you want a stand to pair with an existing desk monitor, using a laptop stand will keep your desk tidy and keep you comfortable as you work.

Those watching the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals were treated to the final trailer for the third season of Star Trek: Picard, most likely its last. This time around, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has assembled his old crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation to take on a new adversary out to destroy not just Picard but Starfleet as a whole.

(Some spoilers for the prior two seasons below.)

As we've reported previously, Picard is set 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. The first season's notable guests included Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis, reprising their roles as William Riker and Deanna Troi and sparking rumors about the possible return of other Star Trek: The Next Generation characters. Patrick Stewart personally invited Whoopi Goldberg to return as Guinan in S2, with John DeLancie also returning as Q, keen to stage one last trial with his old friend Jean-Luc. We even saw the Borg Queen (played by Annie Wersching, who just died after battling cancer) and were treated to the briefest of cameos by Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton).

Enlarge / It's not been designed to be a Nürburgring taxi, but switch the Mach-E GT Performance Edition into Unbridled Extend if you're going to autocross it. (credit: Ford)

If you've been on the fence about buying a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, good news: Ford has dropped prices across the lineup of its first battery-electric vehicle. At the low end, there's a $900 drop on the RWD standard-range base model, listed at $45,995. At the other end is a $5,900 decrease for the GT Extended Range, which now carries a $63,995 MSRP.

In addition to the price cuts, Ford will also increase production of the Mustang Mach-E. The carmaker now plans to build 130,000 BEVs for the North American and European market, a massive increase from the previously planned 78,000. The production increase will in turn decrease wait times for new cars, a sticking point for drivers ready to trade hydrocarbons for electrons. Those who have already ordered new BEVs from Ford will get the lower prices as well.

Ford's move comes just two weeks after Tesla discounted some of its models by as much as 20 percent. At the bottom of the lineup, the Model 3 RWD is now $43,990—$3,000 cheaper than it was last year. The Model Y has been heavily discounted as well, with the Long Range and Performance models seeing a $13,000 discount.

Enlarge / The New Shepard rocket and spacecraft are seen during the NS-22 mission in August 2022. (credit: Blue Origin)

More than four months have passed since a launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ended in failure. No humans were onboard the vehicle because it was conducting a suborbital scientific research mission, but the failure has grounded the New Shepard fleet ever since.

The rocket's single main engine failed about 1 minute into the flight, at an altitude of around 9 km, as it was throttling back up after passing through the period of maximum dynamic pressure. At that point a large fire erupted in the BE-3 engine, and the New Shepard capsule's solid rocket motor-powered escape system fired as intended, pulling the capsule away from the exploding rocket. The capsule experienced high G-forces during this return but appeared to make a safe landing.

Three days after this accident with the New Shepard-23 mission, the bipartisan leadership of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, calling for a thorough investigation. In an interview with Ars later that month, the chair of the subcommittee, US Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., urged Blue Origin to be transparent.