There’s a new entry-level Tesla Model S, and it’s even cheaper

Tesla unveils new entry-level Model S 60, available in July.

On Thursday, Tesla filled the gap in its range with a new entry-level Model S 60. The car starts at $66,000 before tax incentives. Tesla previously discontinued the Model S 70 due to lack of demand, but this new model is several thousand dollars cheaper. Once rebates and gas savings factor in, the company says "the effective cost of owning Model S 60 comes to about $50k."

The Model S 60 gets a 60kWh battery, good for 0-60mph (0-96km/h) in 5.5 seconds and 200 miles of range between charges. It comes with the full suite of driver assists, and if you decide at some point you want more juice, a software upgrade will unlock the battery to 75kWh.

Tesla's approach to selling electric vehicles has been fascinating. Launching straight into the upper end of the market with the Model S was clever, and it laid the groundwork for the Model 3 mass-market follow-up. With the top and bottom ends covered (reminiscent of Shaka Zulu's "Buffalo Horns" strategy perhaps?), Tesla has moved in for the kill at the middle. This new Model S fits nicely between the $35,000 Model 3 and $89,500 Model S 90D, and the price is aimed squarely at buyers of mid-level luxury cars like the A6, 5 Series, and E-Class.

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Daala-Entwickler: Freie Videocodecs teilweise besser als H.265

Ein Daala-Entwickler berichtet vom Fortschritt des freien Videocodecs, der schon jetzt teilweise besser sein soll als HEVC alias H.265. Einige der in Daala getesteten Neuerungen werden außerdem Teil des neuen Codecs AV1 der Alliance for Open Media. (Video-Codec, Film)

Ein Daala-Entwickler berichtet vom Fortschritt des freien Videocodecs, der schon jetzt teilweise besser sein soll als HEVC alias H.265. Einige der in Daala getesteten Neuerungen werden außerdem Teil des neuen Codecs AV1 der Alliance for Open Media. (Video-Codec, Film)

More corporate shared folders in cloud filled with malware, research finds

In related studies: Ice is cold; fire still hot.

About 11 percent of shared cloud folders contain nasty surprises, according to recent research.

Internet file sharing has long been a prime route for malware to spread. The situation is one of the reasons (aside from the exposure of proprietary data) that many companies restrict the use of cloud file sharing to corporate-approved systems. But it turns out that those enterprise cloud folders are just as bad. As more companies sanction the use of cloud applications for collaboration and sharing data—even just between individuals' computers and mobile devices—those cloud apps have increasingly become fertile ground for malware.

In a study based on data collected from millions of users over the first three months of 2016, cloud security company Netskope found that 11 percent of corporate-approved cloud applications harbored malware. That total more than doubled, up from just 4.1 percent in the previous quarter's data.The malware discovered included JavaScript exploits, droppers used to spread other malware, malicious embedded macros in document files, actual backdoor malware, spyware, and adware. Some mobile device malware was found as well.

All of the malware was found in file sharing applications, though only 26.2 percent of it appeared to be actually shared (whether internally to others in the affected company, externally with partners, or even publicly shared). That means the cloud folders were either infected because they were connected to a device exploited by malware, or the files were moved to the folders by the user.

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Huawei: Super Vectoring mit 300 MBit/s ab 2017 verfügbar

Super Vectoring ist ab nächstem Jahr auf dem Markt, wie Huawei auf der Angacom erklärte. Die Telekom will die Technik einsetzen, mit der Datenraten von 300 MBit/s im Kupfernetz möglich werden. (Angacom, DSL)

Super Vectoring ist ab nächstem Jahr auf dem Markt, wie Huawei auf der Angacom erklärte. Die Telekom will die Technik einsetzen, mit der Datenraten von 300 MBit/s im Kupfernetz möglich werden. (Angacom, DSL)

Want your kid to be hip? Be sure to buy ‘em this $111 flight suit

Ars takes a dip into the world of high fashion and emerges thoroughly bewildered.

Anwar Hadid sports a NASA flight suit. This is hip, folks. (credit: Teen Vogue)

Ars Technica will leave no stone unturned when it comes to space coverage—even if it means braving the pages of Teen Vogue. And so this week I found myself sidling into my pre-teen daughter's room and surreptitiously picking up the June/July issue of the magazine off her desk.

It was not an easy read for these middle-aged eyes, which haven't been fashion conscious for decades (if ever). But I eventually found Anwar Hadid on page something or other (fashion magazines rarely put page numbers on the pages). I had never heard of this guy, but he is apparently a big deal among the teens. He's the younger brother of "top models" Gigi and Bella and the son of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed. And now he's a model, too. (The article cites something called "Hadid mania.")

Anyway, Anwar is showing off a NASA flight suit in a full-page image. According to the article, this "Alpha Industries" designed suit retails for $111. It's a reproduction of NASA's Advanced Crew Escape Suit worn by space shuttle astronauts during ascent and entry. The new design, of course, is more suitable to wear on Earth, and it's based on one that can be bought at Kennedy Space Center's gift shop.

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Bluetooth 5 is coming, will be faster, support longer range

Last year the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced that the next generation of its wireless data transmission standard would be faster and work over greater distances, all without increasing power consumption.
Now we have a name for that next-gen…

Bluetooth 5 is coming, will be faster, support longer range

Last year the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced that the next generation of its wireless data transmission standard would be faster and work over greater distances, all without increasing power consumption.

Now we have a name for that next-gen technology: Bluetooth 5.

The Bluetooth SIG says the official announcement is coming on June 16th.

Bluetooth 5 is expected to be up to four times faster than Bluetooth 4.x Low Energy, while the range is said to be doubled.

Continue reading Bluetooth 5 is coming, will be faster, support longer range at Liliputing.

New router chips could save open source firmware from FCC rules

Virtualization separates OpenWrt from radio controls, preventing illegal mods.

(credit: Imagination Technologies)

A company that designs MIPS processors for networking hardware says it is developing technology that would allow installation of open source firmware on wireless routers while still complying with the US Federal Communications Commission's latest anti-interference rules.

The FCC now requires router makers to prevent third-party firmware from changing radio frequency parameters in ways that could cause interference with other devices, such as FAA Doppler weather radar systems.

The easiest way for router makers to comply is to simply prevent installation of open source firmware altogether. Linksys came up with its own way of allowing open source firmware, but so far there's no method that scales across the industry, and at least some routers from TP-Link and Asus are being locked down.

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Time Warner Cable Internet speeds are “abysmal,” NY AG claims

State official blasts Charter-owned cable company, demands improvement.

(credit: Getty Images | Dimitri Otis)

Internet speed tests have shown that Time Warner Cable has repeatedly failed to provide the speeds it promises customers, according to a New York state government official. New York has not publicly released any data to back up the claim, but apparently shared the results with the cable company. Charter—TWC's new owner—received a letter demanding improvement yesterday from the New York attorney general's office.

"We recently called on New York customers of major broadband providers to use open-source tools to test the Internet speeds they were experiencing," NY Senior Enforcement Counsel Tim Wu wrote to Charter CEO Tom Rutledge. "The results we received from Time Warner Cable customers were abysmal. Not only did Time Warner Cable fail to achieve the speeds its customers were promised and paid for (which Time Warner Cable blamed on the testing method), it generally performed worse in this regard than other New York broadband providers."

The Washington Post published the full letter and has a related article.

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Social Media: Ein Netzwerk wie ein Glücksspielautomat

Design-Ethiker Tristan Harris ärgert sich darüber, wie unethisch Firmen aus dem Silicon Valley sich verhalten. Sie behandelten Nutzer, als ob diese an einem Glücksspielautomaten säßen. Anstatt deren Alltag zu verbessern, ginge es nur darum, Aufmerksamkeit zu maximieren. (Soziales Netz, Microblogging)

Design-Ethiker Tristan Harris ärgert sich darüber, wie unethisch Firmen aus dem Silicon Valley sich verhalten. Sie behandelten Nutzer, als ob diese an einem Glücksspielautomaten säßen. Anstatt deren Alltag zu verbessern, ginge es nur darum, Aufmerksamkeit zu maximieren. (Soziales Netz, Microblogging)

Android-ROM: Paranoid Android ist zurück

Nach dem Weggang der kompletten Führungsriege zu Oneplus wurde es ruhig um Paranoid Android. Jetzt meldet sich das neue Team mit einem Relaunch zurück: Das neue ROM basiert auf Android 6.0.1 und bietet wieder einige Extrafunktionen, unter anderem den früheren Hover-Modus. (Paranoid Android, Smartphone)

Nach dem Weggang der kompletten Führungsriege zu Oneplus wurde es ruhig um Paranoid Android. Jetzt meldet sich das neue Team mit einem Relaunch zurück: Das neue ROM basiert auf Android 6.0.1 und bietet wieder einige Extrafunktionen, unter anderem den früheren Hover-Modus. (Paranoid Android, Smartphone)