Andrew Tarantola
Engadget
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Recent articles by Andrew:
How to tell if the air around us is safe to breathe
In fact, air quality in the US in general has suffered in recent years. → Read More
After Math: Quibi wins some Emmys and Ridley Scott's 'Wolves' is renewed
Not only did Apple reveal a bunch of new wrist-bound and palm-top hardware during its September 2020 Watch event on Tuesday, Sony’s Playstation 5 event followed right on its heels with news that the next-gen gaming console (the digital only version, at least) will start at $400, roughly the same introductory price as its Xbox rival. While most folks were reveling in the news that Harley Quinn is… → Read More
Hitting the Books: How social media keeps us clicking
What then happens to our brains on social media? → Read More
Sony shows off 'Miles Morales' mayhem, announces PS4 release
Miles Morales follows on directly from the ending scenes of PS4’s Spider-Man. → Read More
Facebook's first AR glasses are a research project called 'Aria'
During its Oculus Connect live stream event on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the rumored partnership between his social media platform and eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica (which owns the RayBan and Oakley brands, among myriad others) is indeed very real and that the pair are actively developing AR-enhanced glasses which should be ready for release next year. Dubbed… → Read More
After Math: Ninja pulls the old 'Twitcheroo'
Just as TV killed the radio star, music streaming has absolutely slaughtered physical media sales. Pressed disc sales accounted for 62 percent of physical media sales in the first half of the year, totaling $232 million. → Read More
Hitting the books: How China uses AI to influence its 1.4 billion citizens
Today, states and their actors are waging a digital cold war with artificial intelligence systems at the heart of the fight. In T-Minus AI, the US Air Force’s first Chairperson for Artificial Intelligence, Michael Kanaan examines the emergence of AI as a tool for maintaining and expanding State power. Russia, for example, is pushing for AI in every aspect of its military complex, while China, as… → Read More
For Lucid’s Air EV sedan, performance and prestige come at a price
After multiple production delays and setbacks, Lucid Motors gave the EV driving public its first look at the upcoming Lucid Air sedan during a live streamed reveal event on Wednesday. Built on the Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP), the all-wheel drive Lucid Air will be powered by dual electric motors producing a whopping 1,080 horsepower between them. The Air’s 113 kWh battery pack is only… → Read More
Having lots of followers will no longer help you get Instagram verified
Back in June, during the George Floyd Uprisings, Instagram took a long, hard look at its harassment, verification and content recommendation policies as part of a push to “elevate Black voices.” To start, Instagram has created a dedicated Equity team tasked with “better understanding and addressing bias in our product development and people’s experiences on Instagram,” per a post from Adam… → Read More
Blue Origin has been trying to get the hell off this planet for 20 years now
Blue Origin has built three New Shepards to date. (The crew capsule was unharmed; the rocket stage, not so much.) It comes in two variants: a 270-foot-tall two-stage rocket and a 313-foot-tall three-stage rocket. → Read More
After Math: Fast cars, discount scooters and hopping spacecraft
As the IFA conference winds down and gadget release season heats up, let’s take a look at some of the headline highlights of the past seven days. The 1,502HP electrically-driven Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 aims to find out. → Read More
Hitting the Books: Lessons learned from gaming with the King of Sweden
Video games have come a long way from their dim arcade origins. In his new book, The Dream Architects: Adventures in the Video Game Industry, author David Polfeldt examines both the rise of video games as a cultural and commercial force as well as his own experiences in eventually becoming the Managing Director of Massive Entertainment. In the excerpt below, Polfeldt recalls the time the King of… → Read More
Free-to-play ‘Rocket League’ won’t need PS Plus or Switch Online plans
Xbox Live Gold players, unfortunately, will. Additionally, Rocket League is streamlining its various contests so that Rocket Pass and Tournament, Competitive Seasons all align with one another. → Read More
Astronomers spot a super-rare class of black hole for the first time
“We were able to confirm that this came from a collision of two black holes,” Jani said. The individual black holes weighed roughly 85 and 65 times the mass of the sun, respectively. → Read More
After Math: 15-Minute COVID tests and 27,000 not-so-great scots
Congratulations on making it through another seven days as the world burns around us — in California’s case, quite literally — so let’s take a look at some of the top headlines from the week that was. While Walmart joined the bidding frenzy, TikTok’s recently acquired CEO, former Disney bigwig Kevin Mayer, announced that he is leaving the company after just three months. This new rapid COVID… → Read More
Elon Musk unveils V2 of the Neuralink brain-machine interface surgery bot
Just over a year since their last major announcement, Elon Musk’s Neuralink is finally ready to show off the fruits of its labor: a revolutionary brain-machine interface that could blur the lines between humanity and technology, as well as give our feeble fleshy minds a leg up against increasingly capable AIs. "It’s important that Neuralink solves this problem sooner rather than later, because… → Read More
Sony might send you an invite to pre-order the PS5
Your best chance to get a PS5 at launch may come by getting an invitation directly from Sony. → Read More
It takes an estimated seven nuclear plants to power our bitcoin mining
Turns out that plugging a bunch of computers into our electrical grid that do nothing but draw current and hash through algorithms has had some negative environmental impacts. Recent studies suggest that Bitcoin-related power consumption has reached record highs this year — with more than seven gigawatts of power being pulled in the pursuit of the suspect digital currency. Today’s bitcoin mining… → Read More
Cornell University's laser-activated robot is smaller than a paramecium
Researchers from Cornell University unveiled an entire robot that is teensy enough to fit most anywhere in the human body — yes, even in there — and inexpensive enough to produce on a mass scale. The walking robots are the creation of Cornell physics professor Itai Cohen, professor of physical science Paul McEuen, and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Marc Miskin. → Read More
How NASA knows when it's a 'go' for launch
Earlier this month, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance landed a major contract with the US military that will see the two companies effectively handle all of American space launch services through 2024. "This landmark award begins the dawn of a new decade in U.S. launch innovation, while promoting competition, maintaining a healthy industrial base, and reinforcing our global competitive… → Read More