Instagram has confirmed it's working on a new feature called "Exclusive Stories." Since June 21st, images of the Stories offshoot have circulated online after software developer Alessandro Paluzzi shared on Twitter that they had found references to the feature in Instagram's codebase. On Wednesday, the company told TechCrunch the screenshots showcase an internal prototype it's working on behind the scenes. Unfortunately, Instagram didn't reveal any other details about the project, noting it had nothing more to share when Engadget reached out.
#Instagram is working on stories for fan clubs, exclusive stories visible only to fan club members š
But what we can gather from the screenshots is that the feature is Instagram's take on Twitter's paid Super Follow subscription. When regular users stumble upon an Exclusive Story, Instagram will tell them "only members" can view the content. It also appears the company will prevent people from trying to screenshot what they see. At the same time, it will push creators to save their Exclusive Stories to a Highlight so that new members have something to view as they subscribe.
As with any insight that comes courtesy of someone finding early references to a new feature, there's the possibility Instagram may never release the feature Paluzzi found. But the images clearly show the company is thinking about how it can entice creators to stay on the platform. If that means adapting a feature from one of its rivals, so be it. Facebook and Instagram have done that plenty of times in the past.
The iOS 15 public beta is live today, which means a larger swath of people can now check out the latest features coming to iPhones later this year. Despite being a beta, itās surprisingly complete, with most of the coming changes already available. Some of the updates getting the most buzz are the new Focus modes and FaceTime sharing tools, but there are also changes across Messages, Maps, Weather, Safari, Photos and more to check out.
So far, the preview software seems largely stable. But as always with betas, think twice about how willing you are to risk bricking your phone in exchange for early access to new features. Regardless of whether that's you, we've put together a detailed preview of how iOS 15 will work when it launches in the fall.
FaceTime: SharePlay, screen sharing and spatial audio
Though it would have been a lot more helpful if Apple had launched this feature during the throes of the pandemic, FaceTimeās SharePlay feature will still be useful for many of us. Whether you want to watch an episode of Ted Lasso with your long-distance buddy or provide remote tech support to your relatives, SharePlay and screen sharing over FaceTime will make your life a little easier.
Screenshots of iOS 15 beta
Unfortunately, my colleague Mat Smith and I had to futz around for ages before we figured out how to SharePlay something. While screen sharing is more straightforward ā just press a button at the bottom right of a new control panel at the top of FaceTime calls ā SharePlay options only show up when you have a compatible media app open during a chat. Mat and I are seasoned tech journalists and we still spent some time looking for a SharePlay-specific button, which seems like the more intuitive way.
Once we figured it out, things went a little more smoothly. When you try to play an episode or video while on a FaceTime call, a window pops up asking if you want to use SharePlay. From there, you can choose to stream with your caller (or callers), play it only for yourself, or cancel.
As a reminder, depending on the app, both you and your friend will need subscriptions to watch stuff together on SharePlay. For Appleās services like TV+ and Music, youāll both need a subscription or trial. Other streaming apps like HBO Max, Hulu and Disney+ will be the ones that decide whether all parties need accounts to watch shows together on SharePlay, but itās highly unlikely they allow it some other way.
On our attempts to stream episodes of Mythic Quest and Central Park on SharePlay, though, Mat and I kept getting a failure notice saying āUnable to SharePlay. This title isnāt available to SharePlay with people in different countries or regions.ā Itās odd, since both those shows are available in both our regions. Itās also sad that you wouldnāt be allowed to watch it with someone abroad. Apple hasnāt said if this limit will be in place when iOS 15 launches, but if it is itāll be disappointing for anyone that was looking forward to SharePlaying with their overseas partners, families and friends. Weāll update this article if Apple confirms this either way.
Screen sharing worked better. I was able to show Mat my dubious shopping list on Instagram though, as it does with other video chat apps, my camera automatically turned off whenever I shared my screen. When Mat streamed his display, his camera stayed on. We suspect this has something to do with the fact that heās using a more capable iPhone 12 mini while I was on an aging iPhone XR that was burning up from my testing. This is a known issue with SharePlay that has been detailed in the iOS 15 developer beta release notes, so it may get fixed in time.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Two other FaceTime features that are also live in this beta: links to join calls from non-Apple devices and spatial audio. The latter lets you hear each person in a call from the direction where theyāre positioned on your FaceTime grid. Since it required multiple people running the beta to work, I couldnāt fully experience this. I got on a call with Mat and our former colleague Chris Velazco, and while Mat and I were able to hear each other from different directions, Chris wasnāt on the beta and did not notice the effect.
I also sent FaceTime web links to Chris, as well as Engadget staffers Nathan Ingraham and Valentina Palladino. The URL brought us to a page that prompted us to enter our names, and as the host I could choose to allow or block each would-be participant. Chris was able to join my call from a non-Apple laptop, while Valentina and Nate went through the browser on their Macs. Meanwhile, I was using an iPhone. Everyone looked and sounded greatā¦ to me.
Valentina and Nate couldnāt hear each other until they used the FaceTime app on their MacBooks. Chris also couldnāt hear other people on the call ā all anyone heard was my beautiful voice. (As it should be.) But really, this appears to be an issue with how browsers handle audio input devices or a possible bug in the beta.
Itās not yet clear whether the region-specific SharePlay restrictions will also work this way in the stable release. But so far, barring some glitches, the updates to Appleās video calling app appear meaty and potentially very useful.
Focus modes
Iāve spent too much time talking about FaceTime, so Iām going to try to succinctly describe the other iOS 15 features Iāve tested thus far. One of these felt incredibly relevant as I spent time finishing this article on deadline: Focus modes. Here, Apple allows you to customize profiles that will allow notifications from specific apps or people when enabled.
Screenshots from the iOS 15 beta
Three placeholders are available at the start: Work, Bedtime and Personal. On your first time trying to enable each, youāll have to set up which contacts and apps to allow. You can also choose to enable your Focus Status so people who try to reach you will see that youāre away when theyāre using a compatible app. Developers of messaging apps will have to use Appleās API to enable this, so that your friends who hit you up on, say, Telegram or Facebook Messenger will see your status too.
For now, only Appleās own Messages supports it and I was able to see below our conversation that Mat had silenced notifications. I sent a message anyway, and the app showed my text was ādelivered quietly.ā Just like you can on Slack, you can choose to ānotify anywayā so your message breaks through the wall of silence. (Iām not an awful person so I didnāt, poor Mat had already put up with my relentless testing and FaceTiming all day.)
With each Focus mode, you can also pick a home screen showing just the apps you want. To do so, youāll have to first create each page as an additional panel on your main screen, then select the relevant one when customizing your Focus mode. I created a barebones page with just four apps and designated it as my main Personal screen. I also made a different option for Work and was able to have apps appear on multiple pages ā Instagram and Twitter could be placed on every page, for example. When each mode was enabled, I couldnāt see any other page; swiping sideways only showed the apps drawer and the Today view.
I havenāt spent enough time with the beta to know how useful these customized views will be, but Iām already in love with the ability to pick different notifications profiles. You can also set them to automatically activate based on the time of day, your location or app usage. Again, this is something Iāll need to use for more than a few days, but I appreciate the concept. Unfortunately, I havenāt encountered Notifications summaries in the beta yet.
Live text (aka Appleās version of Google Lens)
Many other iOS 15 updates are similar to features that competitors already offer, and the most obvious of these is Live Text. This tool scans the photos on your device for words and turns them into text you can actually use, whether itās copying and pasting a phone number to another app or translating foreign words on a menu. This is basically Apple's answer to Google Lens, which has been around for years.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Similar to Lens, Appleās version will show a small symbol at the bottom right of each image in the Photos app to indicate itās found something. Tap that icon, and all the characters in that picture will be highlighted, and you can select the portions you need. I snapped a picture of my bottle of moisturizer and was able to copy all the words on the label and URLs also got identified as links I could click through. You can also use Live Text via the Camera appās viewfinder without snapping a shot, by the way. When your phone detects words in the scene, the same icon will appear in the bottom right and you can hit it to pull up the snippets that Live Text noticed.
So far, this generally performed as expected, though it's worth noting that as its name suggests, Live Text only works on images that have a lot of words in them. But even a photo of my dinner, which included a container of yogurt with a brand name prominently displayed on it, didnāt trigger Live Text. Googleās Lens, meanwhile, will identify buildings, pets, furniture and clothes in pictures with nary a letter in them.
Maps, Photos and generally tighter integration
Elsewhere in iOS 15 youāll find updates to Maps, Weather and Photos. In some cities, Appleās maps look richer and more detailed than before, thanks to meticulous drawings of individual trees, lanes, traffic lights and more. I was able to explore a golf course in San Francisco, as well as the Conservatory of Flowers and Dutch Windmill in the Golden Gate Park in surprisingly detailed 2D and 3D views. I was disappointed when I zoomed super close to the Penguin Island in the San Francisco zoo and there were no cute little feathered friends. But I guess thatād be too much to ask.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Memories in Photos has also been updated to give you greater control over who shows up in them and what music plays in the background. You can now edit your picturesā descriptions to create richer alt text that stays with each image as you forward them to friends. I liked using this to identify people and places in a photo for contacts who are blind or have low vision. Even though I added keywords like āsunsetā and peopleās names to some picturesā descriptions, searches for those words in my iPhoneās Spotlight didnāt return those images. It would be nice, but the descriptions arenāt currently being indexed for that.
But thatās another update in iOS 15: Spotlight searches for all things in your phone will now include your photos in results, too. It uses Appleās own machine learning to detect things in your library though, and this is still sometimes inaccurate. I searched for āCherlynnā and āSunsetā and was shown screenshots with my name in them and an image of a red-hot map of New York from the Weather app that Apple thought was a sunset. This isnāt perfect, but at least photos are better integrated into Spotlight now.
Another update that provides better integration across iOS is the consolidation of media that your friends send you. Apple calls this Share With You, and things from your recent interactions with each person will show up there ā pictures that Mat sent me of his adorable baby niece, as well as the screenshots he shared from our FaceTime adventures, were all in his page in the Phone app.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Thereās still a ton more to explore not only in the public beta but in iOS 15 when the final release is ready. The Weather app has new maps that appropriately show just how scorching hot itās been in the New York area these last few days. And we still have to test more things like Safari mobile extensions and ID and keys support in Wallet. For now, this has been an intriguing taste of what to expect in the software update. Despite a few snags, it looks like iPhone users will have plenty to look forward to later this year.
There's plenty to look forward to in the upcoming iOS 15 update: SharePlay in FaceTime, new Focus modes, better Maps and Weather apps, as well as deeper integration across Messages, Photos and more. Though there's still some time to wait before the next OS officially rolls out, those eager to try early versions of these new features can check them out starting today. Apple has released the iOS 15 public beta and if you're curious enough to install potentially unstable software, you can run it today. Additionally, Apple also dropped the public betas for iPadOS 15 (which shares many of the same features as iOS 15) and watchOS 8. Make sure you back up your data before you begin!
iOS 15 will be compatible with iPhone 6S and later (including both generations of the iPhone SE), as well as the 7th-generation iPod Touch. Those hoping to test watchOS 8 will also need an Apple Watch Series 3, 4, 5 or 6 running the iOS 15 beta. If you have compatible hardware, all you have to do is sign up for Apple's beta program on its website here. You'll get a notification that it's ready to install (or you can keep looking at your "Software update" page in Settings). We've been using a developer beta build for a couple of days and, assuming it's largely similar to the public beta, the software seems fairly stable with occasional glitches in specific apps.
While your devices are enrolled in the beta program, you'll receive updates automatically when they're publicly available. If you've played around with the preview and decide you've had enough, you can revert to an older version by unenrolling. Once again, to ensure that your data is safe, make sure you perform a back up before getting the beta.
Like Yin and Yang, the two chopstick halves make up a whole!
A winner of the European Product Design Award, the One Plus Three is all about combining functionality with elegance. Designed as a series of 3 popular cutlery pieces – the spoon, fork, and knife, the cutlery come with a parting line running through the center along with unusually tipped handles. Pull against the direction of this parting line and each cutlery piece splits into two chopsticks that can then be used to go from eating any other cuisine to eating Asian food! By integrating the tableware, One Plus Three hopes to integrate cultures too!
The One Plus Three’s design is rather elegantly creative. The magnets exist only at the ‘head’ of the cutlery and not the handle. In doing so, it ensures that the tableware stays together when being used as a spoon, knife, or fork. However, flip the cutlery over and separate them into two individual chopsticks and now the magnets get spaced further apart, ensuring that they don’t stick together when you’re trying to eat food with the chopsticks! Each cutlery unit even comes with wooden intermediary handles that act as insulation as well as a nifty grip!
Near the end of the Epic v. Apple trial, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers had some pointed questions for Tim Cook on the state of Appleās relationship with its developers. Citing an internal survey of developers, she noted that 39 percent of them indicated they were unhappy with the App Storeās distribution. What incentive, then, she asked, does Apple have to work with them?
Cook seemed to be caught off guard by the question. He said Apple rejects a lot of apps and that āfrictionā can be a good thing for users. Rogers replied that it ādoesnāt seem you feel pressure or competition to change the manner in which you act to address concerns of developers.ā
It was a brief but telling exchange. And one that strikes at the heart of Appleās currently rocky relationship with developers.
Epic vs. Apple vs. developers
Ostensibly, Epicās antitrust case against Apple was about the iPhone makerās treatment of Fortnite and its refusal to allow the game developer to bypass the App Store for in-app purchases. Epic, along with many other prominent developers, has long chafed at Appleās 30 percent commission, or āApp Storeā tax.
Itās not just that they see 30 percent as greedy and unfair (Apple recently lowered its take to 15 percent for small developers). Itās that Apple has appeared to treat some developers differently than others. For example, documents unearthed during the trial detail how Apple went to great lengths to prevent Netflix from yanking in-app purchases from its app.
After considering āpunitive measuresā toward the streaming giant, Apple offered Netflix custom APIs that most developers don't have access to. It also dangled the possibility of additional promotion in the App Store or even at its physical retail stores. Netflix ended up pulling in-app purchases anyway, but it was illustrative of the kind of āspecial treatmentā many developers have long suspected Apple employs towards some apps.
Meanwhile, game developers have no choice but to pay Appleās ātax.ā Not only that, but Appleās rules prohibit them from even alerting their users that they may be able to make the same purchase elsewhere for less ā whatās known as its āanti-steeringā rules.
Friction over these rules is nothing new. But the details of these arrangements, and Appleās hardball tactics with developers, had never been as exposed as they were during the trial.
āWhat was great about the Epic trial was that it brought many of these issues to light and into the public dialogue,ā said Meghan DiMuzio, executive director for the Coalition for App Fairness, an advocacy group representing developers who believe Appleās policies are anticompetitive. āI think we saw how Apple more generally chooses to approach their relationships with developers and how they value, or don't value, their relationships with developers. I think those are really incredible soundbites and storylines to have out in the public eye.ā
The case touched on other issues that have been the source of long-simmering developer frustrations with Cupertino, and not just for giants like Netflix. Epic also highlighted common developer complaints around App Store search ads, fraudulent apps and Appleās often inscrutable review process.
In one particularly memorable exchange, the developer of yoga app Down Dog spoke at length about how Appleās opaque policies can have an outsize impact on developers. For example, he said Apple had repeatedly rejected app updates for seemingly bizarre reasons, like using a āwrongā color on a login page. Once, he said, an update was rejected because App Store reviewers couldnāt find his appās integration with Appleās Health app. He later realized it was because the reviewers were testing on an iPad, which doesnāt support the Health app.
These types of complaints are probably familiar to most developers. Itās not unusual for Apple to quibble over the placement of a particular button, or some other minor feature. These seemingly small issues can drag on for days or weeks, as Epic repeatedly pointed out. But itās rare for such squabbles to spill over into public view as they did during the trial.
The trial raised other, more fundamental issues, too. A witness for Epic testified that the operating margin for the App Store was 78 percent, a figure Apple disputed but didnāt offer evidence to the contrary. Instead, Tim Cook and other execs have maintained they simply donāt know how much money the App Store makes.
Cook did, however, have much more to say when pressed on whether game developers effectively āsubsidizeā the rest of the App Store. āWe are creating the entire amount of commerce on the store, and weāre doing that by focusing on getting the largest audience there,ā Cook stated.
The argument struck a nerve with some. Marco Arment, a longtime iOS developer whose apps have been featured by Apple, wrote a scathing blog post in response.
āThe idea that the App Store is responsible for most customers of any reasonably well-known app is a fantasy,ā Arment writes. āThe App Store is merely one platformās forced distribution gateway, āfacilitatingā the commerce no more and no less than a web browser, an ISP or cellular carrier, a server-hosting company, or a credit-card processor. For Apple to continue to claim otherwise is beyond insulting, and borders on delusion.ā
Determining just how many developers agree with that sentiment, though, is trickier. There are millions of iOS developers and for much of the App Storeās history, most have been reluctant to publicly criticize Apple. The company has conducted its own surveys ā as evidenced in the Epic trial disclosures ā but the findings arenāt typically made public. And even Cook admitted he was unsure if itās a metric the company regularly tracks.
āThere's not a lot of actual third-party survey on the developer ecosystem,ā says Ben Bajarin, CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies. He has been conducting his own poll of Apple developers to gauge their feelings toward the company.
He says he sees āa pretty big gapā between the smaller, independent developers and the larger businesses on the App Store. Developers with smaller projects, he says, are āsimply much more reliant on Apple.ā And while they quibble with things like search ads or Appleās review process, they donāt have many alternatives. āThese arenāt developers that have a huge budget for marketing [ā¦] theyāre entirely reliant on Apple to get them customers.ā
The coming antitrust battles
These issues could end up being much bigger than Epicās or a few other high-profile frustrated developers. Regardless of the outcome of the Epic trial, Apple is facing other antitrust battles in the United States and Europe, where many of the same issues are being raised.
UK regulators launched an investigation into the App Store in March. That probe, which came in response to developer complaints, is looking at Appleās rules for developers and its policies around in-app purchases. Separately, the European Union is moving forward with its own antitrust case centered around the companyās commission structure and anti-steering rules. And earlier this month, US lawmakers, who have also heard from frustrated app developers in recent months, introduced five antitrust bills targeting Apple and its fellow tech giants. One of which would bar Apple from pre-installing any apps on iPhones at all.
The outcome of any one of these could dramatically reshape how Apple runs the App Store, and the rules it sets for developers.
On its part, Apple has argued that opening the App Store would harm users and affect its ability to protect their privacy. Behind the scenes, Cook has reportedly personally lobbied members of Congress to rethink the proposed legislation.
Even if Apple is able to emerge from its antitrust fights relatively unscathed, dissatisfied developers could eventually pose a more existential problem for Apple. Bajarin, of Creative Strategies, says that issues with developers are unlikely to hurt Apple in the short term because there are still few alternatives. But, he says, that could change should Apple face competition from an emerging platform it doesnāt yet dominate, such as AR or VR.
āYou just don't want this strain on developer relationships because Apple wants all those developers to be right on board day one for whatever's coming next. They need those larger developers to still prioritize their OS.ā
Sony has revealed the next batch of games PlayStation Plus members can claim starting on July 6th. The highlight for many will be Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, the 2018 entry in the blockbuster series. It includes three multiplayer modes: the standard multiplayer affairs that Call of Duty fans have enjoyed for nearly two decades, Zombies and the Blackout battle royale experience.
PlayStation 5 owners can get their hands on A Plague Tale: Innocence at no extra cost if they're PS Plus subscribers. The PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the survival horror game arrive on July 6th, as does the Nintendo Switch port. The other addition to the PS Plus library in July is WWE 2K Battlegrounds, an arcade-style take on WWE's brand of pro wrestling.
You'll have until August 2nd to claim these three games, as well as Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, which stays in the lineup for a second month. There are still a few more days to grab the other games currently on offer, Star Wars: Squadrons and Operation: Tango (PS5-only). July 5th is the deadline for snagging those.
Fans of Loki will have more than just a new episode of Marvelās live-action series to look forward to next Wednesday. On July 7th, Disney will also release The Good, The Bart, and The Loki, a new Simpsons short guest starring Tom Hiddleston, to Disney+. Of his latest (mis)adventure, the company says Loki has once again gotten himself banished from Asgard, only this time to find himself in the town of Springfield. The God of Mischief teams up with Bart and hijinks ensue.
The Good, The Bart, and The Loki is the second Disney+ Simpsons crossover following the Star Wars-themed The Force Awakens from its Nap. Of course, you can thank the billions Disney spent adding Marvel, Lucasfilm and assets from 21st Century Fox to its empire for that fact the Simpsons and Loki can appear in an animated short together.
The French government has decreed that Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming services will have to spend up to a quarter of their French revenue on making local content. Eighty percent of each platform's respective investment will go toward making French shows, TV movies and documentaries (more Emily in Paris and Lupin, anyone?). The remaining fifth ā four or five percent of their total French revenue ā will be used to make theatrically released movies.
The country is the first European Union member to enforce new streaming rules under the European Commission's Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The framework is designed to create more parity between streaming platforms and other broadcasters and entertainment services across the EU.
Until now, streaming platforms have been prohibited from adding any theatrically released movie to their French libraries until three years after the film hit cinemas in the country. If the services spend a quarter of their French revenue on local content, they'll have access to films within 12 months of their release dates. If they opt for the minimum investment of 20 percent, they'll need to wait at least a year before adding theatrical releases.
So, there's an incentive for platforms to invest the full 25 percent of revenue. Disney+, for instance, might be tempted to go down that route so it can stream the likes of Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar movies much sooner in France.
Netflix is planning to reinvest 20 percent of its French revenue in local content, according to Variety. It's hoping to lock down a 12-month window for theatrical movies. The company hasn't shown its movies at the Cannes Film Festival for years, partly because of the three-year cinema rule.
The EU has been working for years to ensure streaming platforms have a significant proportion of local content in their libraries. Other jurisdictions have been attempting to make streaming services invest in local productions as well.
The Canadian government, for instance, is looking to reclassify streaming companies, which could require them to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars toward making local content. In 2017, Netflix committed to spending $400 million on Canadian productions over five years.
Volvo's electric vehicles to date have been offshoots of existing car platforms (yes, even the Polestar 2), but it's now ready to show just what it can do when it builds an EV from the ground up. The brand has unveiled a Concept Recharge design that shows the direction for the company's "pure" EV future ā both in aesthetics and technology.
The Concept Recharge ditches the usual engine bay and tucks a large battery into a flat floor. That makes for more interior space, of course, but also leads to shorter overhangs, a lower hood and a slicker roof profile. This also gives Volvo an excuse to streamline its look ā the Concept Recharge removes "all unnecessary elements" and looks more like a tall hatchback despite its SUV-like vantage point.
Volvo
The interior is equally stripped back and likened to a "Scandinavian living room." You'll still get plenty of technology, though, including a digital dash and a 15-inch infotainment touchscreen. Volvo's fondness for safety is in full view with a roof-mounted LiDAR sensor to collect environmental data and (eventually) enable autonomous driving features.
There's no mention of whether or not the Concept Recharge will evolve into a production car, or when you can expect the first EVs based on this formula. However, it's safe to presume that many of the design cues and basic technological ideas will reach cars you can actually buy. It's just a question of whether or not Volvo can compete against the many, many rivals planning from-scratch EVs in the next few years.
65 days is a pretty ambitious timeline for building a Lamborghini from scratch, especially if you’re working alone… but if you’re a seasoned woodworking expert like TrĘ°Ę”ng VÄn Äįŗ”o, things sort of fall into place. VÄn Äįŗ”o made this miniature working replica of the Sian Roadster for his son, and meticulously documented the entire process on his YouTube channel ND Woodworking Art. The child-sized Lamborghini isn’t just a replica model though… it runs too, as VÄn Äįŗ”o demonstrated by driving along on a highway too. The car comes outfitted with automatic scissor doors, working LED headlights + taillights, swiveling rear-view mirrors, a rather nifty (yet slightly toyish) dashboard along with a replica wooden steering wheel, and even a key-fob that lets you control aspects of the car! It’s a tight fit for adults but is perfectly sized for young children. No, there are no seatbelts, but it’s safe to say this Lamborghini isn’t crossing any speed limits.
Just like the original Sian, VÄn Äįŗ”o’s replica runs on an electric powertrain. The car doesn’t just sit on a random toy car’s chassis too, everything’s made and assembled from scratch, including the steering fork, the rear-wheel drive, and get this, even the wheels, which are made from wood and then covered with rubber treads! The car is almost exclusively made from blocks of wood that have been glued together and sanded down to a fine surface before being layered with polish (the video shows the remarkable 65-day process in a timelapse), and you’ve really got to appreciate how good VÄn Äįŗ”o is at his craft for being able to pull this off from start to finish.
For final touches, VÄn Äįŗ”o plugs in the headlights and taillights in, and even puts in the Lamborghini logo on the front and a faux license plate on the back. The rear fins of the car come with the Sian branding too! The car’s doors are operated by pistons that are controlled using the key-fob (view them in action at the exact 08:30 mark), and yes, there are adjustable side-view mirrors too! The video currently stands at above 9.5 million views, although it isn’t the first time VÄn Äįŗ”o’s attempted something so ambitious. In the past, he’s managed to build child-size wooden replicas of the BMW 328 Hommage, the Ferrari Aperta, and the Bugatti Centodieci too! I’d say his kid pretty much lucked out in the dad department!
