Monthly Archives: December 2022

Mind-numbing 270W GaN Charger is a tiny power-brick that can charge three laptops at the same time

Posted on by

I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as powerful as this.

Rather aptly named Zeus, after the Greek God of thunder and lightning, this tiny GaN charger holds the title of being the world’s smallest and most powerful charging brick. Measuring just 3.5 inches long and 2 inches wide (and being 45% lighter than other industry-leading chargers), Zeus comes with a whopping output of 270W that lets it concurrently charge 4 devices together while efficiently managing power delivery to fast-charge your devices. That 270W output gives Zeus the ability to charge as many as 3 laptops all at once, helping declutter your workspace and allowing you and your partner to basically work out of the same room without having to fight for who gets to use the one power socket closest to the table.

Designer: Chargeasap Technologies

Click Here to Buy Now: $119 $219 (46% off). Hurry! Just 7 days left!

The Chargeasap Zeus is a versatile little beast that’s designed to be compact enough to occupy minimal space on your power strip without blocking out other sockets, as well as slide right into your backpack when not in use. It sports 4 ports on its top, including one USB-A port outputting 22.5W and three USB-C ports with two of them capable of 100W and one 140W. A tiny OLED screen right beside the ports gives you detailed stats of the power delivery, so you know which devices are fast-charging based on their power consumption.

The way Zeus works is by using GaN semiconductors rather than ones made from Silicone Carbide. Gallium Nitride or GaN offers incredible efficiency when it comes to power delivery, resulting in a smaller power brick that doesn’t heat up as much either. This effectively gives Zeus (and other GaN chargers) the ability to manage high power delivery in a device that’s smaller than that large, clunky brick-shaped charger that comes with your laptop.

The Zeus acts as an intermediary between your gadget and the power socket, decluttering the experience by reducing the number of plug points and power bricks you need. With the Zeus, all you need is just one socket to recharge multiple devices, from your laptop to phone, tablet, monitor, or a litany of other gadgets. What’s remarkable is that the Zeus works well if you’re a travel bug too, with replaceable plug adapters that work internationally, so you’re never struggling in a hotel room with just one socket for your phone as well as your laptop.

Although clearly outshined by the 3 USB-C ports right beside it, the USB-A port does some heavy lifting too. The Zeus’ USB-A port is designed specifically for Android users, offering a 36W power output that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and several other fast charging technologies, the likes of Oneplus (22.5W), OPPO SVOOC (22.5W), and Huawei Super Charge (22.5W). However, it has support for Apple Fast Charge too, helping you rapidly recharge your iPhone after you’ve spent an entire day shooting TikTok videos.

What really bends the mind is Zeus’ 270W output – a feature I seem to keep coming back to. We’ve covered GaN chargers in the past, going all the way up till 100W, but a 270W charger really feels like overkill, although it does have its unique appeal. It’s capable of replacing every single other power brick you own, letting you operate your entire suite of work gadgets from laptops, phones, and tablets to even juicing other auxiliary devices like cameras, GoPros, speakers, headphones, Nintendo Switches, microphones, and even drones.

This isn’t Chargeasap’s first rodeo, though. The Sydney-based company’s worked on GaN chargers before, having debuted Omega, the world’s smallest 200W charger back in 2020. Zeus is a different monster entirely, going above and beyond what even companies like Anker and Belkin have been capable of. You can grab the Zeus for a Kickstarter-special price of $119 USD (46% off the MSRP), with deliveries happening in May of 2023.

Click Here to Buy Now: $119 $219 (46% off). Hurry! Just 7 days left!

The post Mind-numbing 270W GaN Charger is a tiny power-brick that can charge three laptops at the same time first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple patents next-gen Pencil with an Optical Sensor that can pick colors and textures from real life

Posted on by

Apple just took the eyedropper tool and made it real.

Ever seen a beautiful mural on a wall and felt like being able to capture those colors for your own art? Sure, you could carry a Pantone shade book everywhere you go… or if Apple has its way, you could just touch your Apple Pencil on the mural and capture its color like an eyedropper tool in real life. Apple just recently filed a patent at the US Patent & Trademark Office for a next-gen Apple Pencil with built-in optical sensors that don’t just capture colors, they capture textures too. A complicated array of tech built into the Apple Pencil’s nib would help turn it into more than just a stylus. Instead of being merely a note-keeping and art-creating device, the Pencil would also now help gather inspiration, letting you build your own bank of hues and textures to use in your projects as reference material.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth

The way the new Apple Pencil works is theoretically simple – as per the patent drawings, a light sensor and a light emitter sit within the stylus tip. The emitter and sensor work together to help sample colors and textures as you tap the Pencil on any surface. The way it works is no different from your mouse, which uses a light emitter and optical sensor to track movement. The only key difference is that the Pencil does that WHILE also being able to function as a stylus for your iPad.

The patent was discovered by the fine folks at Patently Apple, who also reported that this technology could be used to even detect measurements, aside from hue and texture. How this would work seems a little sketchy at best – would you need to have the iPad handy while using the Apple Pencil’s sampling feature? Where would all the data get saved? How would one toggle the feature, because you need to tap the Pencil on the iPad’s touchscreen to use it as a stylus.

For now, this next-gen feature exists only as a patent and it’s pretty unclear if Apple plans on radically redesigning the pencil, although it’s been over 4 years since Apple announced the Pencil Gen 2. Apple has patented various Pencil-adjacent technologies in the past, including an early 2021 patent for detachable custom nibs that give your Pencil a more artistic approach, and a recent patent for a Pencil with a rotary element on top and multiple touch-sensitive areas on its body. Which new feature do you want in the next-gen Apple Pencil??

Patent Images via Patently Apple
Stylus Concept visualizations via Sarang Sheth

The post Apple patents next-gen Pencil with an Optical Sensor that can pick colors and textures from real life first appeared on Yanko Design.

TikTok says it’s getting better at detecting ‘borderline’ content

Posted on by

For the past several months, TikTok has been working on new ways to age-restrict certain types of content as part of a broader push to ramp up safety features for younger users. The app unveiled a new ratings system earlier this year, called Content Levels, to help it identify more “mature” content.

Now, the company has another update on those efforts. In a blog post, the company says that it’s launching a new version of its “borderline suggestive model,” which the company uses to automatically identify “sexually explicit, suggestive, or borderline content.” According to a TikTok spokesperson, the new model is better able to detect so-called “borderline content,” videos that don’t explicitly break the app’s rules, but may not be suitable for younger users.

TikTok isn’t the only platform to filter out this type of content from recommendations. Instagram has long attempted to weed borderline content out of its recommendations as well. But content with more “mature” themes, but that doesn’t contain explicit nudity, has long been more difficult for automated systems to consistently detect. TikTok didn’t offer specifics on how much more accurate the new system is, but it shared that in the last 30 days the company has “prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.”

Elsewhere, the app is also rolling out the ability for creators to restrict their videos to adult viewers. This feature was previously only available for live videos, but will now be enabled for short-form clips as well.

This mind-blowing coffee table was painstakingly handmade with dozens of wooden strips

Posted on by

Many design ideas inspired by nature often take cues from natural materials, forms, sensations, or even animals and plants themselves. All of these exist on our planet, often accessible to our senses. There is also beauty outside of our planet, of course, sometimes on a much grander scale. It’s more difficult to observe these sources of inspiration with the naked eye, though, especially when they may not even exist. That said, human creativity and imagination have sometimes given form to these abstract concepts and theories, and one woodworker made the rather long and arduous journey to give one such idea a more physical form, resulting in a rather stunning piece of furniture that looks just as grand as the scientific concept behind it.

Designer: Olivier Gomis

A wormhole, sometimes called by its more technical name, “Einstein-Rosen Bridge,” is a hypothetical structure that no one has been able to confirm exists. That hasn’t stopped scientists, mathematicians, and especially writers from giving it some serious thought. Wormholes that can hypothetically connect two disparate points in spacetime via a tunnel have been one of the favorite narrative devices in science fiction. Despite its hypothetical existence, wormholes have also been given a hypothetical form, one that this wooden coffee table tries to create in reality.

The shape of a table is already quite eye-catching on its own. It’s almost like a wooden plank that has been bent so that the two ends are on top of each other and then joined together by a double cone. It may have been possible to create such a form with simple means, including wood bending and carving, but this table’s creator didn’t take the easy way out. In order to create the grid of lines that covers the entire surface of the table, dozens of air-dried walnut strips had to be cut and made. These are then glued together with sheets of maple veneer in between, which give the appearance of those faint light lines that form the grid.

With almost the same mathematical precision as the wormhole’s foundations, these strips of wood are cut and joined together, sometimes at angles to form a curved shape. A lot of machining was involved as well in order to carve the blocky sides down to smooth curves. Suffice it to say, there was a great deal of patience involved in a process that had very little wiggle room for errors.

To really bring that sci-fi atmosphere to life, a lamp was installed in the center of the hole, giving the table an eerie appearance in the dark. The result is a beautiful homage to something that might not even exist, though you’ll probably want to keep things away from the part of the table that curves downward. Fortunately, things that do fall into that hole won’t disappear and reappear somewhere else, though you do risk damaging that glass-covered lamp if you manage to spill something inside it.

The post This mind-blowing coffee table was painstakingly handmade with dozens of wooden strips first appeared on Yanko Design.

NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti leaks reveal specs and potential price

Posted on by

NVIDIA is expected to reveal its GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card at CES next week, but it preemptively leaked the specs. Thanks to new rumors, we have a sense of the GPU's likely price too.

The RTX 4070 Ti is slated to have 12GB of GDDR6X memory with 7,680 Cuda cores that can be boosted to 2.61GHz, as Tom's Hardware notes. NVIDIA seemingly expects the card to deliver 4K gameplay at up to 240Hz, or 8K visuals at 60Hz with DSC and HDR enabled. The company claimed the RTX 4070 Ti will deliver around 3.5 times better performance than the 12GB RTX 3080 in Cyberpunk 2077 when the new RT Overdrive mode is enabled.

It has been widely believed that the latest card would essentially be a rebranded version of the 12GB RTX 4080. In October, NVIDIA reversed plans to release that model and suggested it would rebadge the GPU.

Meanwhile, rumors indicate NVIDIA will sell the RTX 4070 Ti for $799. It was previously expected that the price would be $899, but NVIDIA may have lowered it after the US delayed tariffs on GPUs that were set to resume on January 1st. Based on the RTX 4070 Ti's expected performance, Wccftech ran the numbers and found that, on a teraflop-to-dollar ratio, the GPU will offer 97 percent of the value proposition of the $1,599 RTX 4090.

We should find out official details about the RTX 4070 Ti, perhaps including the release date, very soon. NVIDIA has scheduled a CES edition of its GeForce Beyond event for January 3rd at 11AM ET.

Google will pay $9.5 million to settle Washington DC AG’s location-tracking lawsuit

Posted on by

Google has agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused the company earlier this year of "deceiving users and invading their privacy." Google has also agreed to change some of its practices, primarily concerning how it informs users about collecting, storing and using their location data.

“Google leads consumers to believe that consumers are in control of whether Google collects and retains information about their location and how that information is used,” the complaint, which Racine filed in January, read. “In reality, consumers who use Google products cannot prevent Google from collecting, storing and profiting from their location.”

Racine's office also accused Google of employing "dark patterns," which are design choices intended to deceive users into carrying out actions that don't benefit them. Specifically, the AG's office claimed that Google repeatedly prompted users to switch in location tracking in certain apps and informed them that certain features wouldn't work properly if location tracking wasn't on. Racine and his team found that location data wasn't even needed for the app in question. They asserted that Google made it "impossible for users to opt out of having their location tracked."

The $9.5 million payment is a paltry one for Google. Last quarter, it took parent company Alphabet under 20 minutes to make that much in revenue. The changes that the company will make to its practices as part of the settlement may have a bigger impact.

Folks who currently have certain location settings on will receive notifications telling them how they can disable each setting, delete the associated data and limit how long Google can keep that information. Users who set up a new Google account will be informed which location-related account settings are on by default and offered the chance to opt out.

Google will need to maintain a webpage that details its location data practices and policies. This will include ways for users to access their location settings and details about how each setting impacts Google's collection, retention or use of location data.

Moreover, Google will be prevented from sharing a person's precise location data with a third-party advertiser without the user's explicit consent. The company will need to delete location data "that came from a device or from an IP address in web and app activity within 30 days" of obtaining the information

"Given the vast level of tracking and surveillance that technology companies can embed into their widely used products, it is only fair that consumers be informed of how important user data, including information about their every move, is gathered, tracked, and utilized by these companies," Racine said in a statement. "Significantly, this resolution also provides users with the ability and choice to opt of being tracked, as well as restrict the manner in which user information may be shared with third parties."

Engadget has contacted Google for comment.

There’s never been a better time to stop tweeting

Posted on by

There’s never really been a shortage of reasons to spend less time on Twitter. Even before Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover, the platform was long plagued by misinformation, hate speech, harassment and other ills that made it less than welcoming.

There’s never been a better time to quit Twitter. The Elon Musk-induced chaos at the company has breathed new life into a crop of alternative platforms, and has inspired a new wave of competing efforts to win over disillusioned Twitter users.

Competition emerges

Of all the alternatives out there, none have benefited as much as Mastodon. The open-source service was created in 2016, and first gained notoriety in 2017, when some Twitter users were upset with changes the company had made to the functionality of @-replies. At that time though, it didn’t gain much traction outside a small base of hardcore enthusiasts.

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 08, 2021:Connor Matlen, 6, and his father Logan 45, of Hawthorne, spread their arms out to try and cover the length of American mastodon on exhibit at The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles that re-opened to the public after being closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The American mastodon existed from 2 million to 10,000 years ago. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Mel Melcon via Getty Images

That all changed from the second Musk announced he wanted to buy Twitter. Mastodon saw an immediate spike back in April and the momentum has only increased, according to the nonprofit. “Mastodon has recently exploded in popularity, jumping from approx. 300K monthly active users to 2.5M between the months of October and November, with more and more journalists, political figures, writers, actors and organizations moving over,” founder Eugen Rochko wrote in a recent blog post.

The service isn’t a perfect analog to Twitter. Its platform, which runs on thousands of servers, can make signing up a bit confusing. And a couple of the platform’s most popular servers, like mastodon.social, have at times halted new sign-ups due to surging demand.

But, as Rochko points out, the decentralized platform has become one of the top platforms of choice for some of Twitter’s most influential — and most followed — users. Tellingly, when Musk briefly imposed a ban on accounts promoting alternative social networks, Mastodon’s official Twitter account was the only social app to be suspended.

Mastodon is far from the only previously-niche app to get a boost from turmoil at Twitter. Other apps like CounterSocial, which has a Tweetdeck-like interface, and Tribel, which describes itself as a “pro-democracy Twitter alternative” have also seen an uptick in sign-ups.

There’s also a wave of competition from fresh upstarts. Post News, a new service from former Waze CEO Noam Bardin has also tried to capitalize on Twitter’s dysfunction. The service, which is currently invitation-only, rushed to launch an early version of its beta in November in hopes of drawing away disillusioned Twitter users. Post, which bills itself as a place “to discover, read, watch, discuss and share premium news content without subscriptions or ads,” has more than 610,000 people on its waitlist, according to Bardin.

ASHTON, MD- AUG 26: Bees at the entrance to their hive on a farm in Ashton, Maryland on August 26, 2022. Many are flapping their wings wildly in an act that's called fanning on overly hot days. Members of the colony operate in unison to keep the temperature in the hive as close to 95 degrees as possible. The bees are being raised by Brenda Kiessling with a method that's called
The Washington Post via Getty Images

Another app that’s emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, is Hive Social, an image-centric platform with a feed that looks more like Instagram than Twitter. The service was founded in 2019, and hit 1.5 million users in November, according to the company. The site has had some notable security issues, which it claims to have fixed, but has still managed to make an impression with Gen Z Twitter users.

Legacy platforms are also trying to seize the opportunity created by growing apathy for Twitter. Tumblr claimed to see a surge in new and returning users, according to Matt Mullenweg, CEO of parent company Automattic. The site has also made a habit of trolling Musk and his new policies for Twitter, including with the addition of a $7.99 “Important Blue Internet Checkmark” for users’ blogs. Mullenweg has also said Tumblr will adopt ActivityPub, the protocol powering Mastodon, to make the two services interoperable.

Meta is also keen to challenge its longtime rival. The company recently launched a new “Notes” feature within Instagram that allows users to share status updates at the top of their inbox. At 60 characters, it's hardly a full-fledged Twitter alternative, but it might not be the last such feature we see from Meta. The New York Timesreports that the company has discussed several ideas to go after Twitter’s “bread and butter.”

The future for Twitter Quitters

It’s hardly the first time that unpopular decisions within Twitter have sparked an interest in alternatives. But in the past, surges to outside platforms have been relatively short lived. And most would-be competitors are still only a fraction of the size of Twitter.

Even with an influx of new users, Mastodon, Post News, Hive Social and Tumblr are still substantially smaller than Twitter. And, as unpopular and autocratic and Musk’s policy decisions seem, the idea of starting over on a new platform can feel daunting. Not everyone can easily rebuild their social graphs on alternative sites, and some may find the growing crop of Twitter clones to also be unwelcoming (this is especially true if you rely on accessibility features, as many of the newer platforms haven’t invested much in these features.)

Still, this particular moment feels different than other times when Twitter has struggled to keep disgruntled users around. For one, there are more choices than ever before for those looking for a reason to leave. But it’s also unique because there are more people actually active on these alternatives than ever before.

Engadget Podcast: CES 2023 Preview

Posted on by

Can you believe CES is just a week away? For our final episode of 2022, Cherlynn, Devindra and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford dive into their expectations for CES 2023. We’ll definitely hear more from Intel and AMD when it comes to CPUs, as well as AMD and NVIDIA’s latest mobile video cards. But we’re always keeping our eyes out for the weird stuff at the show, like Lenovo’s wild swiss army lamp (a combination webcam, facelight and USB hub!). And of course, there will likely be tons of news around new TVs, PCs and cars.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

Subscribe!


Topics

  • PC hardware to look forward to – 5:06

  • Phones and mobile at CES – 22:16

  • New TVs and gaming monitors to expect – 28:11

  • Wearables at CES 2023 – 35:38

  • Other news – 42:07

  • Working on – 44:47

  • Pop culture picks – 46:06

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

Top 10 e-bicycle designs of 2022

Posted on by

In 2023, living more sustainably and consciously should be a priority for all of us, – whether it’s making changes in our daily lives, consumption, or even our means of transportation. Our typical fossil-fuel-consuming means of transportation need to be replaced by greener and more environment-friendly alternatives, and Electric Bicycles are an appealing option! Not only do they curb fuel consumption and reduce automotive emissions, but they’re also a healthy source of exercise for us! I mean, not only do we get to save the Earth from air pollution, but we can also get some intense cardio done. And they’re becoming an increasingly popular option day by day. It’s estimated that by 2023, the total number of electric bicycles in circulation around the world, will be 300 million, which is an exponential increase, from 200 million back in 2019. It looks like everyone is slowly and steadily hopping onto the e-bicycle bandwagon! And, we’ve curated a whole range of innovative designs for you that caught our attention in 2022! From a shape-shifting kick scooter that transforms into an electric bicycle to the ultimate Pendler e-bike with modular accessories – we have a whole collection of sleek, modern, and super cool e-bikes for you!

1. The Popup Scooter

Christened the Popup Scooter, the two-wheeled electric bicycle transforms into a chick kick scooter and the other way around. This gives the rider (and his/her family and buddies) the option to choose the configuration depending on the particular needs. The smooth transformation happens courtesy of the hydraulic cylinder which in normal bicycles is used to adjust the ride height. This hydraulic mechanism is capable enough to lift an adult person, so, lifting and lowering the rider’s body shouldn’t be a problem at all. At the core level, the concept is not just another blueprint that looks good on paper but falls flat on its face when it comes to creating the actual prototype or even a production model.

2. The ONEBOT-S7

E-bikes are a household name now, they are a common mode of transportation in many cities – with safety norms – for cyclists. Add to that the convenience of being able to fold the bike instantly, and it becomes a versatile option to get from point A to B efficiently, effectively, and quickly. To ensure this portability and convenience, the ONEBOT-S7 uses a unique three-fold structure – as opposed to the two-step folding design that we all are familiar with – which makes the e-bike ultra-compact when folded so it can fit in the boot of the car or slide under your workstation (however and wherever you please to use it). Compressed into the smallest single unit possible, this e-bike when folded measure only 60cm in height and length and just 35cm in width.

3. The VanMoof Bike

The VanMoof bike comes with a minimal-yet-robust-looking frame and catches the eye with its red and black colorway. Although GMC hasn’t mentioned which model this is, just by the looks of it and its feature list, it seems like a custom version of the e-bike company’s Red Dot Award-winning S3 model. This new colorway, however, comes from the mind of Dao-Yi Chow, a New York-born-and-raised designer who co-created the street-savvy fashion brand Public School in 2008, which has received high acclaim with several major fashion awards (CFDA’s Swarovski Award for Menswear & Menswear Designer of the Year, US Woolmark Prize for Menswear). “

4. BaoPham Design’s E-bike Concept

This e-bike concept from BaoPham Design features centerless wheels that reduce the rotating inertia found in heavier wheels. Equipped with slim road bike tires, BaoPham’s concept e-bike boasts an aerodynamic build that cuts out the extra drag from air pressure and skin friction to give the bike a speedy ride. Conceptualized with a swift, Z-frame, the e-bike concept from BaoPham Design would host an electric motor located in the bike’s rear-wheel rotor that would be activated once the pedals are moved. The Z-frame of BaoPham Design’s e-bike would be constructed entirely from metal or aluminum for a sleek look and swift ride. Additionally, the hubless wheels of BaoPham Design’s e-bike reduce the rotating inertia found in wheels with spokes and a hub.

5. Titaa

While riding manual unicycles might be too much of a learning curve for most, self-balancing, electric unicycles sound more like something we could all get behind. Titaa, a unicycle with just those sorts of mechanics, conceptualized by Husky Design is a dual-purpose, modular vehicle that can transform from a bicycle into a self-balancing unicycle. In its full form, Titaa is an electric two-wheeler in the shape of a cargo bike. When riding Titaa as a two-wheeler, users sit upright on a curved, elevated seat rest that slopes down toward the bicycle’s set of foot pedals. There, users can rest their feet while the motor charges the e-bike ahead. Built into the rear-wheel component, Titaa runs on a battery-operated system that can be replaced and recharged near the vehicle’s foot pedals.

6. The LAMBROGio and the LAMBROGino

Dubbed the LAMBROGio and the LAMBROGino, these electric trikes are pedal-assisted as well and have each go their set of merits. Contoured shapes dominate the design on these for minimum airflow resistance. The weight has also been trimmed down to the minimum which further helps in economical battery conservation and stretching out the total mileage. The cargo version has a front door that doubles as a shade for the rider. While the passenger version of the electric bike could have benefited from a similar shade for those hot or rainy days, still customization is just that auto shop’s distance away.

7. The ENGWE X26 all-terrain e-bike

Definitely plausible but hardly ideal, especially if you’re trekking roads that even your mighty legs will have trouble going through. The ENGWE X26 all-terrain e-bike, in contrast, gives you all the power you need to conquer any road and almost any distance. The ENGWE X26’s power comes from two features that are industry firsts for this type of electric vehicle. For one, it has a powerful 1000W motor capable of pushing your speed to 31 mph max. While that’s the maximum power it can dish out, the e-bike also delivers a steady and reliable 750W output that still outruns the average e-bike’s 500W motors. All this power makes short work of rough terrains and inclines, which means that you’ll also be gliding swiftly on the smoother pavement.

8. The PXID – A1

Dubbed the PXID – A1, this compact electric bicycle folds to the size of a small suitcase for easy transportation in the boot or even be carried to the office floor, that’s if the boss permits. The folding bicycle rides on 14-inch tires and the rear tires get power from the onboard electric battery for assistive riding on ascends. The seat is height adjustable and the revamped design as compared to the earlier S1 model adapts an angular frame design. This gives the A1 a far better foldable aesthetic that’s practical in use. In fact, it is so compact in the foldable position, you can even store more luggage in the boot of your car with the A1 foldable electric bicycle sitting on one corner!

9. The Pendler Bike

Christened the Pendler bike, it gets its name from the Danish word pendling (meaning commuting) and is a nod to the country’s deep cycling culture. The idea of this concept is centered on the U-shaped frame which is basically a thick structural element. This lends the two-wheeler an identifiable silhouette for on-off urban riding needs. The aesthetics and feasible performance of the Pendler are given much attention which is important for a design to materialize for mass production.

10. The Pilot Bicycle

This final design is centered on a lightweight 7005 series aluminum frame and striking hubless wheel characteristics. To finalize the hubless wheel design that is functional to the last detail, Franz took help from his mechanical engineering colleagues. In the end, the off-center axle design had the additional gear to spin the wheels at a proper rate with pedaling motion. This is assisted by the onboard motor for that extra boost on inclines when the throttle is pressed. The Pilot bicycle finally came to life after countless edits and alterations to the design. The next step was to finalize the colors, materials, and finishes.

The post Top 10 e-bicycle designs of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Morning After: New York’s governor signs a weakened right-to-repair bill

Posted on by

New York governor Kathy Hochul has finally signed a right-to-repair bill into law, over half a year since the state legislature was passed. Representatives for Microsoft and Apple pressed Hochul's office for changes, as well as industry association TechNet, which represents many notable tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Dell and HP. Critics say the amendments will weaken the law's effectiveness. The bill's revised language excludes enterprise electronics, like devices used in schools and hospitals. Home appliances, motor vehicles, medical devices and off-road equipment were also previously exempted.

Whatever aims the right-to-repair bill had when first proposed have been weakened. Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG), a collective of consumer rights organizations, said in a statement to Engadget: "Such changes could limit the benefits for school computers and most products currently in use." It continued: "The bill now excludes certain smartphone circuit boards from parts the manufacturers are required to sell and requires repair shops to post unwieldy warranty language."

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

TikTok will be banned on most US federal government devices

Included in a mammoth $1.7 trillion bill that President Biden just signed.

TikTok will be outlawed on almost all devices issued by the federal government after lawmakers passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill. Officials recently added the No TikTok on Government Devices Act (what a name) to the bill, which the Senate unanimously approved last week. The mammoth 4,155-page legislation was fast-tracked to avoid a partial government shutdown. It will fund the government through September. The legislation requires the Biden administration to establish rules to remove TikTok from government devices by mid-February. The bill carved out exceptions for elected officials, congressional staff, law enforcement agents and other officials. However, the House of Representatives separately banned TikTok on devices it owns and manages.

Continue reading.

Samsung's new smart fridge has a massive 32-inch display

Think of it like a smart TV with a fridge attached to it.

TMA
Samsung

CES is nearly here, which means we're once again writing about refrigerators. With its Family Hub Plus, Samsung has boosted the touch display size to 32 inches from 21 inches, although it’s still a vertical screen. Samsung has added support for Google Photos, along with the OneDrive integration seen on past models. There’s also a new SmartThings hub so you can control multiple smart home devices from your… kitchen, including robot vacuums, air conditioning, lighting and more. It also supports Amazon's Your Essentials service, letting you order groceries and other products directly from the touchscreen. Those groceries go inside.

Continue reading.

The EV revolution became an eventuality in 2022

It's been a busy year for the industry.

It’s been a decade since the first Tesla EV made its commercial debut and the electrification of American automotive society began in earnest. Over the past ten years as battery capacities have grown and range anxieties have shrunk, electric vehicles have become a daily sight in most parts of the country. Now, virtually every notable automaker on the planet has jumped on the electric bandwagon with sizable investments in battery and production technologies and pledges to electrify their lineups within a decade or so.

Not even recent years’ production slowdowns and supply chain disruptions brought on by the COVID pandemic managed to stall the industry’s momentum. The International Energy Agency in January reported that EVs had managed to triple their market share between 2019 and 2021 with 6.6 million units being sold globally last year. And as eventful as 2022 turned out to be, 2023 and beyond could be even bigger for the EV industry. We’re expecting EV debuts including the VW ID.3; the Lucid Gravity, Polestar 3, Jeep (one of four!) and Honda’s Prologue SUVs.

Continue reading.