Technology

Sometime in early 2022, NASA will be taking off with Amazon’s Alexa in tow. The announcement comes from Amazon and Lockheed Martin, who have teamed up for a technology demonstration called Callisto that will take place on NASA’s Orion spacecraft during its Artemis I mission. During the mission, which aims to work towards eventually landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, the companies will test technology that could potentially be utilized on future ventures into space. In its announcement, Amazon said that the integration of Alexa into the spacecraft will explore how Artificial Intelligence can assist astronauts in their work. In order for Alexa to be able to withstand the launch and space’s radiation levels, Lockheed Martin designed space-grade hardware with Al...

Walmart plans to expand InHome, its delivery service that brings groceries (and other items) directly to your fridge or countertop, to 30 million US households by the end of this year. As a part of the expansion, the retail giant says it will hire 3,000 delivery drivers and establish an all-electric fleet of delivery vehicles, thousands of which it has just ordered from the General Motors-backed electric vehicle company BrightDrop. The InHome delivery service requires you to pay a $19.95 / month subscription fee, along with an optional $49.95 fee for a smart lock (if you don’t already have a garage keypad or a smart lock already) that grants bodycam-wearing Walmart associates access to your home — and your fridge. When the service first launched in 2019, it only serviced one million custom...

A man in Sweden is alive today thanks to — in part — a drone. The 71-year-old had a heart attack while shoveling snow in December and was resuscitated by a nearby doctor after a drone flew in a defibrillator, Everdrone reported Tuesday. Someone having a heart attack needs help within 10 minutes in order to survive. Everdrone’s Emergency Medical Aerial Delivery (EMADE) service is designed to deliver help as quickly as possible — it allows emergency dispatchers to send a drone carrying the device to a caller’s home, kickstarting the lifesaving process before the ambulance arrives at their home. In this particular patient’s case, it took three minutes for the services to deliver the defibrillator to his home. A bystander, who happened to be a doctor on the way to his job, used the AED on the ...

The new Tablo ATSC 3.0 Quad HDMI is a DVR meant for the next generation of broadcast TV — which, if all goes according to plan, will involve 4K HDR content being sent out over the airwaves for free. It can record up to four channels at once onto an external hard drive, letting you watch programs back on your schedule, not broadcasters’. In the age of internet streaming, cable, and satellite, it can be hard to remember that there are still local TV stations broadcasting their programs over the airwaves, which anyone can watch for free if they have an antenna and receiver. But for some enthusiasts, viewing broadcast television is the new cord-cutting — and it’s those signals Tablos are made to record and playback. ATSC 3.0 supports 4K HDR broadcasts, which will largely be free to watch if yo...

Although Fossil launched two new smartwatches at CES today, there’s one big elephant in the room: the upgrade to Wear OS 3 won’t arrive for several months. To take the sting out of the wait, Fossil snuck in another new feature for its Gen 6 smartwatches: Amazon Alexa. As for when Alexa will arrive, you’ll have to settle for “coming soon.” Hopefully before Wear OS 3. In a statement to 9to5Google, Fossil says the update will come in the first half of 2022. This tracks with what Fossil told The Verge in a CES briefing, in which spokesperson Robyn Sills said Alexa would come to the Gen 6 devices “early this year.” Fossil sent me both the Skagen Falster 6 and the Razer x Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch, and yup, there’s a widget just for Alexa. If you tap it, however, you won’t bring up the voice assis...

Yesterday, Verizon hosted its first ever 5G Ultra Show, a live streamed event that virtually took viewers across the country to demonstrate how Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is transforming various corners of culture. Hosted by Elizabeth Banks who was joined by CEO Hans Vestberg and other surprise guests, the show honed in on everyday uses for the technology – like streaming, communication and HD audio and video, in addition to illustrating how it will contribute to entertainment, gaming, music and sports. HYPEBEAST rounded up the biggest takeaways from the Verizon 5G Ultra Show. Gaining Speed Now more than ever, life and work happen on the go and we rely heavily on our mobile devices to do what we need to do in both our professional and personal lives. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband caters to this...

Instagram has begun testing the return of the chronological feed, after confirming last month that the highly-requested feature would return to the platform. The social media giant has started testing various versions of its pre-existing feed, including options that will allow users to switch between chronological and algorithm-based orders, according to CEO Adam Mosseri. “We think it’s important that you can get to a chronological feed, if you’re interested, quickly and see the latest that has been posted by the accounts that you follow,” Mosseri said in a video posted to Twitter. Instagram users will soon be able to move between three different feeds: home, favorites and following. “Home” will act similarly to the platform’s current feed by ranking posts based on users’ algorithmic inter...

Cadillac announced a pair of autonomous vehicle concepts that are a definite improvement over last year’s toaster-shaped thingamajig, but also seem designed to appeal to the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Rich people like cars and robots.) The Cadillac InnerSpace (shout out, Dennis Quaid) is a fully autonomous luxury coupe with an electric drivetrain and vibes to spare. The concept will join others in the automaker’s Halo Concept Portfolio, which includes the aforementioned toaster-shaped vehicle and a single-seater electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. shout out Dennis Quaid Here are some more pictures of this slice of deadliness. Also, the roof opens up? I guess that’s pretty cool if you’re a tall person trying t...

The Chevy Silverado, one of the top-selling pickup trucks in the US, is going electric. General Motors CEO Mary Barra unveiled Chevy’s answer to the Ford F-150 Lightning during a virtual presentation at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. GM hopes that the plug-in pickup’s familiar nameplate will help it lure Silverado owners and other truck fans to the world of zero tailpipe emissions. The Silverado EV is the second electric truck for GM, succeeding the GMC Hummer EV, which went into production last year. But when it comes out in late 2023, the electric Silverado will be one of the flagship vehicles in the company’s much larger $35 billion push into electric vehicles, as well as the first electric truck for the automaker’s Chevy brand. At launch, the Silverado EV will be available in t...

Update January 5th, 11:45AM ET: Both versions of Sony’s console are on sale at Best Buy, although availability will vary by location. Update January 5th, 12:15PM ET: Best Buy has sold out of PlayStation 5 consoles for now. We are continuing to monitor further console restocks from Best Buy and other retailers. If you’re currently shopping for a PlayStation 5 console, you have another chance right now at Best Buy. The electronics retailer just opened up a fresh batch of PlayStation 5 consoles for $499.99, and as of 11:40AM ET, also started selling the even-harder-to-get $399.99 PS5 Digital Edition. Be sure to log in and queue up on Best Buy’s site, with your billing and shipping info saved. Click the “Add to Cart” button on the right to jump into the waiting line, and stay calm. You don’t n...

HTC is announcing a new wrist-based controller for its Vive Focus 3 virtual reality headset. The wireless Vive Wrist Tracker fits like a watch around a user’s arm, tracking the orientation and position from hand to elbow. It’s designed to complement the business-focused headset’s existing controllers, particularly for simulation and training experiences where body position is important. It’s also part of a larger suite of new features HTC revealed at CES, including a 5G-powered VR experience. The Wrist Tracker looks a lot like a small, light, and specialized version of the Vive Tracker device HTC debuted in 2017. It includes a strap and a toggle indicating whether the tracker should be on a left or right arm, but unlike the multi-buttoned Vive Focus 3 controllers, it’s designed to basicall...

Bang & Olufsen has unveiled its limited-edition Moment Collection that celebrates the Chinese New Year. Symbolizing vitality and the future, the collection’s vibrant indigo color is paired with shades of ultramarine and dark blue to elevate the brand’s signature Scandinavian aesthetic. The offering consists of four classic Bang & Olufsen products. Featuring the Beoplay A9 4th generation speaker, Beoplay EQ earphones, Beoplay HX headphones and the Beolit 20 Bluetooth speaker, the collection is suited for a wide variety of audio needs. The Beoplay A9 features an ultramarine Kvadrat fabric with polished ash wood legs, while the Beolit 20 has an ultramarine aluminum grill, a vegetable-tanned leather strap and integrated wireless Qi charging. Additionally, the Beoplay EQ includes a deli...