Technology

Volkswagen sold a minority stake in its electric vehicle charging division, Electrify America, to Siemens in a deal that values the company at $2.45 billion. The two companies are jointly investing $450 million to double the number of Electrify America charging stations in the US and Canada by 2026. (The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.) The news comes amid a spike in EV sales in the US — although they still only represent a fraction of overall car sales. It also comes as the Biden administration, fueled with $5 billion in funding as part of the president’s infrastructure plan, embarks on a plan to build 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. The news comes amid a spike in EV sales in the US That plan will rely significantly on investments from private partners, like VW’s Electrif...

Uber’s plan to electrify its driver fleet by 2030 seems to be off to a good start. The ride-hailing company announced today that over 15,000 Uber drivers have signed on to rent Tesla vehicles through its partnership with car rental company Hertz. Uber claims the deal is its “largest-ever expansion” of EVs on a mobility platform in North America and that there have already been more than 5 million Tesla rides driving over 40 million miles since the program started last year. The popularity and demand for electric vehicles are at an all-time high for consumers, especially with the increased cost of gas. The same is true for Uber drivers, who are responsible for the costs associated with refueling the vehicles no matter what it runs on. “The program is a win for drivers, who are expressing pr...

In 2020, Airbnb introduced a temporary ban on house parties and events to better follow social distancing restrictions with the pandemic. Now, the company says it’s been so pleased by the outcome of the ban that it’s making it permanent and codifying its rules. “Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure,” said the company in a blog post. “It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our Hosts and their neighbors.” The ban prohibits “all disruptive parties and events,” with a particular focus on open-invite gatherings (those advertised on social media) and “party house” properties. Disruptive parties and events are essentially defined as those that attract complaints from neighbors. Airbnb says it suspended the accounts of some 6,600 guests for violat...

Early this morning, a small NASA spacecraft about the size of a microwave embarked on the beginning of a four-month-long journey to the Moon, where it will eventually insert itself into a unique, elongated lunar orbit that no NASA mission has visited before. The spacecraft’s goal is simple: test out this particular orbit and see what it’s like. That’s because it’s the same orbit that lunar-bound astronauts could use in the coming decade. This distinctive orbit is called “near rectilinear halo orbit,” or NRHO for short. It’s a special seven-day path that spacecraft can take around the Moon, bringing vehicles relatively close to the lunar surface for one day before they swing out far from the Moon for the other six. NASA is considering leveraging this orbit for its Artemis program — the agen...

Elon Musk just passed the 100 million follower mark on Twitter, becoming the sixth user on the platform to reach a nine-digit follower count. According to SocialBlade, Musk hit the milestone sometime between June 26th and June 27th, gaining over 150,000 followers between the two days. As of this writing, Musk now has 100,059,886 followers. Hitting the milestone is interesting for a couple of reasons. First is the obvious fact that Musk is currently in the process of buying Twitter for $44 billion, which could eventually put him in the unique position of being the only leader of a major social media network who’s actually good at using their social media network. In contrast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page is broadly a feed of press releases, while Instagram head Adam Mosseri has ...

Samsung users are about to get some pretty fun items for their Galaxy devices. This time around, the Korean smartphone manufacturer is joining Starbucks for a coffee-themed capsule — brimming with Starbucks references. Cases will be made for the Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra, while the Galaxy Buds 2 will receive some playful case covers. Each item is made from eco-friendly materials and has the tagline “Count Stars in Your Galaxy.” The two have really taken their imagination to a new level as details and items like a Starbucks receipt strap on the phone case, and a replica full latte mini-mug (complete with rosetta latte art) Galaxy Buds 2 case are sure to bring a smile to your face. These items are set to be released on June 28 exclusively for the South Korean market. In other tech news...

The Supreme Court declined Apple’s bid (pdf) for a hearing over two Qualcomm patents (US Patent No. 7,844,037 and US Patent No. 8,683,362) that were part of lawsuits filed in 2017, claiming infringement by Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. Reuters points out that Apple and Qualcomm’s 2019 settlement of a worldwide legal battle over patents largely ended the squabbling in favor of a six-year licensing agreement but allowed a case in front of the Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board to continue. There, Apple argued the two patents should be invalid, but the board ruled in Qualcomm’s favor. Last April, the Federal Circuit court rejected Apple’s request for an appeal based on the 2019 settlement covering thousands of patents, including those two. At the time, Ap...

One of the year’s best budget phones is finally available unlocked in the US. The OnePlus Nord N20 5G launched as a T-Mobile exclusive in April, and that was the only way to get ahold of one — until now. The N20 5G is now up for sale from Amazon, Best Buy, or directly from OnePlus for $299 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Take note that the unlocked N20 won’t work on Verizon — not on 5G or 4G. AT&T customers will be able to connect to 4G only, which isn’t too bad of a deal given that the carrier is taking a slower approach to expanding its more meaningful mid-band 5G coverage. T-Mobile subscribers will, of course, get 5G and 4G coverage. This makes the unlocked N20 best suited to AT&T customers who don’t need 5G or someone on a T-Mobile MVNO like Google Fi or Mint Mobile. Or m...

It’s that time again for another chance to buy a PlayStation 5 directly from Sony. While the console maker often sends out emails for invite-only restocks, this one’s for everyone, and it’s starting now. If you’re lucky, you’ll get through the queue and have the chance to buy a standard disc-equipped $499 PS5 or a $399 PS5 Digital Edition, and if Sony’s last console selling events are anything to go by, there should be bundles of both with Horizon Forbidden West included for a total savings of $20 off the cost of the game. Remember that when buying a PS5 from Sony, you must log in to your PlayStation Network account, and each account can only buy one console. These queues can last up to an hour or more, and the estimated time remaining may jump a little. The key is to stick to it and see i...

Amazon may have just revealed the July dates for its Prime Day shopping bonanza, but the company is already prepping a second shopping event for Amazon Prime subscribers for later this year, Business Insider and CNBC report. Information sent to sellers that has been seen by the publications calls it the “Prime Fall Deal Event,” though exactly when in the fall is unclear — CNBC quotes a notice saying it will happen in Q4, while Business Insider reports that “invited sellers say it appears to be scheduled for October.” Last year, Amazon hosted a beauty products event in October, so another sales moment in that timeframe isn’t completely unprecedented. But this year’s fall event sounds like it could be more akin to a Prime Day 2.0, as both the summer and fall sales are “expected to feature fr...