NASA has been working on the for 20 years, and there have been numerous delays. The marvel of astronomical technology is currently preparing for launch, but . Following a minor “incident,” NASA has pushed the launch of Webb back by four days. That will give the team time to check for damage one last time before launch. The Webb telescope will serve as the successor to Hubble, which has survived long past its intended design life. With the aging telescope on the verge of failure on an almost weekly basis, the need for Webb has never been greater. Of course, it was supposed to be in operation years ago, but building the most powerful space-based observatory in human history is no simple feat.
It’s natural to expect that if you buy something, you can do whatever you want with it. However, the complexity of laws around intellectual property has made that difficult. The right to repair movement is gaining steam with even Apple . NordicTrack is not so enlightened, though. After customers started installing their own apps on the company’s $4,000 X32i smart treadmill, it . Owners aren’t happy. Exercise equipment is smarter than ever before. Companies like Peleton have made boatloads of cash by integrating subscription training services with the hardware, and that’s what NordicTrack does. The X32i is a spendy treadmill with a huge 32-inch touchscreen display, which delivers fitness content from NordicTrack’s iFit, a service that costs $39 per month.
Google was the first big tech firm to invest in the modern smartwatch when it worked with LG, Motorola, and Samsung to release Android Wear devices in 2014. It would be another year until the Apple Watch debuted, and it was all downhill for Android Wear after that. The branding change to Wear OS didn’t help, but partnering with Samsung did. This fall, Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch4 line, its first smartwatches running Android since 2014. Last summer, Wear OS was languishing at four percent of smartwatch shipments, and now it’s at 17 percent, . Samsung’s history with Android-powered watches actually extends further back than Wear OS.
(Photo: Alerkiv/Unsplash)Samsung has announced the location for its upcoming chip plant as it seeks to “chip” in to the widespread semiconductor shortage. The company has chosen Taylor, Texas as the site for the $17 billion manufacturing hub, to sources for the Wall Street Journal. Texas governor Greg Abbott is expected to make an announcement regarding the plant later today. Samsung’s new plant will use up about 1,200 acres of land and will bring 1,800 jobs to Taylor once production kicks off in 2024. The facility is part of Samsung’s $205 billion in chip manufacturing and biotech, which will be the company’s focus over the next three years.
Gamers the world over have been waiting with bated breath for the release of Rockstar’s GTA Trilogy, and maybe it wasn’t worth the wait. The launch last week was an unmitigated disaster, with gamers complaining of bugs and ugly graphics until Rockstar’s , making the games impossible to play. Rockstar and confirmed a bug-fixing patch is incoming. By way of contrition, Rockstar will also make the original versions of the games available once again. The official name of the revamped games is “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition,” and it includes three iconic titles: GTA3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas.
(Image: FTC)The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will begin “ramping up enforcement” against companies that manipulate people into starting subscriptions or that make it difficult to cancel services. It’s an unanticipated move that should disappoint almost no one—except maybe your cable company. In an from late last month, the FTC said companies that failed to obtain informed consent or provide clear upfront information upon selling a service would be considered guilty of using dark patterns to trick or trap customers. The agency’s new warns companies involved in such practices that without rapid changes, the FTC may pursue civil penalties, injunctive relief, and consumer redress.
(Photo: Stephen Shankland/Cnet)Cnet reporter Stephen Shankland recently of Intel’s sprawling Fab 42 in Chandler, Arizona, and Intel let him take a peak at a lot of its upcoming chip designs. The result is a photo gallery that is verified to be Not Work Safe if you’re as into ogling Silicon Wafers as we are. As we , Fab 42 was originally designated as the place where Intel’s future chips would be made on a 7nm process. Back then that size of node was very forward-looking as Intel was still struggling with its 10nm development, which it recently resolved with the launch of Alder Lake.
(Image: Apple)It’s not a big industry secret that Apple is working feverishly behind the scenes to excise every trace of Intel silicon from its Mac lineup. The company announced plans to switch from Intel to its own custom chips several years ago, and in 2020 it began the replacement process with the original M1 chip landing at the very bottom of its lineup with the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and the entry-level 24″ iMac. Next up was the upgraded M1 Pro and Max SoCs, which landed in the company’s revamped 2021 MacBook Pros. This leaves just two models left on the upgrade path: the “big” 27″ iMac, and the pinnacle of power, the Mac Pro, both of which still use Intel processors and AMD discrete GPUs.
It’s not a new development in the tech world that bringing back “formerly loved” items from the past is cool once again, but that usually applies to old hardware like gaming consoles, smaller phones, and so forth. This time around though, it’s software that’s attempting a comeback, from a bygone era. Winamp, the formerly hugely popular music player, has plans to relaunch in 2021 according to a . What’s surprising about this announcement is the software hasn’t been updated since 2013, and as we noted, people don’t use media players like Winamp anymore. First off, if you’re under the age of 30 and are reading this, some explanation is required.
