Sony unveiled a new quick editing mode for PS5’s Share Factory Studio today that will allow users to create shortform gameplay videos with pre-set, Tik-Tok-like formats. In a blog post, Sony explained the new editing feature — which it has deemed “Bits…
Disney+ will stream a live musical special from Epcot hosted by Idina Menzel
Disney+ is continuing its experiment with live events, this time with a special from one of its own theme parks. The platform will livestream Harmonious Live!, a musical special that will be hosted by Idina Menzel and performed at the Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World, reportedVariety. The live orchestra performance will feature a repertoire of songs from a number of classical Disney films, including Moana, Aladdin, Coco, The Lion King, Mulan and others.
The choice to air Harmonious Live! will no doubt please Disney fans of all ages, especially those who haven’t been back to a theme park in a while. After a nearly two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Disney resumed live entertainment at its theme parks again this year. And unlike live shows performed at the park, fans will be able to watch re-watch Harmonious Live! on the Disney+ platform at any time they like.
Disney+ subscribers can expect even more live offerings this year. The upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars will air on the platform, likely in September 2022. Meanwhile, Harmonious Live! will air on June 21 at 6 p.m. PT/9 ET in the US and Canada. You can watch a preview below.
Lime launches pilot of its new electric motorbike in Long Beach
Mobility startup Lime is looking to add electric motorbikes to its existing fleet of e-bikes and e-scooters. The company today launched a pilot program in Long Beach, California for its custom motorbike, which it is calling the Citra. Lime spokesperson…
Rivian pushes back deliveries of its R1S SUV once again
Early buyers of Rivian’s latest electric SUV are facing another delivery delay. A number of customers who pre-ordered Rivian’s R1S SUV received an email this week informing them that an expected June or July delivery window has been pushed back several months. According to Auto Evolution, customers posted on Rivian’s forum that their delivery window had been updated to August or September 2022, or as late as October through December 2022. The EV maker first debuted the seven-passenger vehicle — which has a starting price of $72,500 — back in November 2018, and has pushed back deliveries multiple times, citing production delays and supply chain issues. Deliveries of the first batch of R1S SUVs were originally slated for August 2021.
The company in its email chalked up the latest delay to ongoing supply chain issues and its limited service infrastructure. It said that it would prioritize deliveries to areas that are close to Rivian service centers. Rivan currently operates service centers in only 14 states, so customers in other areas will likely have an even longer wait.
“As we continue to assess our supply chain and build plans, we want to provide an update on your estimated delivery window,” wrote Rivian in its email to customers. It stated that the customer’s updated delivery window was based on three factors: their preorder date, delivery location and current configuration. But a number of early customers seemed puzzled at how Rivian calculated the new delivery window. One customer noted that they pre-ordered the R1S SUV back in November 2019, yet was assigned to the later delivery window of the fourth quarter of 2022. Many customers who lived in especially remote areas or in a state without a Rivian service center also reported later delivery windows. “The irony of an off-road adventure vehicle delivered only to major cities,” wrote one Rivian customer on the company’s forum.
Rivian has struggled to scale up production of its vehicles amidst a global parts shortage, including semiconductors. The Tesla competitor isn’t able to rely on existing relationships with parts suppliers, which traditionally prioritize the larger, more established car companies, the Wall Street Journal noted.
Adobe will release a free version of Photoshop for browsers
Adobe plans to debut a pared down, web-only version of its popular photo-editing tool Photoshop, The Vergereported today. The company is currently testing this new freemium version with users in Canada, but will eventually make it available to a wider audience. For now, anyone in Canada who creates an Adobe account can access the free, browser-only version of Photoshop. Engadget has reached out to Adobe to find out when it plans to make the tool available to users worldwide, and will update when we hear back.
Photoshop has long been the industry standard for image editing, but its monthly license fee likely dissuades most from using it. Meanwhile, free or freemium photo-editing software like Pixlr, Canva and Photopea have embraced casual users and also grown more sophisticated in their offerings. As The Verge notes, Adobe is making its basic photo editing tools available for free in order to reach users that don’t belong to its usual audience. Adobe’s hope is that some freemium Photoshop users will become paying subscribers, especially since the company plans to offer more advanced features on the web-only version that can only be unlocked with a subscription.
If this sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because Adobe launched its web-only version of Photoshop and Illustrator for subscribers last fall; though their functionality was limited to basic editing and sharing comments among collaborators on projects. This new, free web version of Photoshop significantly expands the available tools, and allows users to start new projects, as well as access more advanced color correction and editing tools.
FAA wants dozens of changes before SpaceX expands Texas launch site
The FAA wants SpaceX to address a number of environmental concerns before it approves an expansion of the Starbase launch facility, located on Texas’s Gulf Coast. The agency asked SpaceX to make more than 75 changes — according to an environmental impact assessment released today — before the company can use the South Texas site to launch flights to the Moon and Mars. Located near Boca Chica, Texas, the launch site has been the center of controversy after SpaceX founder Elon Musk revealed his plans to incorporate the surrounding area to support lunar missions.
As Space Newsnoted, this seems to be more of a “yellow light” than a “red light” from the FAA. The agency issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact” for SpaceX’s plans to conduct orbital launches with its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket. In a nutshell, the agency found there would be no significant environmental consequences — but is asking SpaceX to take some steps to mitigate environmental harms before it is officially cleared.
The FAA’s review will only clear SpaceX for five orbital launches per year, as well as five suborbital launches and tests. Many of the proposed changes involve Boca Chica Beach, a nearby public beach that has been subject to closures during Starship tests. The closures prompted the Sierra Club and other groups to sue government officials over what they believe is a violation of the state’s constitution. SpaceX will be barred from closing the road during 18 different holidays, and will be limited to five weekend closures per year. The FAA also calls for SpaceX to limit closures to 500 hours a year for normal operations, with an added allowance of 300 hours to address any emergencies.
SpaceX seemed to take the FAA’s review in stride. “One step closer to the orbital flight test of Starship,” the company tweeted earlier today.
Michigan approves digital license plates by startup Reviver
Michigan drivers now have the option of adorning their cars with digital license plates, which can locate lost vehicles and receive public safety alerts — for a fee. Reviver, the maker of the connected plates, announced that Michigan residents and businesses can now purchase the device (known as the RPlate) online. Consumers can choose between two models: a battery-powered plate and a hard-wired plate that includes GPS. The plates have been available for sale in California and Arizona, and the company is aiming to make them available nationwide.
But what exactly is a digital license plate? The RPlate is essentially a license plate with an HD display and LTE connectivity (as well as GPS for the hard-wired model) that includes a number of security and personalization features. Drivers can switch between dark and light modes and select personalized messages to appear at the bottom. The GPS-enabled plate also includes telematic transponders, so it can locate a lost or stolen vehicle and send alerts to your smartphone if it detects suspicious movement. There’s a companion mobile app that allows drivers to track mileage and renew their vehicle registration online.
Reviver’s digital plate also includes a couple of security features that could be overkill for some. For example, there’s a “Valet Parking” mode that lets you monitor your car remotely while it is being parked by a valet attendant and a geofencing option for family members or employees who drive the car that sends alerts if they violate the travel boundaries.
The digital license plates don’t come cheap. Both models require a subscription ($19.95 per month for battery-powered and $24.95 per month for hard-wired) and cost an additional $150 if you elect to have a professional install the plate. The company is also working on a number of new features, including integration with toll roads, parking meters and additional DMV services.
FDA clears Rune Labs to use the Apple Watch to monitor Parkinson’s
Turns out the Apple Watch’s motion sensors can be a useful tool for Parkinson’s patients and their physicians. The FDA has granted approval to Rune Labs to use their software paired with the Apple Watch to track symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, Reutersreported today. The San Francisco-based digital health startup has created software for watchOS that can detect common Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors, involuntary or slow movement, rigidity and poor balance. Smartphone and other remote forms of monitoring Parkinson’s have been around for a while, but this is the first software designed for the Apple Watch that the FDA has cleared for motion disorders.
Since the Apple Watch Series 4 was first released in 2018, the wearable has been able to detect hard falls and offer advanced activity metrics. The company that same year added a Movement Disorder API to its open-source ResearchKit, opening the door for developers to create watchOS apps to track Parkinson’s and other diseases. As Rune Lab notes, the company is the first to make use of the API for commercial purposes.
The watchOS app by Rune Labs will give physicians access to patient movement data over time, which can further supplement the information they get from an in-person physical exam. Rune Labs also notes the Apple Watch’s tools aren’t capable of giving patients a complete picture of their disorder. “Of course, there are limitations to Apple’s Movement Disorder kit: tremor and dyskinesia are only two symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease, and the classifiers themselves are not yet perfect,” wrote Rune Labs founder Brian Pepin last year in a blog post.
Apple has focused a lot of time and money on expanding and updating the Watch’s health and fitness tracking capabilities, with many more to come in future updates. Earlier this month the FDA also cleared watchOS’s AFib History feature — which monitors irregular and extremely rapid heartbeat — and will be released in the upcoming watchOS 9 update.
Lightyear’s very pricey solar-powered car will go into production in late 2022
EV startup Lightyear debuted its first solar-powered vehicle this week, a sleek sedan called the Lightyear 0. The company gave us a peek at a production prototype of Lightyear 0 in 2019, and at first glance, not much has changed. The car is essentially an unconventional hybrid equipped with both a conventional 60-kilowatt-hour EV battery pack and solar panels on its roof, hood and hatch. The solar panels on the Lightyear 0 will charge automatically whenever the car is exposed to the sun — it doesn’t matter if it’s parked or driving.
The Lightyear 0 isn’t as much solar-powered as solar-assisted. In order to drive for long distances, the vehicle has to tap into its battery reserve. The car’s solar panels can provide 44 miles of range per day in a sunny climate, whereas its EV range is 388 miles. But for drivers with exceptionally short commutes or those who need their vehicle infrequently, the Lightyear 0 could allow them to no longer spend money on gas or charging. The company claims that those with a daily commute of 22 miles can drive the Lightyear 0 for two straight months in the Netherlands summer without needing to charge. Drivers in sunnier climates can go for longer. Lightyear claims that the sun can provide the Lightyear 0 with anywhere between 3,700 to 6,800 miles of range annually.
It’s important to note that Lightyear 0 owners will need to drive for a significantly long time in order to justify the vehicle’s purchase as a cost-saving measure. The Lightyear 0 will cost €250,000 (which amounts to roughly $263,262 USD), and the company only plans on making 946 units. But a more reasonably-priced vehicle is on the way. Lightyear recently also unveiled a prototype of a $33,000 solar-powered car, which is scheduled to go into production by 2025.