Ford reveals an F-150 Lightning built for police work

Don’t be surprised if you see an electric pickup truck assisting cops in the near future. Ford has introduced a version of the 2023 F-150 Lighting built for police, the Lightning Pro SSV (Special Service Vehicle). The new model is designed for tasks that don’t involve pursuit, such as assisting at crime scenes or towing boats, and includes modifications to match. You’ll find optional police lights for the roof, an instrument panel tray with easier equipment mounting, and toughened seating with steel intrusion plates in the front seatbacks. While this truck probably won’t cart suspects to the station, it could in a pinch.

The Lighting Pro SSV is otherwise similar to other pro F-150 EVs, although that’s not a bad thing. You can outfit the police version with the same regular or extended-range battery packs, with motors providing a respective 452HP and 580HP. You’ll likewise get driver assists such as Co-Pilot360 and automatic emergency braking, and Ford Pro promises telematics and support you don’t get with ordinary models. To no one’s surprise, Ford is pitching the Lighting’s design as officer-friendly — the slew of power outlets will help illuminate crash scenes, while the large frunk provides extra gear storage.

Ford doesn’t expect to share full details of the 2023 F-150 Lightning until later this summer, so you’ll have to wait a while for range estimates and other details. Still, this could be an important launch. The Lightning Pro SSV is the first US electric pickup designed for police, as Ford is keen to point out. While it’s not a cruiser, it could still play a significant role in electrifying departments.

The best trail cameras for keeping an eye on your backyard wildlife

Daffodils flourishing in sidewalk cracks, pigeons and starlings congregating on overhead power lines, rats living in your apartment walls — no matter how urban humans strive to make our environments, nature’s flora and fauna will make themselves right …

The PS5 finally gets 1440p support

The PlayStation 5now supports 1440p, at least for gamers with access to its beta software. While the console has supported 1080p and 4K output from the start, 1440p support is still a much-requested feature by players who use monitors instead of TVs. It provides a middle ground between full HD and 4K, after all, and is a popular choice for gamers who also play on their PCs. Testers who get the latest beta software for the PS5 will now see a 1440p HDMI video output option as an additional visual setting when they use the console with a compatible monitor.

Obviously, they can enjoy the full benefits of 1440p rendering if the game they’re playing supports the resolution. But if they’re playing a game that supports 4K, they could also benefit from the feature, because the option downsamples the visuals for 1440p output and that leads to sharper images. As VG247 notes, though, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which rolled out for the console in April, is only available for 1080p and 2160p. VRR gives the screen the ability to sync its refresh rate with that of the game for a smoother experience, and it’s not quite clear why it’s not available for 1440p output. 

In addition to 1440p support, the latest beta software also gives users a way to create gamelists in their Game Library so that they can better organize all the titles they own. Players can create up to 15 gamelists with 100 games each. Their in-progress activities will now be shown prominently at the top of the game hub when they resume a game, as well, and they can now request party members to share their screens so that they can watch their gameplay. Plus, when they enter a party and a member is playing game they can join, they’ll now receive an alert and then join the game directly from that notification.

Sony has introduced more experimental features with the new beta and has listed them all on the PlayStation blog.

NASA plans to bring rock samples back from Mars with the help of two space helicopters

NASA has altered the Mars Sample Return Program meant to bring back the rock samples the Perseverance rover has been drilling and collecting from the Jezero crater in a big way. Instead of sending the Sample Fetch Rover to the red planet like originally planned, the program will make use of Perseverance itself and send over two helicopters based on the Ingenuity for backup. 

NASA and the ESA have been working together on the Sample Return Program over the past few years. The original plan was to send over the ESA-made Sample Fetch Rover to retrieve the samples and drive them back to a rocket, which will fly them up to be snatched by the Earth Return Orbiter. As The New York Times notes, though, the rover’s design became too big until it could no longer fit in one lander with the return rocket. NASA would have to use one lander for each of them.

But why do that when there are other, more affordable options? The Sample Return Lander isn’t scheduled to arrive on Mars until 2030, but NASA is confident that Perseverance will still be operational by then — after all, the Curiosity rover is still up and running almost 11 years after it launched. Under their renewed plan, the Perseverance will drive up to the lander to deliver 30 rock samples that will be loaded onto the rocket.

If anything goes wrong with Perseverance before then, though, the lander would settle closer to the rover and then the backup helicopters will fly over to retrieve the samples. While the helicopters are modeled after the Ingenuity, they’ll have small wheels at the bottom. These will allow them to drive up to the samples that are sealed inside tubes and pick them up from the ground where the rover has dropped them.

The Ingenuity helicopter completed its first test flight on Mars in April 2021. NASA wasn’t expecting much from the helicopter, which was just supposed to prove that flight on Mars is possible. It was also only supposed to fly a handful of times during a one-month technology demonstration, but it has accomplished 29 successful flights so far, with more on the way. Ingenuity’s success has given NASA another means to retrieve the precious samples Perseverance has been collecting.

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for NASA’s science directorate, said during the press conference announcing the new Sample Return Program plans:

“We reached our decision based on new studies and recent achievements at Mars that allowed us to consider options that, frankly, weren’t available to us one year ago or before.”

The Earth Return Orbiter and Sample Retrieval Lander will take off in the fall of 2027 and the summer of 2028, respectively. Their journey to and from the red planet will take years, so the samples aren’t expected to arrive on Earth until 2033.

Logitech’s popular Litra Glow streamer light is 20 percent off right now

Logitech’s Litra Glow is a glare-free soft light developed for streamers that flew off the shelves after it was first unveiled early this year. Now, it’s on sale for the first time at Amazon for $50, or $10 off the regular $60 price — a significant 20 percent discount. 

Buy Logitech Litra Glow at Amazon – $50

The Litra Glow is designed to be gentle on the eyes and safe for all-day streaming, while providing a “natural, radiant look across skin tones.” It also promises cinematic color accuracy via Logitech’s TrueSoft technology, while providing a soft, flattering light. Logitech also said at launch that it works well for people of different skin tones

It’s ready to go out of the box thanks to five presets with different brightness levels and color temperatures, or you can use the G HUB software to create your own. As a bonus, any presets you create can be assigned to the G Keys on a Logitech G keyboard or mouse.

You can find other soft- and ring-style lights from Elgato and others, but most from any recognizable name brand are considerably more expensive. Now, with the discount on offer, it’s a particularly sharp deal, especially considering Logitech’s promised color accuracy. 

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Rivian lays off 6 percent of its workforce as it struggles with EV production

As expected, electric pickup manufacturer Rivian is laying off 6 percent of its 14,000-strong workforce in an effort to boost production without raising more funds, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The company has a 71,000 vehicle pre-order backlog for its R1T and R1S electric pickup and SUV, but had to slash its production forecast for 2022 in half to 25,000 vehicles. 

Rivian is also concerned about raising cash in the current economic environment. “Over the last six months, the world has dramatically changed with inflation reaching record highs, interest rates rapidly rising and commodity prices continuing to climb — all of which have contributed to the global capital markets tightening,” wrote chief executive RJ Scaringe in a note seen by the WSJ. 

With investors like Ford and Amazon having helped it raise $12 billion, Rivian is one of the best funded EV startups out there. However, the company is at a delicate phase, trying to ramp up production enough to finally bring in revenue after building a factory in Illinois. It’s also planning to accelerate development of a more budget-oriented EV called the R2 and build a second $5 billion factory for that model in Georgia.

Another EV startup struggling with production is Faraday Future, which delayed the launch of its first EV, the FF91, yet again. The company said it needs to raise another $325 million in cash to fund operations until the end of the year. 

Samsung posts 12 percent increase in profit but warns of weak mobile and PC demand

For the second quarter of 2022, Samsung has reported a consolidated revenue of KRW 77.2 trillion (US$59.4 billion), which is a record high for the quarter ending on June 30th. Samsung’s operating profit also reached KRW 14.1 trillion (US$10.8 billion) — that’s 12 percent higher from the same period a year earlier and is its best yet since 2018. As has been the case these past years, the company’s semiconductor or Device Solutions (DS) division greatly contributed to those numbers and has achieved a historical high in quarterly revenue for the second consecutive quarter.

The DS division posted KRW 28.5 trillion (US$21.9 billion) in consolidated revenue and KRW 9.98 trillion (US$7.7 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter, thanks mostly to server chip demand. However, chip demand for consumer products, such as mobile phones and PCs, was much weaker than expected “due to widening impacts of macro issues.” In fact, Samsung said its DRAM and NAND shipments came in below guidance. The company also expects demand for consumer devices to stay weak and even believes that there’s a possibility for this slump in demand to make its way to enterprise.

As you can guess based on that information, Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) business was also affected by the overall decline in market demand. The company blamed “geopolitical issues and concerns over inflation on top of continued weak seasonality” for the mobile division’s decline in earnings. It also said the costs of components and logistics affected the business’ profitability and caused it to slide lower than the previous quarter’s.

The tech giant doesn’t expect smartphone sales to blow up next quarter either: Demand for new phones will likely stay similar year-on-year or show only a single-digital growth, it predicts, because of prolonged geopolitical issues and economic uncertainties. That said, it’s hoping that the launch of new foldables could pad its sales numbers in the coming months. Samsung will unveil its next-gen foldable phones at its upcoming Unpacked event on August 10th. 

Amazon employees in Illinois file federal complaint over workplace racism

On Wednesday, former Amazon employee Tori Davis and 25 other workers filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging the company forced them to work in a dangerous environment, reports the Chicago Tribune. Davis raised concerns about Amazon’s handling of a racist death threat, and claims the retailer fired her after she threatened legal action if it did not address the incident.

In May, workers at the company’s MDW2 warehouse in Joliet, Illinois — a city 35 miles outside of Chicago — found two racist messages using the N-word scribbled on the wall of one of the facility’s bathrooms, according to the complaint filed with the EEOC. Davis, who is Black, left work without pay after her co-workers discovered the graffiti. After police investigated the incident, Amazon allegedly sent a text message to staff stating law enforcement “did not identify threats to the site’s safety.”

According to the complaint, Amazon also allowed white employees at MDW2 to wear clothing that displayed the Confederate flag. One individual allegedly had a shirt where workers could see the flag “prominently” on both the garment’s back and sleeves.

“Amazon works hard to protect our employees from any form of discrimination and to provide an environment where employees feel safe,” an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. “Hate or racism have no place in our society and are certainly not tolerated by Amazon.”

At a press conference, Davis said she would like to see Amazon implement additional safety policies at MDW2 and improve Black worker representation at the facility. She is also appealing her termination. Amazon has faced allegations of allowing racism in the workplace before. Last year, a manager with the company’s AWS division said she was subjected to harassment from a supervisor who used racial tropes. The company also has a history of terminating employees who have sought to improve conditions at its workplaces.