The Prius Gets a Redesign That Actually Looks Cool Leave a comment

Toyota’s obtained a modern and glossy new Prius, and the auto press appears to agree: This one seems fairly cool. Previous Prius fashions have lengthy been seen as, uhh, lower than cool, with their awkwardly boxy teardrop form and normcore vibe. The 2023 Prius, by comparability, seems stylish, with a modern physique that squishes down that Prius teardrop into one thing resembling a Tesla.

It’s nonetheless a combustion-electric hybrid that requires its fill of gasoline to run—sadly, the all-electric revolution hasn’t come for the outdated Prius but. Toyota says it will get about 57 mpg, which makes it probably the most fuel-efficient Prius but. The automobile can be going to be zippier than earlier than, with a 220-horsepower engine beneath the hood. That is nice for a Prius; ask a automobile individual. Other new features embody a hands-free driving mode and the inclusion of photo voltaic panels for topping up the battery whereas the automobile is stationary.

The new Prius can be obtainable in two fashions: the bottom Prius and a barely beefier Prius Prime. Toyota hasn’t mentioned when the vehicles can be obtainable or how a lot they’ll price, however search for them subsequent 12 months.

Here’s another information from the patron tech world.

Microsoft Teams Gets Games

Microsoft introduced a new characteristic for its Teams video conferencing software program: video games. Participants in a Teams name can now play video games like Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Wonderment proper within the app. The video games are geared toward folks utilizing Teams for work. Nancy Baym, senior principal analysis supervisor at Microsoft, says placing video games inside a office instrument fosters a sense of human connection that’s badly wanted after nearly three years of distant work.

“People were able to be really productive, but they were feeling less connected, and that was having a lot of harmful effects,” Baym says. “Games are one of a number of really nice ways to just sort of gently intervene there and say, here’s an offering for you to build connection with one another in a low pressure kind of way.”

To reinforce that purpose of connection constructing, not one of the video games are single participant. (No, not even Solitaire). That means you gained’t have the ability to quietly play a sport by your self as you fake to take heed to your supervisor’s supervisor drone on about quarterly KPIs. Playing video games together with your staff might present a good break from the deluge of the workday, even when it nonetheless quantities to spending time in entrance of a display. We’ll see how lengthy it takes for Zoom fatigue to provide technique to Minesweeper fatigue.

Look at Leica’s Large Lens Phone 

Hey test it out, Leica made one other smartphone to observe 2021’s Leitz Phone 1. What’s that? Does it have a digital camera, you ask? Oh, does it. As you would possibly count on from the illustrious digital camera model, the Leica’s lens is the principle attraction on the Leitz Phone 2. The single big-ass lens occupies the highest third of the cellphone. Its ocular-focused design is a rebuttal to all of the subtly built-in smartphone digital camera lenses.

The Leitz Phone 2’s large digital camera captures 47.2-megapixel pictures. On the opposite aspect is a 6.6-inch OLED display that permits you to view all of your beautiful panorama photographs or gloriously detailed selfies. Oh yeah, and you can even use it to make cellphone calls or no matter. It will solely be obtainable in Japan; these exterior of the nation must purchase it as an import.

Netflix Is Coming for Your Friends

The days of Netflix account sharing are possible inching to a shut. This week, Netflix launched a new characteristic in customers’ account settings referred to as Managing Access and Devices. It permits a consumer to disable their Netflix account on particular gadgets—one thing that consumer can conveniently deploy to kick members of the family, mates, and roommates off their Netflix account. It’s an innocuous sufficient characteristic, and one which can be good for anybody who desires to zap their credentials from the tv they misplaced within the divorce, in an effort to cease their ex from stealth-streaming exhibits on their dime. But it is also a transfer that units the stage for Netflix’s purge of account sharing.

Netflix has been building toward this for months. The firm has examined charging further charges for extra accounts in a few nations, and it says it’s seeking to implement the program in almost all of its markets subsequent 12 months. The firm additionally rolled out an ad-supported subscription plan earlier this month.

Too Many Twitter Troubles

Well, Twitter had a good run. Now that just about each worker has left Twitter and the positioning appears to be in freefall, issues are about to get even weirder on the fowl app. (Assuming it stays up and working.) In no matter type Twitter continues to limp alongside, it’s by no means been extra weak to safety threats.

This week on WIRED’s Gadget Lab podcast, safety author Lily Hay Newman talks via the methods through which Twitter’s precarious place might result in hacking, information leaks, and the additional unfold of misinformation throughout the platform.