Engadget - Russia teases its own space station

It's Tuesday, August 16, 2022.

Russia decommissioned its last self-run space station, Mir, in 2001. Now Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, has shared a model of the country’s future station, as it prepares to move out of the International Space Station. Nicknamed ROSS by state-controlled media, it would launch in two phases, starting with four modules and expanding to six with a service platform. The design would accommodate four people in rotating tours and reportedly offer better monitoring of Earth than Russia gets from the ISS today.

State media claim the first phase will launch between 2025 and 2030, with Russia expected to leave the ISS in 2024. It announced its departure from the ISS in July in response to sanctions and other measures following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air is $100 off at Amazon

• Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory made its 1 millionth car

• Disney and Marvel will hold a games showcase on September 9th

• Zoom fixed a security flaw that let attackers hijack your Mac

• HBO and HBO Max are reportedly laying off 70 production staffers

• Apple reportedly tested search ads in Maps in bid to expand its advertising business

Samsung's 55-inch curved gaming monitor has six speakers and two remotes

The newest Odyssey Ark is $3,500.

Engadget

Samsung has gone all-out on its next-generation monitor. Samsung claims the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. You also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio, and it’s got six built-in speakers that create a dome of sound. Oh, and you can use it vertically.

Continue reading.

Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel phones today

The software is out of beta and brings some small but useful new tools.

Android 13 is coming out of beta and will start rolling out to Google’s Pixel phones today, with devices from Samsung, ASUS, Nokia (HMD), Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi and more expected to get the update later this year.

The latest version of Google's mobile operating system brings more granular privacy controls, a new photo picker, Bluetooth LE audio and more. Messaging app streaming might be the most notable new feature, letting you cast your messaging apps to your Chromebook so you can chat with your friends on your laptop. Google said this works with Messages "and many of your other favorite messaging apps." The company added you'll "soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet," or the other way around.

Continue reading.

Yet another Lord of the Rings game is in development

From a company that worked on the movie trilogy’s special effects.

Wētā Workshop is working on a new Lord of the Rings game alongside publisher Private Division. The game is in early development and few details have been announced, but Wētā Workshop has "the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books," according to a press release. If you’re wondering who or what WētāWorkshop is, it worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as well as The Hobbit trilogy. The special effects powerhouse is also collaborating with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It set up its gaming division in 2014.

Continue reading.

TikTok adds an AI image generator to its app

It’s a very, very simple version of DALL-E.

Getty

TikTok has introduced a basic AI greenscreen effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It's much simpler than OpenAI's DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions — which makes it a lot less interesting. However, AI art tools like DALL-E are usually limited to a select group of users. TikTok, meanwhile, has over a billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience.

Continue reading.

Peloton may open its workout content to competing bikes and treadmills

The company is also redesigning its bikes for home assembly.

Peloton may soon allow users of competing fitness equipment to stream its workouts to their bikes and treadmills. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Barry McCarthy said the company is “rethinking” its digital strategy. Peloton could adopt a freemium model offering some features and workouts in its mobile and TV app for free. Currently, the software costs $13 per month. In the future, people with stationary bikes or treadmills from companies like Bowflex, Echelon and NordicTrack could also stream Peloton's content to their equipment’s display.

Continue reading.