TGIF. It’s been a great week, with Gizmodo Australia in Seoul for Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, there’s been a lot of news, but it was all very Samsung-y. But if cool foldable phones aren’t your thing, fear not, because there are five other things going on this morning.
1. Tesla’s shady ‘Deviation Team’ buried hundreds of rank complaints
Tesla reportedly created a secret “Diversion Team” tasked with trying to quickly divert and cancel as many appointments as possible for range-related issues. The unit, according to Reuters investigation, was reportedly responsible for closing hundreds of cases a week of upset Tesla owners complaining about range performance. Those cars often performed properly but simply didn’t meet Tesla’s inflated and exaggerated driving range estimates for its fleet of vehicles. Read more here.
2. UFO Whistleblower Claims ‘Multi-Decade’ Coverup
America has UFO fever. In the first hearing on… UFOs…, retired Major David Grusch accused the US government of hiding a long-standing program that recovers and reverse-engineers unidentified flying objects, a claim that, of course, has been denied by the Pentagon. Read more here.
3. Calls to ban electric bikes
After a series of fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries from electric bikes, a campaign to set regulations for how batteries are made, sold, refurbished, charged and stored has been in full force in the US. According to PA consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to set mandatory safety standards and seize noncompliant imports when they make it to the border or shipping ports so unsafe e-bikes and shoddy batteries don’t find their way onto the streets and endanger homes.
4. Lights, camera, action button
Apple released the fourth beta version of iOS 17 for developers and according to macrumors , among the changes in the latest beta are some new code snippets that potentially hint at the functionality of the rumored action button in the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The report notes that the code hints at the fact that you can program nine different functions on the action button, which could allow you to quickly access the Camera app, turn on the flashlight, and launch the Translate app, as a few examples.
5. WhatsApp introduces 1-minute video messages
WhatsApp has spent the night Announced the introduction of instant video messaging. With this feature, you will now be able to record and share short videos directly in chat, similar to how you do with voice messages. Video messages will be capped at 60 seconds, with a blog post stating: “We think this will be a fun way to share moments with all the emotion that comes from video, whether it’s wishing someone a happy birthday, laughing at a joke or bringing good news”.
BONUS ARTICLE: We love Microsoft Edgehog.
Have a fantastic weekend.
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