Microsoft is holding its customary fall Surface event on October 12th, and this year's presentation may be more jam-packed than most. Rumors have swirled of not just new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop models, but a long-overdue Surface Studio refresh and even a mini desktop. But how likely are those to pan out? We'll give you an idea of what to expect.
Surface Pro 9
Dana Wollman/Engadget
It almost wouldn’t be a Microsoft hardware event without a new tablet, and the Surface Pro 9 could be one of the more important updates to the lineup in recent memory. Windows Centralsources claim the new model will merge the ARM-based Surface Pro X into the regular Pro family. If so, you’ll have your choice of processor architectures without having to switch form factors — a first for the Pro series.
You might get a significant speed boost, whichever chip sits inside. Those same sources believe Intel-based Surface Pro 9 models will use 12th-generation Core i5 and i7 U-series processors (considerably faster than the Pro 8’s 11th-gen parts), while ARM versions will reportedly come with the SQ3, a custom variant of the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. Microsoft may stick with the maximum 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage from before, although cellular models will apparently support 5G.
Just don’t expect much to change on the outside. Sources say the Surface Pro 9 will largely resemble its predecessor, complete with a 13-inch 120Hz display, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a front 5-megapixel camera, a rear 10MP cam and support for the Slim Pen 2. This may be an iterative design, but we liked the Pro 8 last year. It’s just a question of whether or not the pricing is reasonable. WinFutureclaims Europeans may pay the equivalent of $1,300 for a Core i5 version with 256GB of storage, but that might not reflect American pricing.
Surface Laptop 5
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Microsoft hasn’t touched the Surface Laptop since spring 2021, so it’s due for a refresh. Thankfully, one appears to be in the pipeline. Both Windows Central and WinFuture insiders claim a Surface Laptop 5 is in the works with some modest but meaningful improvements.
The 13.5- and 15-inch portables would ship with 12th-gen Core i5 and i7 processors that would represent tangible upgrades over earlier chips. However, the most notable change may be what you don’t get — WinFuture says there won’t be any AMD Ryzen-powered variants of the Surface Laptop 5. The machine may offer Thunderbolt 4 support for the first time, though.
Like its tablet counterpart, the Surface Laptop 5’s design might be virtually unchanged. Leakers don’t anticipate cosmetic updates apart from a possible sage green color option borrowed from the Laptop Go 2. That won’t be a problem if you like Microsoft’s minimalist aesthetics, but it may be disappointing if you wanted an eye-catching notebook like the XPS 13 Plus or MacBook Air M2 — especially considering the rumored $1,200 asking price in Europe.
Surface Studio 3
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
To say Microsoft has neglected the Surface Studio would be an understatement. The most recent version of the all-in-one desktop was released in 2018, and its specifications are woefully behind the times. Windows Central recently offered some hope, though, as it hears a Surface Studio 3 is finally on the way.
The new PC will supposedly use the familiar (but still clever) chassis from the first two Studios, including its signature tilting, stylus-friendly 28-inch display. Microsoft will instead focus on the internals, upgrading to an 11th-gen Core i7 CPU (sorry, no 12th-gen here) with Thunderbolt 4 ports. There may be an improved webcam, too, along with Dolby Vision HDR visuals and Dolby Atmos audio.
You might have to deal with some conspicuous omissions. The Surface Studio 3 may ditch the SD card slot, and there could be just one configuration with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. As with its ancestors, the revised computer could be aimed squarely at creative pros who want a pen-friendly display and are willing to pay for the privilege. There’s no leaked pricing as of this writing, but with specs like those it’s certain to be expensive.
Wildcards: A mini PC and Surface accessories
Microsoft
These events sometimes include leftfield introductions (who would have predicted the Surface Laptop Studio?), but you may need to tone down your expectations this year. The biggest treat may be the release of the previously-teased Project Volterra, a compact desktop aimed at developers building ARM-native Windows apps with AI features. So, it won’t be the Surface equivalent to the Mac mini, then.
Accessories may be the only other highlights. Windows Central’s Zac Bowden recently shared images of what he says are updated Surface Keyboard and Surface Pen models that could come with the Surface Studio 3 in addition to selling separately. A Surface Mouse revision may be available, too. Bowden further suggested that you could see a “premium” speaker as well as a Teams-oriented remote, but there’s little else known about them.
We wouldn’t count on other Surface computers or mobile devices. There haven’t been murmurs of a Surface Duo 3 phone, and Microsoft put the Surface Neo on ice in 2020. It’s also hard to imagine a Surface Go revision, for that matter. Barring surprises, this event appears focused on core Surface devices and not much else.
General Motors, through its GM Defense subsidiary, will build a battery pack prototype for the Department of Defense to test and analyze. The agency's Defense Innovation Unit is seeking a scalable design that can be used in electrified versions of tactical military vehicles.
The battery pack will be based on GM's Ultium platform, which it's using to power its own electric vehicles. Due to the type of battery cells it employs, Ultium is billed as a modular and scalable system that can be adapted to different needs, so it may just fit the bill for the military.
GM said the military wants a light- to heavy-duty EV for use in garrison and operational environments in order to reduce fossil fuel use. As a result, that should reduce the military's carbon emissions.
This isn't the first partnership that GM Defense has forged with the military. In July, the company secured a deal with the US Army to provide an electric Hummer for testing. Last year, GM Defense president Steve duMont said the company would build an electric military vehicle prototype based on the Hummer EV.
In many ways the $2,059Pērkons seems like the drum machine sibling of Erica Synths’ SYNTRX. It’s not just that they share a chassis and knobs. But they’re both pricey, niche instruments that focus on having a unique character, rather than cramming in as many features as possible. But, while they’re both compelling yet impractical devices, that’s where the similarities end.
Talking about using Pērkons is going to get very complicated, very quickly. So let’s ease into things by talking straight specs. It’s a four-voice digital drum machine with multiple different sound engines and algorithms per track, paired with analog multimode filters and drive. There are four 16-step sequencer tracks with four different shuffle algorithms, ratchets and probability settings. In addition to a master output, headphone output and master send and return effect jacks, there are also individual outputs for each voice, along with separate sends and returns and trigger inputs for each, not to mention MIDI In and Out. Plus an analog bucket brigade delay (BBD), an optical compressor and an LFO.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
In short, there’s a lot of sound shaping power here. Sure, it doesn’t have microtiming, and you have to chain multiple patterns together if you want to have more than 16 steps, but there’s still a decent number of features to take advantage of.
The four voices don’t have prescriptive uses, but some are better for certain sounds than others. And each has a unique set of engines with multiple modes. For instance, voice one has a wavefold drum, a wavetable drum and a simple drum algorithm. The mode switch then chooses between three different transients for the fold drum, three different wavetables or three different simple waveshapes depending on the algorithm chosen. And each algorithm has different controls assigned to the parameter one and two knobs.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
This basic setup is spread across all four voices, just with different algorithm options. So while voice one and two work better for kicks and toms, voice three is your best bet for claps and snares, and voice four is ideal for high hats and cymbals.
I feel like it’s important to pause here and point out that, while I may say things like “best for snares,” these are not typical drum sounds. Don’t come to Pērkons expecting 808 kick — you’re not gonna get them. But, that’s part of its appeal. It doesn’t sound like other drum machines and it oozes character. That’s quite refreshing in an age of countless clones and rehashes that simply try to repackage beloved sounds of the past.
That character and unique timbre might put some people off, though. Even I initially was underwhelmed with what I was coaxing out of the Pērkons my first couple of days with it. But once I stopped trying to bend it to my will, and simply let it do what it was designed to, I came around pretty quickly. Those sounds are decidedly digital and err towards the aggressive end of things. Do you dig ‘90s industrial music? You’re gonna like Pērkons. Digital hardcore? Have I got the drum synth for you.
In fact, after years of mostly making more laidback and ambient styles of electronic music, I found myself dialing in harsh, blown-out guitar tones, a la Nine Inch NailsBroken to jam along with Pērkons. I was transported back to my high school days of black t-shirts and long greasy hair. And I wasn’t mad about it.
The one tip I have is, keep that drive knob pinned and be generous with the compressor. I think part of why I was a bit lukewarm on it at first was because I was trying to be subtle and judicious with dialing in those effects. Which, frankly, it was probably pretty stupid of me to expect subtlety from a drum machine named after the Baltic god of thunder.
Once you accept the sound palette at your disposal, you have to come to grips with the technical functions of Pērkons. This is where things can get a little messy. While programming in a basic 16-step drum pattern and playing it back is relatively simple, some of the more advanced functions aren’t always that intuitive. At least at first, I’d highly recommend keeping the manual handy. Even if just to reference what the parameter knobs are controlling for each voice mode.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The Pērkons is decidedly old school in its approach to interface design. There’s no screen or menus to dive through. Instead, almost all of the machine's functions from the sequencer playback mode, to the shuffle percentage to the LFO target, are controlled via the 64 step buttons or four trigger buttons. This means that basically anything beyond simply inputting individual drum hits requires pressing some combination of two or three buttons simultaneously.
For example, if you want to set the probability that a particular step will play you have to hold down the step you want to change, the probability key and one of the four trigger buttons to select a percentage (10, 25, 50 or 90 percent). The benefit is that, since you don’t have to do any menu diving, it’s simple to manipulate a pattern while it’s playing. And once you figure out the basics of how the interface works, it’s pretty easy to grasp since everything is labeled. The downside is that some things have relatively limited options, like probability. If you want to have a step to have a 33 or 75 percent chance of playing, you’re out of luck. Similarly, shuffle is in predetermined percentages, though those aren’t labeled.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
You also have to be careful to hit the buttons you want in the right order. If you press the pattern / ratchet button before you start holding down a particular step, then you’re not going to add a ratchet, you're going to change patterns. And if you haven’t saved the one you were currently working on, it will be gone for good. Pērkons can be fun, but it can also be very unforgiving.
Even though the interface is old school, Pērkons does have a number of new-school features to help keep it from being too robotic. In addition to shuffle and probability, you can change the length, add accents, multiply or divide the tempo, select one of four “grooves” and choose one of four different playback modes: forward, backward, ping-pong or random. And each of these can be done on a per-track basis. So you can make track four only 13 steps long and ping-pong from beginning to end and back at half speed, while track one plays at double speed with a 50-percent shuffle and track two has a unique groove but is only eight steps long.
All of these options are welcome, but can feel a bit unwieldy to manage at times. The lack of a robust menu system is both a gift and a curse. While it keeps everything at your fingertips, it also means you have to remember a bunch of button combinations to change or review settings.
Another thing worth discussing is that, while Pērkons is primarily a drum machine, it’s also a synthesizer. But, don’t expect to plug in a keyboard and play funky basslines. Instead, it’s best approached as a drone instrument. You can’t play the voices chromatically, at least on the current firmware. That said, if your ear is good enough, you can tune each step individually to create a bassline.
Changing the parameters for each step is simple too. You just hold the target trigger button and start turning knobs. It functions almost exactly like parameter locking on unabashedly modern instruments from the likes of Elektron. If you’d prefer to tweak things on the fly, you can just press record and start turning knobs to record automation. You can even change the algorithms and voice modes on a per-step basis, which really broadens the variety of sounds at your disposal in a given pattern.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The most important thing, though, is that Pērkons is an absolute delight to play. Frustrations with some of the interface aside, it lends itself towards live tweaking. And the hardware, just like with its distant sibling the SYNTRX, is incredible. The trigger keys on the right feel like they’re ripped straight from an IBM Model M. The individual step buttons have an insanely satisfying click. And the knobs have basically the perfect amount of resistance. All of this is in a large, metal body with wooden cheeks that feels like it was built for the express purpose of being abused.
All of that being said, I can’t simply recommend that anyone rush out and buy a Pērkons. It definitely caters to a particular audience. And its $2,059 asking price means you need to be really invested in that more aggressive aural aesthetic. While it does pack a lot of features and connectivity for the money, they're definitely targeted more at a professional audience than the casual bedroom producer. But, if you’re looking for something rugged, wholly unique and powerful enough to explode a few heads with a thunderous kick, the Pērkons might be the perfect drum machine for you.
Spotify may be tempering its podcast push. A TechCrunchsource claims the streaming service is cutting 11 original podcasts from its Gimlet and Parcast studios, including How to Save a Planet, Crimes of Passion and (in the second quarter of 2023) Horoscope Today. The cancellations will also involve layoffs of "less than" 5 percent of Spotify's podcast team, with some workers moving to other podcasts.
The company said it doesn't comment on employee changes. The shakeup has also seen Spotify assign new managing directors for both Gimlet and Parcast, the source said. Spotify Studios and The Ringer remain untouched.
This is the first time Spotify has axed multiple podcasts at the same time. While the reported insider didn't know the exact reasoning behind the move, it's thought that the service is dropping underperforming shows to help it concentrate on full-fledged exclusives, ranging from existing hits like Batman Unburied through to upcoming projects.
A pruning effort like this isn't surprising, if true. Spotify has over 500 original and exclusive podcasts, and they're not all guaranteed to build strong audiences. The strategy could not only help Spotify improve its focus, but cut costs at a time when many tech companies are either slowing new hires or laying off staff in droves.
Cinewhoop drones are all the rage right now, as they can dive and twist and speed through unreachable places to produce spectacular footage. DJI has jumped on that trend with the Avata, an FPV drone that’s far removed from the company’s speedy DJI model actually called the FPV. Instead, the Avata is more about agility and has propeller guards that make it safe to fly around people.
It’s available with the new Goggles 2 that are smaller and lighter than the Goggles V2 that come with the DJI FPV drone. You can also get it with an updated Motion Controller that lets you steer the Avata by moving your wrists.
The system could help drone users get into the world of FPV and cinewhoop, but it isn’t cheap at $1,388 with the Goggles 2 and Motion Controller. To find out how it compares to the FPV and other drones, I enlisted my drone pilot friend Samuel to test it in a number of challenging scenarios.
Body
The Avata doesn’t look like any of DJI’s other consumer drones. To fly indoors, around people or in tight spaces, it has prop guards and a small, 7-inch square by 3.1-inch high body. At 410 grams it’s much lighter than the FPV, but a bit heavier than the 249-gram Mini 3 Pro. As such, it requires registration or a license in Europe, the US and many other countries.
The batteries use a flexible connector designed to limit crash damage. DJI claims up to 18 minutes of flight time, but we generally got around 10-12 minutes, or even less if we flew it extremely fast. That’s still good for an FPV drone (most are under 10 minutes), but DJI should be a bit more realistic in its marketing.
The Avata’s battery charges in about 45 minutes, and you can get two extra batteries and a charger with the $279 Fly-More kit. Samuel indicated that if he bought one for his photography business, he’d get six batteries at a minimum.
Steve Dent/Engadget
I’d also buy the largest microSD cards possible, because the slot tucked underneath is extremely awkward to access – particularly when removing a card. The USB-C port for transfers and charging is equally hard to get to. DJI normally excels with these types of features, but these are honestly serious design flaws. On the plus side, the Avata has 20GB of internal storage that can serve in a pinch.
Underneath are two time-of-flight sensors that can detect and map ground obstacles. However, the Avata doesn’t have any forward-facing sensors, so its main protection is the prop guards and rugged design.
The Avata Pro View Combo ships with the DJI Motion Controller as the only way to fly the drone. You can also use the FPV Remote Controller 2, but it’s sold separately for $200.
Also included in that bundle are the new Goggles 2 – not to be confused with the Goggles V2. They’re smaller and lighter than the latter, and use micro-LED instead of OLED panels, with 1080p resolution for each eye compared to 810p on Goggles V2. You can use the V2 with the Avata and FPV, but the Goggles 2 only work with the Avata.
The extra sharpness and small size are nice, but you can’t wear glasses underneath the Goggles 2. Instead, they have built in diopters to correct your eyesight. If you have astigmatism, DJI includes lens mountings that you can send back to have your prescription made.
Samuel wasn’t crazy about the diopter. While they gave him a clear view, he often had to remove the headset to see the drone, which meant he needed to put his glasses back on. He found the Goggles V2 easier as he can wear his glasses underneath.
The Goggles 2 let you fly the Avata with no mobile phone, as they have a mini-version of the DJI Fly app built-in. If you want to let others have a view, you can connect a smartphone via USB-C port on the side, though. The Goggles 2 control the Avata via DJI’s Ocusync O3, providing a 50Mbps video feed from up to 6.2 miles away. However, we noticed that the Goggles V2 provide a stronger feed over a longer distance, probably because of the larger antennas.
Performance
Steve Dent/Engadget
The Avata is a blast to fly, but it’s not as fast as some FPV drones. It tops out at 60 MPH in manual mode, well under the 87 MPH of DJI’s FPV. And that’s in manual mode – sport and normal modes are considerably slower at 31 MPH and 18 MPH, respectively.
It has awesome maneuverability though, letting you fly in places you’d never take another drone. We took it around handball players during a practice, between our legs, through the small gap in a sign, around a castle rooftop and indoors with people and fragile things around. It’s also tough. We had a number of crashes that would have killed an open-prop drone. It can also bounce off a person without doing them any harm.
Considering that the Avata might be the first FPV drone for many people, selling it with the Motion Controller is a good idea – but not as the only option. DJI should also sell a bundle with the FPV Controller 2, which offers more precise control for advanced users. As it stands now, you have to pay an extra $199 to get it.
The Motion Controller is easy to use – you simply point it where you want to fly and pull the trigger to speed up. To climb, tilt the controller upward and apply power, and reverse that for descents. A large button on top brings it to a hover, and the red button lets you take off and land.
Steve Dent/Engadget
It has some limitations, though. You can’t transition vertically or fly backwards with the Motion Controller, so you have to use a button to land. It also lacks precision, especially indoors. In fact, we found that without a GPS lock inside, the Avata was sometimes unflyable with the Motion Controller.
If you have some experience, the FPV Controller 2 is a better option. It allows you to engage manual mode to cruise faster, fly low to the ground and zag between trees or rooftops. Inside, you can fly precisely between rooms, objects and people, just like you may have seen in some of those cool cinewhoop FPV videos.
Manual mode also opens up flips, dives, climbs, hairpin turns, rolls and other tricks. Just bear in mind that there are no sensor safeguards. While Avata drone is tough, it’s not unbreakable and could really hurt someone at 60 MPH. It’s also more unstable, so flying it requires serious skill. It is a ton of fun, though, with the speed and lack of safeguards providing a real adrenaline rush that you don’t get from other drones.
Video quality
Most so-called Cinewhoop FPV drones use external cameras like the GoPro Hero Bones (or just regular stripped-down GoPros), but the Avata has one built in. It uses the same size 1/1.7-inch sensor as the new Action 3 camera, with 64 percent more area than the FPV.
Like the Action 3, it has normal, wide and ultra-wide options with up to a 155 degree field of view. And on top of the built-in gimbal and RockSteady smoothing, it has the HorizonView option to keep things level, even if the drone is tilting heavily.
The gimbal and RockSteady stabilization keep video smooth despite wind or abrupt maneuvers. And the HorizonView option worked as advertised, keeping things level for even when we were slaloming between trees.
It supports 4K video at up to 60 fps or 1080p and 2.7K at 120 fps with the Goggles V2, but only 100 fps with the Goggles 2. It’s not ideal that it has slower speeds than the headset it’s sold with, but it’s apparently due to the higher resolution. The sensor has 48 megapixels for shooting photos, if you ever want to do that.
Considering the camera’s small size, image quality is solid. Video is sharp and colors are accurate, though they can be a bit oversaturated. If you need a bit more dynamic range, it has DJI’s D-Cinelike mode.
It’s not bad in low light for shooting cityscapes or well-lit interiors, with an ISO range up to 12800 in expanded mode. You still need a decent amount of light, though, or video will get blocky and grainy in a hurry. If it gets too bad, it’s unfixable in post, so make sure to have enough light if shooting indoors.
Overall, it’s a very solid camera, though not up to, say, GoPro’s standards. The camera is part of a holistic package though – combined with the Avata’s small size and maneuverability, it gets shots no other off-the-shelf drones can.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent/Engadget
In sum, the Avata is a fun, rugged and maneuverable little drone that produces great footage, but it does have some weird flaws and limitations. The Goggles 2 limit the slow-motion and aren’t ideal if you wear glasses. Plus the Motion Controller isn’t ideal for precise FPV flying, and the microSD slot and USB-C port are poorly positioned.
It’s also fairly costly. Though the base drone is $629, it’s $1,388 with the Goggles 2 and Motion Controller, plus another $279 with the Fly-More kit. If you add the FPV Remote Controller 2, that’s another $199. By comparison, the FPV bundled with the Goggles V2 and older Motion Controller costs $1,300.
Still, there aren’t many other ready-to-fly drones that can do what it does. If you want a highly maneuverable and relatively safe Cinewhoop-style drone without building one yourself, it’s really in a class by itself.
Acer has unveiled a new lightweight laptop that targets on-the-go professionals in a world where more and more people are choosing to work from home or away from the office. The Swift Edge is a 16-inch OLED laptop with a magnesium-aluminum chassis that's only 0.51-inch thin and only weighs 2.58 pounds. That's lighter than the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air that weighs 2.73 pounds or the 16-inch LG Gram that weighs 2.62 pounds.
Its screen is a 4K OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, surrounded by a narrow bezel that gives it a 92 percent screen-to-body ratio. The model is powered by AMD Ryzen 6000 and Pro 6000 processors that come with integrated RDNA2 graphics, allowing users to play modern games in 1080p. It also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 memory that's upgradable to 32BG and either 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage. The device's 54 Wh 3-cell battery can last up to 10.5 hours based on the company's video playback tests and up to 8.5 hours based on its web browsing test results.
Other features include an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) webcam and support for Microsoft's Pluton security processor architecture, which provides additional protection for Windows 11 PCs. In addition, the laptop has a fingerprint reader and a Noble Wedge Lock slot. Acer's first Swift Edge laptop will be available this month in North America for prices starting at $1,500. In Europe, Middle East and Africa, prices begin at €1,499, while in China prices start at RMB 7,999.
As the need for cleaner, more sustainable transport becomes ever more urgent, I’ve noticed a familiar pattern in conversations on the topic. Someone will point out that bikes are a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly, reduce congestion and are often faster than cars in cities. Others respond saying that bikes can’t possibly replace cars for a multitude of reasons: Riding on roads is dangerous, it requires a fit body, it makes you get all sweaty, it’s not ideal for trips into the office and bikes can’t protect you from the rain. The other objection is that a standard bike can only carry one person, making it useless for the times when you need to carry multiple people, or lots of stuff. Bikes can’t be used to ferry kids on the school run or haul a week’s worth of groceries, and so it’s pointless to look at them.
Except, of course, bikes have always been able to do those things, sometimes more efficiently than a car, SUV or truck. Cargo bikes offer the capacity to carry multiple people at once and / or haul sizable loads of stuff with very little trouble. It’s this form of cycling that may provide the easiest win for both individuals and cities to help solve the climate crisis. The argument that you need to be physically fit to ride – if that’s even true – doesn’t really apply any more given the benefit of electrification. It means that modern cargo bikes can rid dense city streets of delivery vans cluttering up our roads, and SUVs doing little more than the school run. And this isn’t a dispatch from some far-flung utopia, but something that might become massively popular as a looming fuel crisis causes the price of fuel to skyrocket.
The Bakfiets
RUBEN RAMOS via Getty Images
It’s worth saying that cargo bikes are nothing new – in the days before the car was king, cargo bikes were used by many. In Europe, before the second world war, cargo bikes were a common sight on the streets, used by grocers, tradespeople and families to carry goods and people. In the post-war era, and the age of car-centric reconstruction that followed, cargo bikes were left a curiosity in many countries, save, of course, their use to sell ice cream or other food at funfairs, festivals and markets.
There are roughly four types of cargo bike in common use today, although none of these terms are official and there’s plenty of blurring on the edges. Cargo Bikes, for instance, are stretch limousine versions of regular two-wheeled bikes, with a small cargo section behind the front wheel and in front of the rider. Then there are Box Trikes, with two wheels up front and a much larger box between them, while the rider steers from behind. Now, both of these can be described as Bakfiets, from the Dutch “box bike,” but there’s a world between the two and three-wheeled versions.
A more nebulous category is the Longtail, a regular bicycle with a longer, load-bearing frame behind the rider. Instead of a pannier rack, the frame can hold a small cargo box, or a bench seat that can hold an adult or two children. Bikes like Tern’s GSD or Yuba’s Spicy Curry are examples of the type of bike I’m talking about here. Finally there are Cargo Trikes and Cargo Quad Cycles, where the rider sits up front and there’s a hefty box mounted on the two rear wheels. EAV’s 2Cubed, for instance, is already being adopted by some major logistics companies. (Obviously three-wheeled Bakfiets can also be called Cargo Trikes but I’m trying to keep the definitions clear here.)
The Babboe
Daniel Cooper
The Netherlands already underwent its dramatic transition into a cycling-first society, and is the nominal home of the cargo bike. Its bikes are designed not just for one or two people, but families of up to five, and I felt compelled to try one before lecturing people on the future of transport. Raleigh, the British distributors of several Dutch bicycles, leant me a Babboe Curve-E, which is arguably the SUV of the cycling world.
The Curve-E is big, beefy and relatively expensive – in Europe it retails for €3,449 ($3,441). The Curve-E’s box has a volume of around 275 liters (72 gallons) and a load capacity of 100kg (220 pounds), with two benches running along the front and back sides. On each side are two three-point harnesses, and the bike is designed to carry up to four small children comfortably.
(In the US, you can buy a more powerful mid-drive version of the Curve-E I rode from Going Dutch Bicycles in New York for $6,250. It’s worth saying, of course, that the cost of importing a model like this is significant, and there are domestic alternatives available for less. For instance, Bunch Bikes – which previously featured on Shark Tank – will sell you a four-seater model for $3,999.)
I’ve been using the Curve-E as much as I can in place of the family car, trying to see which parts of our lives it can fit into. My wife wasn’t enthused about being a participant in this story, and so I used the bike for various adventures with my two kids. Of particular interest to me was if the Babboe would revolutionize the school run, enabling me to save time at the start and end of each day.
Cleaning up our roads
Leon Neal via Getty Images
If you read Engadget, then you already know how bad cars and trucks are for climate change, air quality and congestion. The rise of e-commerce, supercharged by COVID, has seen a massive surge in fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles on city streets. And that’s not good for congestion, air quality or emissions. But cargo cycling has already been found to be something of a silver bullet for all of the problems caused by this surge in heavy goods vehicles on our streets.
Last year, Dr. Ersilia Verlingheri at the University of Westminster found that a cargo bike is 1.61 times faster than a van to make deliveries. Using GPS data strapped to both bike and truck couriers, she found that the bikes had a faster average speed and reduced carbon emissions by 90 percent compared to a diesel vehicle, and 33 percent compared to an electric van. The study focused on London, and found that there are more than 213,100 vans working in the city, occupying 2,557,200 square meters of road space. Dr. Verlingheri’s study found that more than half of all motorized freight could be completed by a bike instead of a van. And that the benefits of doing so are staggering – including tens of thousands of hours lost to traffic jams, and several hundred thousand tonnes of CO2 not being released into the atmosphere.
A smaller 2019 study that focused on Seattle, found that electric-assisted cargo bikes were more cost-effective than vans in densely populated areas, such as the hearts of major cities. And that benefits of bikes were magnified when you added in the extra effort needed to find parking, and the second-order costs of owning a truck. Not to mention, of course, the cost of buying the truck, keeping it fueled, maintained, as well as the necessary insurances and permits to ensure it’s road legal.
Zedify
Daniel Cooper
One company already well ahead of this argument is Zedify, a British courier business making “last mile” deliveries in major cities. It exclusively uses low-and-zero emission vehicles, with the bulk of its fleet made up with a number of cargo trikes. The managing director of the Norwich branch of the company, Richard Jennings, talked me through the benefits of a bike-first delivery fleet. The first being the cost, the second being the relative speed compared to deliveries made by a light truck.
Jennings explained that most major freight companies operate large depots at business parks far outside a population center. Each van is loaded full with parcels before being sent in to cover a planned route that will take the bulk of the day to complete. Zedify’s model, by contrast, uses a smaller hub in the center of a city, where parcels in bulk are dropped off and then loaded on a smaller fleet of cargo trikes. These trikes will then do multiple routes each day, with riders able to choose their own routing in order to avoid cyclist-unfriendly roads and dodge traffic jams.
On paper, that sounds less efficient, but in practice Jennings said that it was significantly better, and Zedify deliveries are often a lot faster than expected. It’s also significantly cheaper, since all of the major capital costs associated with maintaining a fleet of vans are eliminated. The local setup, at least, uses cargo trikes from specialist provider Iceni Cycles, based in Wiltshire. It sells its heavy-duty delivery trike for £11,705 (around $13,486), or leases them for periods of up to five years for £61.47 ($71) a week.
While many fleet companies have to spend enormous sums on regular maintenance, Jennings can employ a single bike mechanic to run the entire fleet. Zedify doesn’t charge a premium for its services either, meaning that any cost savings can be passed on to employees. Jennings said that he’s able to “take better care of [his] people.” Zedify also made (local) headlines for being able to maintain deliveries during one of the UK’s several recent fuel crises.
There are limits, of course – a standard Iceni trike has a maximum weight limit of around 550 pounds, but Jennings says that the safe operating weight is just under 400. After that point, and hauling goods around just gets a lot harder to deal with. That means bicycle couriers won’t be delivering heavy goods, like home appliances or beds, any time soon. But the bulk of smaller goods could easily be carried by bike, removing a big reason for why city streets are full of vans. If companies like Zedify can corner the market in shipping and grocery delivery, then we should see significant benefits fairly quickly.
Jennings also showed me his latest purchase, a Maderna Tractor, a four-wheeled monster capable of taking pallet-sized loads. It’s equipped with a Bafang mid-drive motor that gives it extraordinary power and speed for a bike – as I learned when I rode it. It’s the sort of bike that you could imagine riding for a day without ever feeling fatigued, and certainly one you could have a lot of fun tearing around town on.
Our first trips
My adventures with the Babboe Curve-E involved me taking the kids out and about around the city. They were (and still are) delirious with excitement whenever we go out on the bike. Part of this, I suspect, is because it offers them a substantially better view of the trip compared to sitting in the back seat of a car. They like waving to people as we pass them by, and shouting hello to cyclists when they, in turn, pass us. They sit side-by-side on the forward facing bench, preferring the view (and a little bit of a squeeze) to one facing the other.
At a standing start, the bike requires a decent amount of push, but I found I didn’t need the electric assist at all. As soon as you start moving, the bike’s weight and inertia seem to do a lot of the work for you, to the point where I was riding the brakes more than the pedals. It’s also pretty quick, quicker than I was comfortable riding (especially with my kids in the front box) and so I never felt the need to switch up the gears to go faster.
More often than not, cars would give me a fairly generous berth – I think the uniqueness of the Babboe’s design on British roads meant there was some degree of curiosity. Especially on the main road close to my home, where cyclists are often given short shrift by motorists, it was a striking change. I suspect, too, the fact that the bike is wide enough, and my ride position high enough, that almost by default, I was taking a more aggressive pose on the road than I would ordinarily. That’s important, given the lack of segregated cycle infrastructure, although cargo bikes are often forced onto the roads by default, as most cycle lanes that do exist are designed for the two-wheeled variety.
The cargo boom
It’s clear that some of the factors that have boosted interest in cargo bikes relate to the energy crisis. COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have caused prices to spike, and Europeans are looking for ways to cut their energy consumption across the board. Back in August, Cycling Industry News reported that while e-bike sales – which had spiked for much of 2020 – were starting to slow, eCargo Bikes were still growing. In fact, the uptake of cargo bikes has increased by 37 percent compared to the previous year, while manufacturer Urban Arrow said that it expected to see sales jump by 50 percent across 2022.
The school run
Maja Hitij via Getty Images
The kids enjoy the Babboe so much that they ask, whenever we go out, if we’re taking it or the car. I was, therefore, expecting this bike to totally revolutionize the school run each day and make everyone’s life a lot easier. It didn’t, but there’s one very good reason that I struggled in this instance, and I want to be clear that it is actually worth doing. You just need to really make sure that you know what bike you’re buying, and what your home terrain is like.
My home city is relatively flat, but it does have a handful of utterly murderous hills, and my kids’ school is at the top of one of the worst. According to local maps, the gentlest gradient to get up the hill is around 11 percent, which is a very significant slope. (The road on the other end has a maximum gradient of 22.4 percent, which I wouldn’t attempt to walk, let alone ride up.)
Now, I’ve tested my cycling output to be around 200W, and the motor on the Babboe can output 250W. But it turns out that it’s not enough, given the weight of the bike, to get up that 11 degree gradient without a lot of sweating. In fact, it’s so hard to get up there, especially with kids in the front, that no matter what gear I rode in, or what strategies I tried, with the electric assistance on full, I was still a hyperventilating puddle by the time I got to the top.
This, I should admit, is something that Babboe (if you check) does say in its marketing materials, as its bikes are designed for flat Dutch roads. If a buyer expects to cover a lot of hilly ground, then they should opt for the specialist Mountain version of its bike with a far more powerful mid-drive motor. At my child’s school, another parent bought the same model of Babboe that I had – but said that he would be trading it in for a Mountain version at the earliest opportunity.
Cost
Education Images via Getty Images
The elephant in the room is price. You can expect to pay upwards of $3,000 for a standard cargo cycle, and some of the fancier brands start at $5,000. The common response from cyclists is that people think nothing of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a car, nor the hidden costs of fuel, tax, insurance, servicing and depreciation. On a total cost of ownership basis, the price difference between a car and a cargo bike is stark, and bikes win out nine times out of every 10 when picking the ideal form of transportation. But I can see, and share, the mental barriers to spending thousands on a bike for all of the obvious reasons.
For a start, the comfort level is far less than that of a car, you’re exposed to the elements and you’re limited by range. Then there’s the unspoken truth that in many countries in North America and Europe, bicycle theft is effectively legal. After all, with law enforcement resources stretched thin and the prevalence of bicycle crime, it’s difficult to enforce. Even in situations where people can show the location of their bike with built-in GPS, officers are reluctant to engage in recovery action.
Interesting (!) afternoon while filming, tracking my stolen bike which has an internal tracker & can’t be ridden without a code being ferried presumably in a van …from being swiped in London Bridge….To Stratford in half an hour and now finding a new resting place in East Ham… pic.twitter.com/4SBsatjvA8
I took plenty of extra precautions, and rarely let my Babboe out of my sight knowing that if I’d left it in the street, even with a chorus of locks, it was at risk. That dilemma is doubled for people who have spent upwards of $3,000 on an e-cargo bike as their primary mode of transportation. Sadly, a lack of infrastructure to keep these bikes safe and secure means that they’re a prime target for thieves, and so you can’t always trust that they’ll be where you left them.
The solution to this problem, surely, would be for a manufacturer to grasp this market for itself. Is it possible for someone to mass-produce a low-spec, but solid, cargo bike “for the people?” And, when I say that, I mean at the sort of prices where it’d be affordable for utility, rather than sport and leisure, cyclists.
Certainly, this isn’t likely to come in the form of a cargo trike. Ben Johnson is the founder of The Cargo Bike Company, a former engineer who got into cargo biking when his kids were born and he “couldn’t afford a European one.” He produces custom cargo bikes and trikes from his workshop in Derbyshire, UK, with a focus on commercial bikes as well as custom bikes adapted to assist people with mobility issues. He said that the rise in cargo cycling is tied to the falling cost and greater access of electric motors, which “enables people to shift loads around town.” He, however, has resisted the trend in his own bikes, saying that the reliability issues are too risky for a small business like his to take on.
Johnson added that there are several factors that mean that cargo bikes will remain a more costly purchase for many. That includes the fact that major manufacturers are “very happy to use unusual or high-end engineering” on its bikes, including drum brakes, geared hubs and stub axles. But as well as the equipment hung on the frame, a major difference between a regular bike and a cargo bike is the time taken to build the frame itself. For instance, Taiwanese maker Giant says that it can produce a bike frame in under two hours, whereas it takes Johnson a full day to weld a frame, and a further day to build the bike that sits on it – in between it’s sent off to a third-party for painting.
That’s not to say that there aren’t affordable cargo bikes available, but the segment that’s ripest for lower prices is the longtail. RadPower’s RadWagon 4 can take a 350lb payload on its long rear rack, or that space could be used to carry two passengers for just $2,000. Similarly, Richard Andrews, who works in local government on cycling strategy in the UK said that an even more disruptive bike is hiding in plain sight. He pointed to (French sports retailer) Decathlon’s R500 electric longtail as a bike that could be mass-produced by the sort of manufacturer who could afford the initial outlay. There are only two downsides to the R500 – it uses a rear hub motor, and it’s presently out of stock.
Farewell
It’s now time to send the Babboe back to the company for someone else to test it. I didn’t expect to feel as sad sending it back as I presently do, mostly because of how engaged it made my kids. It was fun to cycle – except up and down hills – and I think they enjoyed having a front-row seat on the journey, taking in the city around them. I think that, with a model better suited to the terrain, a cargo e-bike could remove the need for us to have a car for any trips into the city. The only thing I would need is a place to securely store it when I’m out and about, or the reassurance that it wouldn’t go missing.
I should, at least, have some hope there – here in the UK, the previous administration published Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Walking. The paper committed to improving road design to ensure segregated cycleways – with a physical barrier between cars and bikes – would be built as standard. It also, more crucially, pledged to back the construction of high-quality, theft-deterrent bicycle parking in towns and cities, as well as bike hangers for residential areas. This should benefit folks who might want to switch to cargo cycling but don’t have the space to store a bike in their own home.
Fundamentally, I’m a convert, even if I still don’t consider myself a cyclist by any means. Riding a cargo bike feels natural, fun and easy, and is something I want to do on a regular basis, especially since I’d like to think my kids will still appreciate the help getting to and from places for the next five years or more. I think I learned two things over the last couple of months: Cargo cycling really is for everyone, and don’t buy a bike with a hub motor if you live anywhere close to a huge hill.
This week, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into everything we learned at Google’s Pixel 7 event. Sure, it’s nice to have new phones, but it’s even nicer to see Google developing a cohesive design for all of its new devices. The Pixel Watch actually looks cool! And while we were ready to knock the (way too late) Pixel Tablet, its speaker base seems genuinely useful. Google may have finally figured out how to combine its software and AI smarts with well-designed hardware.
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Intel Arc A750 and A770 graphics cards review – 42:27
Elon Musk announces intent to buy Twitter (again) – 44:56
Tesla showed off its robot (sort of) – 46:32
Gatorade made a smart water bottle – 47:40
iPhone 14 Plus review – 49:42
Pop culture picks – 52:41
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Guest: Sam Rutherford Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
Meta is warning 1 million Facebook users that their account information may have been compromised by third-party apps from Apple or Google’s stores. In a new report, the company’s security researchers say that in the last year they’ve identified more than 400 scammy apps designed to hijack users’ Facebook account credentials.
According to the company, the apps are disguised as “fun or useful” services, like photo editors, camera apps, VPN services, horoscope apps, and fitness tracking tools. The apps often require users to “Log In with Facebook” before they can access the promised features. But these login features are merely a means of stealing Facebook users’ account info. And Meta’s Director of Threat Disruption, David Agranovich, noted that many of the apps Meta identified were barely functional.
“Many of the apps provided little to no functionality before you logged in, and most provided no functionality even after a person agreed to login,” Agranovich said during a briefing with reporters.
Meta
Of note, Meta found malicious apps in both Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, though the vast majority were Android apps. Interestingly, while the malicious Android apps were mostly consumer apps, like photo filters, the 47 iOS apps were almost exclusively what Meta calls “business utility” apps. These services, with names like “Very Business Manager,” “Meta Business,” “FB Analytic” and “Ads Business Knowledge,” seemed to be targeted specifically at people using Facebook’s business tools.
Agranovich said that Meta shared its findings with both Apple and Google, but that it was ultimately up to the stores to ensure the apps are removed. In the meantime, Facebook is pushing warnings to 1 million people who may have used the apps. The notifications inform users their account info may have been compromised by an app — it doesn’t name which one — and recommends resetting their passwords.
Amazon's Scout robot, a small machine that looks like a cooler and can navigate sidewalks, won't be delivering anybody's packages anymore. The e-commerce giant has shut down field testing for the experimental machine and is "reorienting" the program. According to Bloomberg, the Scout team has been disbanded and most of its 400 members will be offered new positions within the company. Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll told Reuters that the company will not be abandoning the project completely. Only a skeleton crew will remain to consider the use of autonomous robot for deliveries, though, and that could mean that it's the end for the cooler-like Scout.
Carroll said:
"During our Scout limited field test, we worked to create a unique delivery experience, but learned through feedback that there were aspects of the program that weren't meeting customers' needs. As a result, we are ending our field tests and reorienting the program. We are working with employees during this transition, matching them to open roles that best fit their experience and skills."
Amazon started testing Scout back in 2019 and initially deployed six units to deliver packages north of Amazon's Seattle home base. The machine can autonomously follow a delivery route, and though it was accompanied by a human employee for the tests, it can stop at a customer's front door and open its lid to allow them to collect their purchase. After that initial rollout, Amazon expanded its tests to Southern California, Atlanta, Georgia and Franklin, Tennessee.
While Carroll didn't say which exact aspects of the program "weren't meeting customers' needs," this is but one of the recent moves Amazon has made that indicates it's scaling back its experimental projects. Just a few days ago, it also killed the Glow kid-focused video calling device, possibly due to lackluster sales.
