MS-23, the Soyuz spacecraft Russia sent to bring cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth, has arrived at the International Space Station. Per Space.com, Russia’s Roscosmos Space Agency announced early Sunday morning that the unmanned vessel docked with the ISS at 7:58PM ET on Saturday evening. As expected, the flight launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on February 24th.
MS-23 was originally scheduled to launch later this year, but Roscosmos was forced to push up the flight after MS-22 – Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio’s original return craft – sprung a coolant leak in December following a micrometeoroid strike. The incident put Roscosmos and NASA in a tricky spot. If an emergency broke out on the ISS and the entire crew had to evacuate, it wasn’t clear whether MS-22 could carry its crew safely back to Earth. Roscosmos and NASA eventually settled on a contingency plan that would have seen MS-22 transport Prokopyev and Petelin, while Rubio would have hitched a ride on the SpaceX Crew-5 Dragon. Thankfully, the two agencies weren’t forced to put that plan to the test.
With MS-23 safely docked with the ISS, Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio will remain at the space station until at least September. The three were originally due to complete their mission in March. In the meantime, Roscomos plans to bring MS-22 back to Earth sometime next month.
For the first time in nearly 60 years, one-time smartphone giant Nokia is changing its iconic logo. On Sunday, before the official start of Mobile World Congress Barcelona, the company unveiled a new brand identity, and it’s a dramatic change. Gone is the iconic typeface and “Yale blue” that defined its previous logo. The company has instead adopted a look it claims is more modern and digital.
“We are updating our strategy, and, as a key enabler, we are also refreshing our brand to reflect who we are today: a business-to-business technology innovation leader pioneering the future where networks meet cloud,” Nokia said in a blog post attributed to CEO Pekka Lundmark. "In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about,” Lundmark told Bloomberg. "We want to launch a new brand that is focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalization, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.”
Is this the end of a logo so many people know and love? Not necessarily. You may recall, Nokia’s phone business hasn’t been a part of Nokia proper since Microsoft’s ultimately disastrous $7 billion acquisition of the company’s Devices and Services division in 2014. After the tech giant washed its hands clean of that deal in 2016, HMD Global, a company made up of former Nokia execs, acquired the rights to use the Nokia brand for smartphones and tablets, and has been doing its own thing ever since then. In fact, the company announced its latest device, the G22, just one day before today’s announcement, and as it so happens, that phone features the classic Nokia logo. Engadget has reached out to HMD Global to find out if the company plans to continue using that logo.
TCL is back at Mobile World Congress this year with a bunch of budget-friendly new gear to show off. Among other things, the company has developed a new version of its color paper-like screen technology, which it's calling NXTPAPER 2.0.
Compared with the previous version, TCL says NXTPAPER 2.0 delivers 150 percent more brightness with up to 500 nits, making it easier to use outdoors during the day (the anti-glare tech should help too). The company claims that, due to hardware-level filtering, the technology exceeds TÜV-certified levels of blue light reduction. TCL says the tech can help protect your eye health while maintaining color accuracy and avoiding screen yellowing. The screen's color temperature will adjust automatically based on the time and environment as well.
You'll soon be able to check out NXTPAPER 2.0 on a new tablet. The NXTPAPER 11 has an 11-inch, 2K display and TCL says there's a feature called AI Visual Boost that makes colors "bolder and more lifelike." The Android 13 tablet runs on an octa-core processor. It has 8MP cameras on the front and rear, four speakers, dual mics and an 8,000mAh battery. The tablet, which weighs just over a pound (462g), starts at $249 and it will initially be available in Europe in May.
Also new is the TCL TAB 11, another 11-inch tablet, albeit with a 2K NXTVISION display. It otherwise has similar specs as the NXTPAPER 11. The TAB 11 will be available in May and it starts at $179. Versions with LTE start at $209.
TCL
On the phone front, TCL has a few new models for the US market: the 40 XE 5G, 40 X 5G and a 40 XL with 4G connectivity. The $169 40 XE 5G is the lowest-cost 5G TCL phone to date, the company said. It has a 6.56-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling. The rear camera array features a 13MP main camera and 2MP depth and macro sensors. On the front, there's an 8MP lens. The phone has a 2.2GHz octo-core processor and 4GB of RAM. There's just 64GB of storage, but you can add another 1TB via microSD.
The 40 XE 5G will be available in June, just like the 40 X 5G, which has similar specs, but a more advanced 50MP main camera. That model starts at $199. The 4G-only 40 XL, meanwhile, has a 6.75" HD+ display, dual speakers and a 50MP main camera. There's an octa-core processor and base storage of 128GB. You can pick that Android 13 phone up in May for $149.
Along with the phones and tablets, TCL has a fresh set of earphones. It says the MOVEAUDIO Neo earbuds have 25dB of bass-boosted sound, four EQ modes, dual-mic call noise cancellation and active noise cancellation. They're available now for $50.
It's been a long time coming, but Xiaomi is finally bringing its Leica-endorsed smartphones to the international market. Following their China launch back in December, the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro are going global at MWC, with Germany, France, Spain and Italy being some of their first markets in the west. As you'd expect, both Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagships now come with Google services pre-installed, but they are otherwise identical to their China counterparts.
The Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro share similar-looking Leica camera islands on the back, but only the 13 Pro offers the much-hyped Type 1-inch sensor (Sony's IMX989; 1.6um pixel size) — arguably the industry's most powerful camera sensor at the moment — for its 50-megapixel f/1.9 OIS (optical image stabilization) main shooter. You also get a 50-megapixel 3.2x telephoto camera (75mm equivalent) with OIS and a 50-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (14mm equivalent).
As for the lesser Xiaomi 13, it comes with a 50-megapixel f/1.8 OIS main camera with a smaller sensor (IMX800; 1um pixel size), a 10-megapixel 3.2x zoom OIS zoom camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide (15mm equivalent) camera.
Both models share the same 32-megapixel f/2.0 punch-hole selfie cam on the other side. On a similar note, both phones offer two modes of capture — Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant — along with Google's Magic Eraser tool.
Xiaomi 13 Pro and 13
Xiaomi
The Xiaomi 13 series also comes in two designs. The 13 Pro comes with a curved 6.73-inch 3,200 x 1,400 AMOLED screen with vegan leather or ceramic back versions. On the other hand, the 13 packs a flat 6.36-inch 2,400 x 1,080 AMOLED display, which is surrounded by iPhone-like aluminum sides and complemented by either glass or leather back options. Both screens support a refresh rate of up to 120Hz for a slick scrolling experience.
Other noteworthy features include the 13 Pro's 120W charging (from zero to 100 percent in just 19 minutes for its 4,820mAh battery), the 13's 67W charging (38 minutes to fully charge its 4,500mAh cell), and 50W wireless charging, Dolby Atmos dual speakers and IP68 ruggedness for both Android devices. The 13 Pro starts from 1,299 euros (around $1,370), whereas the 13 starts from 999 euros (around $1,060).
Xiaomi
As a surprise for MWC, Xiaomi also announced the 13 Lite, which appears to be a variant of the selfie-centric Civi 2 sold in China. And no, there's no Leica involvement here. This model starts from 499 euros (around $530) and boasts dual front cameras (32-megapixel + 8-megapixel depth sensor) plus dual "Selfie Glow" LEDs for supposedly better selfies. It's powered by a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor, and it also packs a 50-megapixel main camera (IMX766), a 20-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, a 4,500mAh battery with 67W charging, and a 6.55-inch Full HD+ 120Hz display. This is all tucked into a 171g-heavy, 7.23mm-thick body, which obviously goes well with its "Lite" branding.
Engine knock, wherein fuel ignites unevenly along the cylinder wall resulting in damaging percussive shockwaves, is an issue that automakers have struggled to mitigate since the days of the Model T. The industry's initial attempts to solve the problem — namely tetraethyl lead — were, in hindsight, a huge mistake, having endumbened and stupefied an entire generation of Americans with their neurotoxic byproducts.
Dr. Vaclav Smil, Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, examines the short-sighted economic reasoning that lead to leaded gas rather than a nationwide network of ethanol stations in his new book Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure. Lead gas is far from the only presumed advance to go over like a lead balloon. Invention and Innovation is packed with tales of humanity's best-intentioned, most ill-conceived and generally half-cocked ideas — from airships and hyperloops to DDT and CFCs.
Just seven years later Henry Ford began to sell his Model T, the first mass-produced affordable and durable passenger car, and in 1911 Charles Kettering, who later played a key role in developing leaded gasoline, designed the first practical electric starter, which obviated dangerous hand cranking. And although hard-topped roads were still in short supply even in the eastern part of the US, their construction began to accelerate, with the country’s paved highway length more than doubling between 1905 and 1920. No less important, decades of crude oil discoveries accompanied by advances in refining provided the liquid fuels needed for the expansion of the new transportation, and in 1913 Standard Oil of Indiana introduced William Burton’s thermal cracking of crude oil, the process that increased gasoline yield while reducing the share of volatile compounds that make up the bulk of natural gasolines.
But having more affordable and more reliable cars, more paved roads, and a dependable supply of appropriate fuel still left a problem inherent in the combustion cycle used by car engines: the propensity to violent knocking (pinging). In a perfectly operating gasoline engine, gas combustion is initiated solely by a timed spark at the top of the combustion chamber and the resulting flame front moves uniformly across the cylinder volume. Knocking is caused by spontaneous ignitions (small explosions, mini-detonations) taking place in the remaining gases before they are reached by the flame front initiated by sparking. Knocking creates high pressures (up to 18 MPa, or nearly up to 180 times the normal atmospheric level), and the resulting shock waves, traveling at speeds greater than sound, vibrate the combustion chamber walls and produce the telling sounds of a knocking, malfunctioning engine.
Knocking sounds alarming at any speed, but when an engine operates at a high load it can be very destructive. Severe knocking can cause brutal irreparable engine damage, including cylinder head erosion, broken piston rings, and melted pistons; and any knocking reduces an engine’s efficiency and releases more pollutants; in particular, it results in higher nitrogen oxide emissions. The capacity to resist knocking— that is, fuel’s stability— is based on the pressure at which fuel will spontaneously ignite and has been universally measured in octane numbers, which are usually displayed by filling stations in bold black numbers on a yellow background.
Octane (C8H18) is one of the alkanes (hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n + 2) that form anywhere between 10 to 40 percent of light crude oils, and one of its isomers (compounds with the same number of carbon and hydrogen atoms but with a different molecular structure), 2,2,4-trimethypentane (iso-octane), was taken as the maximum (100 percent) on the octane rating scale because the compound completely prevents any knocking. The higher the octane rating of gasoline, the more resistant the fuel is to knocking, and engines can operate more efficiently with higher compression ratios. North American refiners now offer three octane grades, regular gasoline (87), midgrade fuel (89), and premium fuel mixes (91– 93).
During the first two decades of the twentieth century, the earliest phase of automotive expansion, there were three options to minimize or eliminate destructive knocking. The first one was to keep the compression ratios of internal combustion engines relatively low, below 4.3:1: Ford’s best-selling Model T, rolled out in 1908, had a compression ratio of 3.98:1. The second one was to develop smaller but more efficient engines running on better fuel, and the third one was to use additives that would prevent the uncontrolled ignition. Keeping compression ratios low meant wasting fuel, and the reduced engine efficiency was of a particular concern during the years of rapid post–World War I economic expansion as rising car ownership of more powerful and more spacious cars led to concerns about the long-term adequacy of domestic crude oil supplies and the growing dependence on imports. Consequently, additives offered the easiest way out: they would allow using lower-quality fuel in more powerful engines operating more efficiently with higher compression ratios.
During the first two decades of the twentieth century there was considerable interest in ethanol (ethyl alcohol, C2H6O or CH3CH2OH), both as a car fuel and as a gasoline additive. Numerous tests proved that engines using pure ethanol would never knock, and ethanol blends with kerosene and gasoline were tried in Europe and in the US. Ethanol’s well-known proponents included Alexander Graham Bell, Elihu Thomson, and Henry Ford (although Ford did not, as many sources erroneously claim, design the Model T to run on ethanol or to be a dual-fuel vehicle; it was to be fueled by gasoline); Charles Kettering considered it to be the fuel of the future.
But three disadvantages complicated ethanol’s large-scale adoption: it was more expensive than gasoline, it was not available in volumes sufficient to meet the rising demand for automotive fuel, and increasing its supply, even only if it were used as the dominant additive, would have claimed significant shares of crop production. At that time there were no affordable, direct ways to produce the fuel on a large scale from abundant cellulosic waste such as wood or straw: cellulose had first to be hydrolyzed by sulfuric acid and the resulting sugars were then fermented. That is why the fuel ethanol was made mostly from the same food crops that were used to make (in much smaller volumes) alcohol for drinking and medicinal and industrial uses.
The search for a new, effective additive began in 1916 in Charles Kettering’s Dayton Research Laboratories with Thomas Midgley, a young (born in 1889) mechanical engineer, in charge of this effort. In July 1918 a report prepared in collaboration with the US Army and the US Bureau of Mines listed ethyl alcohol, benzene, and a cyclohexane as the compounds that did not produce any knocking in high-compression engines. In 1919, when Kettering was hired by GM to head its new research division, he defined the challenge as one of averting a looming fuel shortage: the US domestic crude oil supply was expected to be gone in fifteen years, and “if we could successfully raise the compression of our motors . . . we could double the mileage and thereby lengthen this period to 30 years.” Kettering saw two routes toward that goal, by using a high-volume additive (ethanol or, as tests showed, fuel with 40 percent benzene that eliminated any knocking) or a low-percentage alternative, akin to but better than the 1 percent iodine solution that was accidentally discovered in 1919 to have the same effect.
In early 1921 Kettering learned about Victor Lehner’s synthesis of selenium oxychloride at the University of Wisconsin. Tests showed it to be a highly effective but, as expected, also a highly corrosive anti-knocking compound, but they led directly to considering compounds of other elements in group 16 of the periodic table: both diethyl selenide and diethyl telluride showed even better anti-knocking properties, but the latter compound was poisonous when inhaled or absorbed through skin and had a powerful garlicky smell. Tetraethyl tin was the next compound found to be modestly effective, and on December 9, 1921, a solution of 1 percent tetraethyl lead (TEL) — (C2H5)4 Pb — produced no knock in the test engine, and soon was found to be effective even when added in concentrations as low as 0.04 percent by volume.
TEL was originally synthesized in Germany by Karl Jacob Löwig in 1853 and had no previous commercial use. In January 1922, DuPont and Standard Oil of New Jersey were contracted to produce TEL, and by February 1923 the new fuel (with the additive mixed into the gasoline at pumps by means of simple devices called ethylizers) became available to the public in a small number of filling stations. Even as the commitment to TEL was going ahead, Midgley and Kettering conceded that “unquestionably alcohol is the fuel of the future,” and estimates showed that a 20 percent blend of ethanol and gasoline needed in 1920 could be supplied by using only about 9 percent of the country’s grain and sugar crops while providing an additional market for US farmers. And during the interwar period many European and some tropical countries used blends of 10– 25 percent ethanol (made from surplus food crops and paper mill wastes) and gasoline, admittedly for relatively small markets as the pre–World War II ownership of family cars in Europe was only a fraction of the US mean.
Other known alternatives included vapor-phase cracked refinery liquids, benzene blends, and gasoline from naphthenic crudes (containing little or no wax). Why did GM, well aware of these realities, decide not only to pursue just the TEL route but also to claim (despite its own correct understanding) that there were no available alternatives: “So far as we know at the present time, tetraethyl lead is the only material available which can bring about these results”? Several factors help to explain the choice. The ethanol route would have required a mass-scale development of a new industry dedicated to an automotive fuel additive that could not be controlled by GM. Moreover, as already noted, the preferable option, producing ethanol from cellulosic waste (crop residues, wood), rather than from food crops, was too expensive to be practical. In fact, the large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol by new enzymatic conversions, promised to be of epoch-making importance in the twenty-first century, has failed its expectations, and by 2020 high-volume US production of ethanol (used as an anti-knocking additive) continued to be based on fermenting corn: in 2020 it claimed almost exactly one-third of the country’s corn harvest.
Robot vacuums are one of the few sci-fi predictions that more or less delivered — there actually are autonomous machines that can help keep your home clean. We've tested over a dozen robot vacs, and right now our top recommendation for a budget dirt sucker, iRobot's Roomba 694, is $95 off both at Amazon and through iRobot's site. Usually $275, the 694 is just $179 right now, which matches the all time low it dropped to a few times previously. The deal is part of a wider robot vacuum sale with discounts ranging up to $300, depending on which model you pick. If you've been thinking of adding one of these smart devices to your life, this might be a good time to snap one up.
In our tests, the 694 proved itself by being both a powerful cleaner and offering an app that's easy to use — even for robot vacuum newbies. You can set schedules to have the bot clean on regular intervals and it can handle both tiled or carpeted surfaces. We found that it roved around cleaning for around 45 minutes before returning itself to the dock for a recharge, which was plenty of time to maintain an apartment, but may need to a pit stop before it can cover a larger house. Unless it tries to suck up an errant cord, you'll likely only need to interact with it to empty the dirt collection tray. That's something you may need to do every couple days or more often, depending on whether or not you have pets or a lot of tracked-in dirt.
If you'd rather not empty your vac quite so often, you can pick up one that empties itself, like the Roomba s9+. We named this the best premium robot vacuum in our guide and were impressed with both its suction power and navigation abilities. It usually comes with a steep $999 price tag but the sale knocks $200 off the list price, which makes it a little more affordable.
For homes with smooth surfaces that could use a wipe down, a hybrid model could be what you're looking for. The Roomba Combo j7+ combines mop and vacuum functions and is $250 off during the sale, bringing the $1,099 unit down to $849. One of our editors used the j7+ in his home for several weeks, and while the initial mapping runs were a bit of a hassle and the noise of the unit emptying into the clean base was loud, he was impressed with the bot's learning capabilities and the fact that it made a noticeable difference in the general cleanliness of his floors.
Earlier this week, Windows 10 mistakenly prompted some users to upgrade to Windows 11, despite the fact their computers did not meet the operating system’s minimum requirements. Twitter user PhantomOcean3 was among the first to notice the error after Windows 10 displayed a full-screen notification telling him he could install the software on a system that only had 2GB of RAM.
Windows 11 free upgrade being offered to unsupported Windows 10 devices/VMs?
Screenshots from a Windows 10 22H2 VM that does not meet the Windows 11 system requirements, big ones being TPM (none) and RAM (2 GB) pic.twitter.com/VNNswgMLiC
“Some hardware ineligible Windows 10 and Windows 11, version 21H2 devices were offered an inaccurate upgrade to Windows 11,” Microsoft states in a support document spotted by The Verge. “These ineligible devices did not meet the minimum requirements to run Windows 11. Devices that experienced this issue were not able to complete the upgrade installation process.” Microsoft adds it resolved the issue the same day it was detected.
As The Verge notes, this isn’t the first time Microsoft has erroneously prompted some Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11. Last year, hundreds of Windows Insider beta testers were able to install the operating system, even though their machines didn’t meet the minimum requirements. The incidents highlight an ongoing frustration with Windows 11. Microsoft requires that a PC feature a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) before you can install its latest OS on your computer. Ever since Microsoft first revealed that requirement, there’s been confusion about what PCs can run Windows 11.
An ad-supported Apple TV+ tier is starting to look all but inevitable. According to The Information, Apple recently hired Lauren Fry, a former ad tech executive, “to help build a video advertising business” for its streaming service. Before her most recent stint at digital advertising firm Simulmedia, Fry held ad sales roles at AT&T and Comcast.
Bringing more ads to Apple TV+ would fall in line with some of Apple’s more recent actions. Toward the end of last year, the company began displaying additional ads within the App Store, a move that could be a precursor to search ads appearing in Apple Maps and other first-party software. It’s worth noting before Fry’s hiring, Apple was already showing ads alongside Major League Baseball games. In November, Bloomberg also reported Apple was building a live tv ad network to support its 10-year deal with Major League Soccer. As The Information points out, an ad-supported tier would be the most straightforward way for Apple to bring more ads to TV+. A handful of other streaming platforms, including Netflix and Disney+, already offer such tiers to customers as they’re an easy way for those services to broaden their subscriber base.
For the last few days, an “internal systems issue” has left many of the services and websites operated by satellite television provider and Sling TV owner Dish Network inaccessible. The outage started on Thursday morning when Dish customers began reporting a host of issues. On Downdetector and Twitter, there are complaints of people being unable to access IPTV services like Watch ESPN with their Dish credentials. Other customers say they can’t log in to their online accounts to pay monthly TV and cellular bills. The outage appears to be affecting nearly every part of the company’s footprint – including Boost Mobile, the prepaid wireless carrier Dish purchased in 2020 – and its call centers, which have been unreachable since the outage began.
“Thank you for your patience,” a banner on top of the Dish website says. “We are experiencing a system issue that our teams are working hard to resolve.” The Boost Mobile website provides a more helpful explanation. “Due to internal system issues some users may experience difficulty with their Boost Mobile accounts, paying their bill, or reaching Boost Care,” the landing page states. “Please be assured that if your account is affected, your wireless service is not affected by these issues and your service will not end due to non-payment.”
I'm going to speculate but I think Dish got hacked. https://t.co/parDKO4kPt is down, along with their call center is completely down. My wife couldn't login to her VPN for work. This is really bad. You think it would've been up by now.. #dish#dishnetwork
There have been conflicting reports about the cause of the outage. When the company’s problems began on Thursday, The Deskreported they were not the result of a cybersecurity incident. However, on early Saturday morning, Bleeping Computersaid the outage was likely due to a ransomware attack. A source told the outlet employee computers are showing “blank icons,” suggesting they’re infected with malware. A separate source saidtheir manager told them the outage “was caused by an outside bad actor, a known threat agent,” and that Dish had yet to determine how they had gained access to its internal systems.
“We experienced a systems issue with our corporate network on Thursday that is continuing to affect internal servers and telephone systems, and we are actively investigating it. Our DISH TV, Sling TV, Wireless services, and data networks continue to operate and are up and running,” a Dish spokesperson told Engadget. “However, some of our corporate communications systems, customer care functions, and websites were affected. Our teams are working hard to restore affected systems as quickly as possible.”
Dish would not confirm if the outage was due to a ransomware attack, but said it hoped to share more information soon. According to The Verge, as of Friday afternoon, the company had not been forthcoming with employees about what was going on with its internal systems. Many remote workers are reportedly unable to do any work due to issues with Dish’s internal VPN service. Engadget will update this article as more information becomes available.
If you read Engadget regularly, you probably know how we feel about the final season of Star Trek: Picard. In short, it’s not worth your time. But if you must see the show for yourself, or can’t resist the chance to see the Enterprise-D crew one last time, Paramount is offering a free way to watch the first episode of season three. Provided you live in the US, you can catch “The Next Generation” (no, not that Next Generation) on YouTube for a limited time (via Gizmodo). And if you don't live in the US, you can probably find a way to transport yourself for an hour, can't you?
The debut episode sees Jean-Luc Picard return from retirement (yet again) after his friend and former first officer Will Riker receives a warning from Dr. Beverly Crusher. Engadget Senior Editor Daniel Cooper had the chance to watch the first six episodes of season three before it began streaming earlier this month on Paramount+. In his view, the final season is dull and joyless, with a plot that is far too obvious. But don't let that stop you from making your own decision.
