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.

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.

“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.”

There have been conflicting reports about the cause of the outage. When the company’s problems began on Thursday, The Desk reported they were not the result of a cybersecurity incident. However, on early Saturday morning, Bleeping Computer said 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 said their 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.

Mercedes-Benz is developing a new in-house operating system to power its next generation of electric vehicles. Announced today at an event the automaker held in California, Mercedes said MB.OS – short for Mercedes-Benz Operating System – will deliver enhancements in safety, automated driving and navigation.

The automaker is working with several partners to build its new software stack, including NVIDIA, Luminar and Google. Mercedes will lean on NVIDIA for the company’s software, data and AI expertise. The GPU maker's Orin chipset will also power the first generation of electric cars Mercedes builds based on its upcoming Mercedes Modular Architecture (MMA) platform. The automaker expects the first MMA EV to arrive by mid-decade.

Mercedes-Benz

As for Luminar and Google, the former will provide Mercedes with its LiDAR technology, while the latter will work with the company to build a branded navigation experience incorporating features from Google Maps. In the meantime, Mercedes is partnering with Google to bring the company’s “Place Details” data to all cars that sport the latest version of its MBUX infotainment system. You can use the integration to look up a local business, find out when it opens, and see photos of the inside and what other Google users have to say about it. Mercedes plans to open MB.OS to other partners as well, including TikTok, Zoom and even Angry Birds developer Rovio.

All MMA EVs will ship with the hardware needed for Level 2 automated driving. Mercedes is also working with NVIDIA and Luminar to offer Drive Pilot, a Level 3 automated driving system. The software will arrive later this year in 2024 EQS and S-Class models. Naturally, MB.OS will also enable Mercedes to deliver over-the-air updates, allowing it to add new features to existing cars.

The company isn’t shy about the fact that some upgrades may cost a one-time fee or come as part of a subscription package. In fact, Mercedes has already announced a handful of software bundles it will offer to owners of cars with MB.OS. MB.Connect, for instance, will bring together the company’s navigation, entertainment and communication features in one package. Other bundles, such as MB.Charge, will provide customers with priority access to Mercedes-Benz charging stations. The automaker says it will allow drivers to explore and buy upgrades for their Benz online, through the Mercedes mobile app and directly from the car.

“The company is confident that this strategic approach to software and hardware development will be the basis for lifetime revenues as well as additional contributions,” Mercedes said, adding it expects software revenue from bundles like MB.Connect to contribute “a low-to-mid single-digit billion euro figure” to its bottom line by mid-decade.

With its recent announcement of the Blade 16 and Blade 18, you might have assumed Razer was ready to sunset its older Blade 15 laptop. Not so: the company is keeping the Blade 15 around for at least another year while updating it with the latest components from Intel and NVIDIA. On Wednesday, Razer announced two new 2023 variants of the Blade 15.

Both feature 16GB of DDR5 RAM clocked at 5,200 MHz, 1TB SSDs and Intel i7-13800H processors. The 13800H is a 14-core, 20-thread chip with a maximum boost clock of 5.2GHz. For reference, all models of the Blade 16 come with Intel’s flagship 24-core i9-13950HX. That means the Blade 15 won’t offer as much performance as the Blade 16, but it also won’t be a slouch. Part of that is thanks to the fact both new Blade 15 models come with RTX 40 series GPUs. With today’s announcement, you can configure the Blade 15 with either an RTX 4060 or RTX 4070 GPU. There’s no 4090 option like Razer offers with the Blade 16, likely due to the internal space and thermal constraints present with the smaller chassis.

You also won’t find the mini LED display option that’s one of the highlights of the Blade 16. The Blade 15 limits you to a 16:9 QHD IPS panel with 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage and a 240Hz refresh rate. That’s a shame as 16:10 displays are often better suited for productivity tasks, but to be expected since Razer did not redesign the Blade 15.

The 2023 Blade 15 is available to order starting today. Pricing starts at $2,500 for the RTX 4060 model. The RTX 4070 variant will set you back $2,800. In other words, the latter is $100 more than the base model Blade 16, which starts at $2,700 and features an RTX 4060 video card. So the Blade 15 is not exactly a meaningfully cheaper option than the Blade 16. That said, the Blade 15 is about a pound lighter than its newer sibling and 5mm thinner. It should also offer slightly better battery life thanks to its more modest CPU. All things to keep in mind if you plan to buy a new gaming laptop this year.

In 2019, No Man’s Sky reinvented itself for virtual reality. Now, nearly four years later, it’s doing so again. With the release of PlayStation VR2, Hello Games has announced Fractal, a free update for No Man’s Sky that overhauls the game’s virtual reality experience on all platforms.

In a blog post published Wednesday, the studio said it redesigned the HUD and user interface in No Man’s Sky to make every interaction within the game feel natural and purpose-built. In practice, that means Hello Games has devised some clever ways for you to interact with your tools while playing No Man’s Sky in VR. For instance, you can access all of your Multi-Tool’s capabilities through a menu embedded into the device. Similarly, you can browse your character’s inventory through a wrist-mounted display they wear on their spacesuit.

PlayStation VR2 users can look forward to a handful of platform-specific enhancements. Thanks to the power of the PlayStation 5, the PS VR2 version of the game features enhanced reflections, denser foliage, higher-quality textures and better draw distances, among other technical improvements. The PS VR2 release also takes advantage of the headset’s signature features, including 3D audio technology and intelligent tracking. Best of all, you can seamlessly switch between VR and standard gameplay whenever you feel you need a break from the headset.

If you don’t own a VR headset, Hello Games hasn’t forgotten about you. The Fractal update includes new content and features for all No Man's Sky players to experience. To start, there’s the new “Utopia Speeder” spacecraft for players to add their stable. Hello Games says this ship is perfect for flying across the surface of a planet at high speed. Additionally, there’s a new expedition that tasks players with rebuilding a solar system. Taking part will allow you to earn a new drone companion for your character, among other items. On the technical front, Hello Games has redesigned the game’s options menu to add new accessibility features. It has also added support for gyro controls on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.

All told, Fractal looks like yet another meaningful update for a game that has evolved so much since its rough launch in 2016. You can download version 4.1 of No Man’s Sky today.

Last November, Notion, the popular note-taking app productivity YouTubers swear will change your life, began testing a built-in generative machine learning algorithm dubbed Notion AI. At the time, the company did not share a release date for the feature. But in a surprise announcement made Wednesday, Notion said anyone, including free users, can start using Notion AI.

According to Notion, more than 2 million people signed up for the waitlist the company put in place for users to try the alpha version of Notion AI. After 10 weeks of testing, the company found most testers weren’t asking Notion AI to write blog posts and marketing emails from scratch. Instead, they were using it to refine their own writing. Notion AI includes a formatting menu that includes options to prompt the company’s machine-learning algorithm to do things like shorten or extend the length of your text, change the tone and fix any spelling and grammatical errors. “This suggests that most people start by writing their own content, and treat AI as a thought partner and editor,” Notion said. The company also found people frequently used Notion AI’s “improve writing” option, a feature the company likens to a one-click enhancer for words.

As a result of what it saw during the alpha, the company decided to “completely redesign” Notion AI to make it more “iterative and conversational.” The new version of the tool will generate follow-up prompts until you’re satisfied with its results. “Notion AI is useful for authoring new content — but it will also summarize long documents, extract key learnings from messy notes, improve your writing style, and much more,” Notion says.

While there’s no waitlist involved and Notion says it’s not running a “limited preview,” there is a limit to how much you can use Notion AI before you need to pay. Until April 5th, the company is offering 20 free AI responses to all users. After that, you’ll need to pay $10 per month to continue using Notion AI. You can get a 20 percent discount if you go with an annual plan. For Plus, Business and Enterprise customers, access to Notion AI will cost $10 per member per month.

Ten weeks is a surprisingly fast turnaround for a feature Notion CEO Ivan Zhao said in November was very much a work in progress. In that time, generative AI has frequently been in the headlines, often for reasons that don’t inspire confidence in the technology. Late last month, for example, CNET was forced to issue corrections on more than half of the AI-written articles the outlet recently attributed to its CNET Money team. More recently, Microsoft added a limit to how many consecutive questions one could ask of its Bing AI chatbot to prevent the model from producing disturbing responses like the ones it did for New York Times reporter Kevin Roose.