Exactly 50 years ago today, Atari released Pong. It wasn’t the first video game ever created, nor the original take on virtual table tennis – a fact that would eventually lead to two decades of lawsuits. But in Pong, the early video game industry was born. Released in 1972, Atari sold more than 8,000 Pong arcade cabinets. A few years later, the home version of Pong would become an instant success, with Sears selling about 150,000 units of the console you needed to play the game.

Those are modest sales numbers by 2022 standards, but the success of Pong and Home Pong gave Atari the resources and expertise needed to create the Atari 2600. The second-generation console went on to sell more than 30 million units before the end of 2004. All things considered, pretty good for a project that was only meant to be a training exercise for designer Allan Alcorn, who was 24 at the time and had no prior video game experience. And if not for Pong, Nintendo would not exist, and a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak may have not gone on to create Apple.

Happy birthday, Pong, and thank you for inspiring countless sequels and knockoffs, as well as the careers of an entire generation of video game designers. 

If history is anything to go on, Google won’t announce the next entry in its Pixel A series until I/O 2023. That means we could be waiting as much as six months before the company is ready to share any substantial information on the device. Of course, that’s not stopping the rumor mill from getting an early start on leaking details about the Pixel 7a.

Over on Smartprix (via XDA Developers), Steve Hemmerstoffer of OnLeaks fame has shared early renders of the upcoming device. Unsurprisingly, the images suggest the Pixel 7a will look a lot like its predecessor and Google’s 2022 flagships. According to Smartprix, the dimensions of the new device are nearly identical to the Pixel 6a, with the former reportedly coming in at 10.1mm thick at the camera bump. The phone also looks to feature relatively thin bezels, a not-so-prominent chin and a center display cutout for the selfie camera.

Steve Hemmerstoffer

Notably, the renders indicate the Pixel 7a will feature a SIM tray on its left side, suggesting – at least for the time being – Google won’t follow Apple’s decision to go all in on eSIM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the search giant has decided to bring back the headphone jack; the analog port is nowhere to be found on the Pixel 7a.

The more interesting aspects of the Pixel 7a may be features that don’t show up in renders. According to Smartprix, the phone is likely to feature a 90Hz display from Samsung and an upgraded main camera sensor from Sony. It could also be the first Pixel A series phone to feature wireless charging. That's about all we know about the device at the moment. However, we’re certain to get a fuller picture of the Pixel 7a as more information leaks, or when Google decides to get ahead of the rumor mill like it did with the Pixel 4.

Tesla is working on a redesign of the Model 3 codenamed “Highland,” according to Reuters. The company’s goal is to reportedly reduce the complexity and number of components required to produce the sedan. The redesign could include changes to the car’s exterior and powertrain performance. The project is also said to build on the revamp of the 2021 Model S. However, it's unknown if the redesigned Model 3 will feature the controversial steering yoke found in its more expensive sibling.

Reuters reports Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory will begin producing the new Model 3 sometime during the third quarter of 2023. The company’s Fremont plant will also make the redesigned sedan. It’s unclear how much Tesla expects to save on the new Model 3, nor whether the company will pass on the cost savings to consumers. Tesla currently makes a profit of about $9,500 for every car it produces. Reuters also makes no mention of whether the refresh will feature the automaker’s next-generation 4680 battery cells. In 2020, Elon Musk said the new battery design would enable Tesla to produce a $25,000 electric car within three years.

It's safe to assume that even if the 2023 timeline is accurate, it could be subject to change. Reuters hasn’t had the best track record with its Tesla reporting recently, and it’s not like the company is great about sticking to deadlines either. When the automaker first announced the Cybertruck, for example, Elon Musk said volume production would start in 2021. That date first slipped to 2022 and then 2023.

Since 2013, Gran Turismo’s Vision project has seen some of the world’s largest automakers, including Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, imagine what their cars could look like without real-world constraints. Over the weekend, GT series developer Polyphony Digital announced the latest addition to the Vision stable, an entry from Ferrari, would arrive in Gran Turismo 7 on December 23rd.

Like its predecessors, the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo features capabilities that would put any production vehicle to shame. Ferrari outfitted the concept car with “a more extreme version” of the V6 engine found on the 499P hypercar the automaker plans to field at next year’s Le Mans endurance race. In-game, the single-seat hybrid will produce more than 1,000 horsepower, with three electric motors providing additional power.

“We wanted to create a vision of the future designed without constraint, but born from Ferrari’s unrivalled understanding of engineering, aerodynamics and future technologies, and deliver it into the digital world for a whole new audience to experience,” said Ferrari Design Director Flavio Manzoni. Ferrari fans should keep their eyes out for an in-game quiz. Completing it before anyone else will grant early access to the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo.

Two years after its release, Half-Life Alyx remains the definitive VR experience. So it’s no surprise a lot of people want more. Until Valve announces a sequel (which might take a while), it’s up to the modding community to provide new content. Thankfully, Levitation, a new single-player mod for Half-Life Alyx, not only extends the story of Valve’s latest but is also earning praise for its gameplay.

The free mod features three to four hours of additional story content, complete with new voice acting and animations. As of the writing of this article, Levitation has a perfect five-star rating across 627 reviews, with many praising the work of level designer FMPONE. The positive response is especially noteworthy considering Levitation was only announced earlier this year. Without sharing too much of the story, the mod sees the player sent to City 17’s mysterious Section X to investigate a levitating building where two members of The Resistance went missing.

You can download Levitation by subscribing to the mod through its Workshop page. Once you’ve installed Part One, Steam will automatically download the remaining four parts as you play through the mod. Note that you will need a copy of Half-Life Alyx and a compatible VR headset to play through the experience.   

A month after completing his takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk says new user signups are at an “all-time high.” On Saturday evening, the billionaire shared a slide deck that details the current state of Twitter and his vision for the platform. As of November 16th, Twitter was adding more than 2 million new users per day over the last seven days, according to one of the graphs Musk shared. He added daily signups are up 66 percent compared to the same seven-day period in 2021. 

Musk said user active minutes were also at an all-time high, with Twitter’s userbase averaging nearly 8 billion active minutes per day over the last seven days as of November 15th – representing a 30 percent increase from the same period last year. He also used a graph to claim hate speech impressions recently decreased.

Even if the data Musk shared is accurate, what it means is very much up for discussion. For instance, the graph about hate speech presents, at best, an incomplete picture of the situation. For one, note that the small print states the data only covers tweets in English. Second, there’s evidence to suggest Twitter recently stopped enforcing its hateful conduct policy as it applies to targeted harassment of trans people.

Just as important is the data Musk decided not to share. Not a single graph offers insight into Twitter’s financials, yet according to multiple reports, Musk recently told employees the company was losing so much money that bankruptcy was "not out of the question.” A more recent report suggests Twitter has lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers since Musk took the platform over.

On early Sunday, Musk told Jordan Peterson he sees “a path to Twitter exceeding a billion monthly users in 12 to 18 months.” Meeting that goal will require Twitter to dramatically increase signups. Assuming the company continues to add 2 million users per week, that’s only 104 million new users by the end of one year. Twitter has approximately 450 million monthly active users as of 2022. 

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling on Congress to pass new legislation to rein in Big Tech companies after Elon Musk ignored an information request. “Elon Musk could respond to my tweets but failed to respond to my letter by yesterday’s deadline and answer basic questions about Twitter verification,” Markey tweeted Saturday. “Congress must end the era of failed Big Tech self-regulation and pass laws that put user safety over the whims of billionaires.”

Musk had until November 25th to answer a letter the senator sent on November 11th about Twitter’s paid account verification feature. The initial rollout of the new Twitter Blue saw trolls use the service to impersonate celebrities, politicians and brands. Markey sent Musk a list of questions about the launch after The Washington Post created a “verified” account impersonating him. One day after Markey shared a copy of the letter on Twitter, Musk attacked the senator.

“Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody,” Musk tweeted. “And why does your pp have a mask!?” he added a few hours later, referring to Markey’s profile picture, which shows the policymaker wearing a face covering. The exchange prompted Markey to chastise the billionaire. “One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online,” the senator said. “Fix your companies. Or Congress will.”

As of the writing of this article, Musk has yet to respond to Markey’s latest tweet. It’s hard to say whether the senator’s call will translate to legislative action, particularly with a split between the House of Representatives and Senate. Musk did appear to answer at least one of Markey’s questions when he announced Twitter’s new verification system on Friday. The latest iteration of the program will feature manual authentication and different colored check marks for different types of users. "Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates," he said.

Fifteen years after the release of the iPhone, it’s easy to overlook the role early innovators like Palm played in popularizing the smartphone. By the time HP unceremoniously shut down the company in 2011, Palm had struggled for a few years to carve out a niche for itself among Apple and Google. But ask anyone who had a chance to use a Palm PDA in the late ‘90s or early 2000s and they’ll tell you how fondly they remember the hardware and software that made the company’s vision possible. Now, it’s easier than ever to see what made Palm OS so special back in its day.

This week, archivist Jason Scott uploaded a database of Palm OS apps to the Internet Archive. In all, there are about 560 programs to check out, including old favorites like DopeWars and SpaceTrader. Even if you don’t have any nostalgia for Palm, it’s well worth spending a few minutes with the collection to see how much – or, in some cases, little – things have changed since Palm OS was a dominant player in the market.

For instance, there’s an entire section devoted to shareware and it’s interesting to see just how much some developers thought it was appropriate to pay for their software. Want to use the full version of StockCalc? Just send $15 by post to DDT Investments in Plaistow, New Hampshire.

In an interview with The Verge, Scott said it took about six months to get the CloudpilotEmu emulator to work with the Internet Archive. There’s still some work to be done. Specifically, some of the more obscure apps are missing descriptions and metadata. Scott also hopes to write instructions for each program. Still, short of buying an old Palm device off of eBay, this is the best way to experience a bygone computing era. That's because CloudpilotEmu allows you to navigate through Palm OS. You can even launch the database from your phone and there's full support for Palm's Graffiti handwriting recognition system. If you want to help Scott with the project, contact him on Twitter or Discord.

The Artemis 1 Orion crew vehicle has set a new record for a NASA flight. At approximately 8:40AM ET on Saturday, Orion flew farther than any spacecraft designed to carry human astronauts had ever before, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 back in 1970. As of 10:17AM ET, Orion was approximately 249,666 miles ( from 401,798 kilometers) from Earth.

"Artemis I was designed to stress the systems of Orion and we settled on the distant retrograde orbit as a really good way to do that," said Jim Geffre, Orion spacecraft integration manager. “It just so happened that with that really large orbit, high altitude above the moon, we were able to pass the Apollo 13 record. But what was more important though, was pushing the boundaries of exploration and sending spacecraft farther than we had ever done before."

Of all the missions that could have broken the record, it’s fitting that Artemis 1 was the one to do it. As Space.com points out, Apollo 13’s original flight plan didn’t call for a record-setting flight. It was only after a mid-mission explosion forced NASA to plot a new return course that Apollo 13’s Odyssey command module set the previous record at 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth.

With a limited oxygen supply on the Aquarius Lunar Module, NASA needed to get Apollo 13 back to Earth as quickly as possible. The agency eventually settled on a flight path that used the Moon’s gravity to slingshot Apollo 13 back to Earth. One of the NASA personnel who was critical to the safe return of astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise was Arturo Campos. He wrote the emergency plan that gave the Command and Service Module enough power to make it back to Earth. Artemis 1 is carrying a “Moonikin” test dummy named after the late Arturo.

Earlier this week, Orion completed a flyby of the Moon. After the spacecraft completes half an orbit around the satellite, it will slingshot itself toward the Earth. NASA expects Orion to splash down off the coast of San Diego on December 11th.

Add HP to the list of tech companies cutting staff. The PC maker plans to lay off as many as 6,000 employees over the next three years. The cuts are part of a broader restructuring HP announced during its Q4 earnings call on Tuesday (via Gizmodo). The company estimates its “Future Ready Transformation plan” will save it $1.4 billion by the end of fiscal 2025, in part by reducing its headcount by at least 4,000 employees.

“The company expects to reduce gross global headcount by approximately 4,000-6,000 employees,” HP said. “These actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2025.”

HP employs approximately 51,000 employees globally. The company’s most recent fiscal quarter saw revenue drop by more than 11 percent year-on-year to $14.8 billion. CEO Enrique Lores blamed the poor performance on macroeconomic conditions and “softening demand” for the company’s PCs and printers.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, Lores said HP’s restructuring plan would “enable [the company] to better serve our customers and drive long-term value creation by reducing our costs and reinvesting in key growth initiatives to position our business for the future.”

HP isn’t the only tech company to announce significant job cuts in recent weeks. Twitter completed multiple rounds of layoffs after Elon Musk took control of the company on October 27th. Meta and Amazon also announced job cuts this month. In the case of the social media giant, the 11,000 employees it let go on November 9th represented the first mass layoffs in the company’s history.