Tesla's sales success in 2021 continued right to the very end of the year. The company has revealed that it delivered 936,172 electric cars in 2021, about 308,600 of them in the fourth quarter. While that isn't the magic 1 million figure the company might have hoped for, it's close — and nearly double the 499,550 Tesla handed to customers in 2020.

The year gone by wasn't stellar for the Model S and Model X. Deliveries of those higher-end vehicles dropped by more than half in 2021, from 57,039 cars to 24,964. That wasn't a complete shock, though, as many customers wanted to (or had to) wait for S and X revamps that weren't slated to ship until spring, including the high-performance Plaid variants.

The delivery numbers are significant given chip shortages that have plagued the automotive industry and even led Tesla to ship some cars without USB ports. The company is also poised to keep growing between the planned Cybertruck launch in 2022 and new factories in the Austin and the Berlin areas.

This trajectory isn't guaranteed, however. Tesla had a mixed 2021 that included product delays (including the Cybertruck and Semi), gradual price hikes and a string of recalls, including one in December that targeted half a million vehicles with camera and trunk flaws. There are concerns Tesla's growing reputation for build quality issues could weigh the company down. That's also excluding competitive threats — Tesla will have to fend off Ford's F-150 Lightning, the Cadillac Lyriq, the Mercedes EQA and other EVs from big-name rivals. Elon Musk's outfit is in a good position given its existing performance, but the market could change quickly.

Blockchain features in games haven't met with the warmest reception so far, but they just got the support of a major publisher. Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda has published a New Year's letter indicating that decentralized games using technologies like blockchain will be a "major strategic theme" for the company from 2022 onward. Matsuda didn't name titles, but he did hint at how future releases would incorporate the distributed technology.

The company would incorporate token economies to foster "self-sustaining game growth," Matsuda said. While the leader understood many people would be skeptical, he believed at least some gamers wanted to "play to contribute." Blockchain games theoretically provide a direct incentive to those players to build their own content instead of relying on "goodwill and volunteer spirit." The suggestion, at least, is that users would make items in part to earn rewards.

Matsuda didn't directly announce plans for NFTs in Square Enix games. He expected those tokens to become mainstream over time, though, and believed the "overheated trading" for them would cool down. Don't be shocked if you can buy NFTs in the company's games at some point.

Square Enix would keep watch on trends in the market and develop accordingly. The president was optimistic, however, and suggested his firm might issue its own tokens. Whether or not the market follows suit is another story. Even a heavyweight publisher like Ubisoft has struggled with early NFT sales for games, and Square Enix isn't guaranteed to fare better even with hit series like Final Fantasy in its lineup.

Twitter isn't shying away from banning more high-profile US politicians. As The New York Timesreports, the social network has permanently banned Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal account after a fifth "strike" for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Her official account is still active as of this writing because it hasn't run afoul of Twitter's rules.

It's not certain what post led to the permanent ban. Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough said only that the company had "been clear" it would issue permanent suspensions for "repeated violations" of its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Greene had faced an escalating series of bans over her inaccurate claims. She falsely claimed in July that COVID-19 wasn't dangerous unless you were over 65 or obese, and in August incorrectly maintained vaccines were "failing" against the new coronavirus' Delta variant. The posts respectively led to 12-hour and one-week suspensions.

In a statement, Greene said technology companies and Democrats "can't stop the truth" and accused Twitter of hypocrisy in dealing with Democrats, calling Twitter an "enemy to America." However, she signalled no intentions to challenge the ban and said only "we don't need them."

The crackdown comes just under a year after Twitter permanently banned former President Trump, and reflects the social media giant's less forgiving attitude toward politicians in the past year — it's willing to ban officials for violations rather than apply warning labels and otherwise avoid direct action. And while ban targets like Trump can start their own social networks or jump to anything-goes alternatives, there's little doubt they'll lose some online influence by getting kicked off mainstream platforms.

Now that the third-generation AirPods offer some of the same features as the AirPods Pro, how will Apple make its higher-end wireless earbuds stand out? By further improving the audio quality, apparently. According to 9to5Mac, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple is launching its second-generation AirPods Pro in the fall with support for Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio. There's no mention of support for other lossless formats, unfortunately, but the rumored upgrade would at least ensure you could listen to Apple Music (and locally stored ALAC songs) without compromising on quality.

Kuo also expects the updated AirPods Pro to offer a "new form factor design." You might not have to worry quite so much if you lose your earbuds, either — they'll supposedly include a charging case that can make sounds, much like AirTags. You might only have to 'ping' your buds to find them on the sidewalk.

It's not certain if or how Apple would support its lossless format given Bluetooth's data pipe limitations. However, company acoustics VP Gary Geaves recently told What Hi-Fi in an interview that his team would "like more bandwidth," teasing the possibility of new technology. Apple won't necessarily augment or replace wireless standards like Bluetooth, but it could develop an aptX Lossless-style codec to make wireless ALAC viable.

However accurate Kuo might be, we wouldn't count on lossless support just yet. The purported launch is still several months away, and Apple might cancel or delay plans. With that said, an upgrade strategy like this would make sense. While the AirPods Pro still have advantages like active noise cancellation and silicone eartips, the latest standard AirPods are much closer in terms of sound quality and features (like spatial audio) while offering longer battery life. The currently Pros are only truly a good value when you can find them on sale. Lossless music, a new design and a smarter case could help justify a higher price.

Caution: Major 'Halo Infinite' story spoilers follow.

There's more to Halo Infinite's story than it appears — unofficially, at least. Windows Centralnotes fans have discovered an unfinished mid-credit cutscene hidden in the game's code. As you can see below, it's not just a throwaway moment, either. If anything, it's a strong hint at what might come next in a story add-on or sequel.

The cutscene shows Esparza, the pilot you meet at the start of Halo Infinite, alerting Master Chief to a friendly UNSC tag. While the short segment is mysterious, some have speculated the tag belongs to a character that wasn't present in the core campaign, such as Commander Palmer or Spartan Locke. You might have a 'new' ally when the story picks up.

It's not clear why 343 Industries left the cutscene code in the official release, or whether the clip reflects what you'll see in future content. We've asked for more information. Whatever the explanation, it's rare to see such potentially important material hiding in files a player could uncover. 

Free game promos are easy to find, but Epic is going one step further by offering an entire game trilogy for no charge. The Epic Games Store is offering all three Tomb Raider reboot titles (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) for free between now and January 6th at 11AM. They're Windows-only if you grab them from the EGS, but they're also complete versions that include post-launch DLC.

Your experience with the games may vary. Some will highlight Rise of the Tomb Raider as the star of the series, and aren't always enthusiastic about Shadow. And expect to do a lot of crafting in between adventures. They're solid releases as a whole, though, and represented a return to form for a franchise that many felt had lost its way. At the least, they'll serve as good training tools for Uncharted's eventual PC launch.

Don't worry if you didn't get (or give) the latest iPad this holiday season — you can still score one at a discount. Amazon is once again selling the 64GB standard iPad for $299, or $30 off its usual price. You can also buy the 256GB version at an all-time low price of $449. You may have to wait a while when the 64GB model isn't due to ship until mid-February, but it could be worthwhile if you're not in a rush to grab Apple's most affordable tablet.

The 2021 iPad is another modest update to a core design that hasn't changed for years, but those changes could make all the difference in some cases. The wide-angle front camera is much better-suited to video calls. The A13 Bionic chip is still very fast for this class of tablet, and the 10-plus hours of battery life is more than enough for typical tablet uses. There's even a headphone jack — imagine that.

This isn't the iPad for you if you insist on Apple's latest technology: you won't find USB-C, thin bezels or second-gen Pencil support. You'll want an iPad Air (or mini, or Pro) for that. If all you want is a big screen for games, reading and TV marathons, though, this base iPad is an easy choice at a price like this.

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Tesla's recall-filled 2021 isn't over quite yet. Bloombergreports Tesla has issued recalls for just over 475,000 vehicles to fix defects in camera systems and trunks. To start, the automaker has recalled all Model 3 cars in the 2017 to 2020 model years over a concern repeated use of the trunk may wear down a coaxial cable for the rearview camera — too much use and you may lose the signal entirely.

The other recall covers 119,009 Model S sedans in the 2014 to 2021 model years. A factory misalignment of the front trunk (aka frunk) latch assembly can prevent a secondary latch from working properly, increasing the chances the trunk will pop open mid-drive.

The Model 3 flaw doesn't exist in 2021 and newer production runs, while Model S drivers are safe if their EVs were built after December 23rd, 2020. You'll have to visit Tesla to get a fix, but the company will compensate anyone who paid for relevant repairs before the recalls took effect.

None of the defects led to crashes or injuries, Tesla said. However, the recalls cap a series of issues that include an NHTSA investigation over Autopilot safety, recalls for components like touchscreens, and complaints about build quality problems like panel gaps. Simply speaking, the company developed more of a reputation for less-than-stellar reliability in 2021, and it's not clear when that situation might improve.

T-Mobile is still suffering from data breaches, although its latest headache may be more reflective of the phone business at large. The carrier has confirmed to Bleeping Computer that a recent data breach stemmed from SIM swapping attacks. Intruders compromised a "very small number" of customers by reassigning SIM cards or viewing "limited" account info, T-Mobile said.

It's not clear what methods the attackers used, but SIM swaps are frequently used to take control of internet accounts and circumvent SMS-based two-factor authentication. The attacks sometimes rely on tricking or paying carrier staff to make the swaps.

 The provider said it "quickly corrected" the problem using existing measures and took further steps to protect targets. The company also contended that swaps are a "common industry-wide occurrence." While that's sadly true, that won't be much help for victims — it could be a long while before SIM swap attacks are impractical.

Jabra only just launched its Elite 3 wireless earbuds, but it already has a follow-up. TechRadarnotes Jabra has introduced the Elite 4 Active, a step-up model that addresses a few of the omissions from the 3. They now have active noise cancellation to drown out the world during your workouts, while improved IP57 water resistance (up from IP55) should help deal with sweat and downpours.

The features will otherwise seem familiar if you've seen the Elite 3, although that's not necessarily a problem. The Elite 4 Active packs 6mm drivers, a "HearThrough" mode to amplify outside sounds and single-bud listening. You'll have to make do with wired charging, but you still get a claimed seven hours og battery life from the buds themselves and 28 hours when you include the charging case.

Availability in some countries is the bigger unknown. The Elite 4 Active is available now in the UK for £120 (about $161), but they haven't been announced for the US as we write this. We've asked Jabra if it can share more. Provided the earbuds do arrive stateside, though, they could easily represent a bargain. We liked the Elite 3 for a combination of a low price with strong sound quality, healthy battery life and comfort —the 4 Active builds on that formula. They may represent better value than the Echo Buds and other rivals that make more noticeable compromises.