GM will take the wraps from its Silverado EV at CES 2022, but you'll have to wait considerably longer to put one in your garage. According to Automotive News, GM has revealed that its mainstream electric pickup will enter production in early 2023 ahead of sales late that year. It's arriving well after the Hummer EV pickup ships this December, then, and months after the electric Hummer SUV (now slated for early 2023).

The automaker is still shy on details, although it has already teased a few key details. The Silverado EV will share the same drivetrain and Ultium battery tech as the Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq, with promises of over 400 miles of range and four-wheel steering. The regular version will have a glass roof that adds to the perceived interior space, and there will be fleet variants for workplace buyers.

The timing isn't ideal. The electric Silverado will surface over a year after its expected main rival, Ford's F-150 Lightning. Tesla's Cybertruck might arrive sooner, too. And while pricing is still unknown, there's a chance the Rivian R1T might siphon some of Chevy's customers for the next two years. Simply put, the CES unveiling could be crucial to sparking interest and setting expectations — buyers will want to know if the Silverado is worth the extra patience.

It's a sad moment for gamers. Kotakureports Masayuki Uemura, the lead creator of the Famicom and Super Famicom (aka NES and SNES), died on December 6th at the age of 78. He started working at Sharp, where he sold solar cell and light sensor technology, but he's best remembered for a long and highly influential run at Nintendo that effectively revived the video game industry following the 1983 crash.

Uemura first became involved with Nintendo after the company's Gunpei Yokoi asked about using Sharp solar cells to produce light gun games. The future console designer joined Nintendo in 1971, and the company released gun games that included a home-friendly game called Duck Hunt (yes, the predecessor of the NES title). Company president Hiroshi Yamauchi put Uemura in charge of the R&D2 division responsible for hardware, including consoles, and in November 1981 famously called Uemura asking him to build a machine that lets you play arcade games on your TV. The result was 1983's Famicom, the system that would become the NES outside of Japan.

You know at least some of what happened next. The Famicom and NES were wild successes, selling nearly 62 million units combined and rejuvenating interest in home consoles. Uemura then led work on the Super Famicom, whose global launch as the SNES further cemented Nintendo's reputation. He also produced some NES games, including Ice Climber and three sports titles. He retired from Nintendo in 2004, but continued to serve as an advisor and would go on to teach and research video games as a professor at Ritsumeikan University.

It's hard to overstate Uemura's influence. The video game business as it exists today arguably owes much to the skill of Uemura and his team when they designed their first TV consoles. He also helped grow Japan's overall tech industry by making Nintendo a global force in electronics. While he certainly wasn't the only star at Nintendo, he was one of the most directly influential.

The White House's renewable energy push now includes a transformation of the federal government. President Biden has issued an executive order that would require the government to stop buying combustion engine vehicles by 2035, and to switch all buildings to renewables and other zero-carbon energy sources by 2050. The administration willbuy only carbon-free electricity by 2030, and aims to cut building emissions in half by 2032.

Biden saw the measure as a way to "lead by example" and encourage both a "carbon pollution-free" electricity industry by 2035 and net zero emissions for the entire economy by 2050. The federal government is the largest employer, energy user and land owner in the US, the President said, and its shift to renewables could influence private businesses.

It's a modest goal in some ways. The timeline is very long, for a start. Multiple states will have banned gas-powered car sales by 2035 — why would it take the federal government that long to switch a relatively modest 600,000-vehicle fleet to EVs and other emissions-free machines? The 300,000 buildings are more daunting, but the order gives officials roughly three decades to make the transition.

At the same time, there are plenty of challenges. The feds depend on a wide range of buildings and vehicles across the country, many of them with different requirements. It may take a highly coordinated effort to transition everything to zero-emissions transport and renewable energy, even if the scale is relatively modest. And then there's the question of future administrations. As we've seen before, a new presidency can undo environmental regulations and delay or even thwart emissions reduction plans. The targets offer plenty of opportunities for reversals.

The order is still notable even if there are setbacks. It's an acknowledgment that efforts to limit climate change aren't confined to the private sector, and it could prompt contractors to transition to environmentally friendly products in a bid to win federal deals.

Many car brands are touting recycled parts in their vehicles, but Ford thinks it can claim some extra bragging rights. The badge claims the Bronco Sport is the first vehicle to use parts made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Ford used plastic from the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to make wireless harness clips in the SUV. They're as durable as previous petroleum-based clips, but require less energy to make and even cost 10 percent less.

The company has been using some degree of recycled plastic for over two decades, although it has been getting creative as of late. It recently started making F-250 fuel-line clips from 3D printer waste, and used water bottles for the underbody shields on the 2020 Escape.

This move could be an important step toward more sustainable car production. At the same time, it shows just how far Ford has to go. They're small parts in an SUV that's sold exclusively with a combustion engine inside — this would carry more weight if they were larger components in a hybrid or pure electric vehicle. Ford has vowed to further electrify its lineup and explore future uses of ocean plastic. Until that happens, though, this is more a hint of that future than a major milestone.

Apple's seeming about-face on repairability will soon help you spot less-than-honest iPhone repair shops and part sellers. As Gizmodonotes, Apple has revealed iOS 15.2's settings will include a "parts and service history" section (under General > About) that indicates not only whether the battery, camera and display have been replaced, but will indicate whether or not they're officially sanctioned Apple parts. If a component is listed as an "unknown part," it's either unofficial, an already-used part from another iPhone or malfunctioning.

Just how much you'll learn depends on your iPhone model. Anyone using an iPhone XR, XS or second-generation iPhone SE can only tell if the battery has been replaced. You'll need an iPhone 11 or newer to also find out if there's a display swap, and an iPhone 12 or later to know if the camera has been replaced. Apple stressed that these alerts won't prevent you from using your device — you're fine if you're comfortable using unofficial parts and losing warranty coverage.

iOS 15.2 currently exists as a release candidate for developers, suggesting the finished version will be available relatively soon. It's not yet clear if iPad owners will see a corresponding part history feature at some point.

The "unknown part" label might not thrill advocates for third-party component options. Apple clearly wants you to use official parts, and that means either taking it in for authorized service or (in 2022) buying parts from Apple. This might help you catch shops lying about the quality of their parts, though, and could be useful if you repair an iPhone yourself and want to be sure your fixes went smoothly.

Sonos is the latest tech company to commit to reducing its environmental impact in the long term. The smart speaker firm has unveiled an inaugural climate plan that will make its "value chain" carbon neutral by 2030, and achieve net zero emissions by 2040. The company will use some carbon offsets (such as a marine ecosystem project in Cambodia), but it also promises to improve both its products and operations.

Many of the product efforts focus on smarter material choices and recycling. All of Sonos' new products will use recycled plastic by the end of the company's fiscal 2023, while all hardware will use "responsibly sourced" paper packaging by fiscal 2025. Fiscal 2023 will also mark the release of Sonos' first devices designed explicitly with recycling and reuse in mind, such as easier-to-remove fasteners in place of glue. All products will have a sleep mode by that year, and the firm will cut idle power draw to 2W starting with portable speakers in fiscal 2022.

The move might not satisfy everyone. Neutrality in 2030 isn't an aggressive target when it includes offsets — Sonos will still produce excess CO2 emissions. The company may also face a significant challenge overcoming its mixed environmental record. While Sonos is known to support its speakers for a long time, its bifurcated support strategy (where older devices can't operate alongside newer ones) and now-dead recycle mode (which bricked haven't instilled confidence in the past.

Still, this plan could go a long way toward improving Sonos' reputation. It's not only acknowledging its overall environmental impact, it's designing with longevity and repairability in mind. If things go smoothly, you might keep using Sonos gear well after its original luster has worn off.

It took the better part of a year, but Google Stadia is available on recent LG TVs. Anyone with an LG set running webOS 5.0 or 6.0 (that is, 2020 or newer) can use the cloud gaming service to play Assassin's Creed or Madden without requiring a media device or PC as a go-between. You'll need a compatible gamepad, but that shouldn't be an issue when the Stadia Controller and common console pads should work either wirelessly or through USB.

Not surprisingly, LG suggests one of its OLED TVs for Stadia thanks to the fast pixel response times, low latency and (for Stadia Pro subscribers) 4K HDR visuals. They're certainly not required, though, and it's arguably the lag from game streaming that will make the larger difference.

Stadia is available through the LG Content Store in all 22 countries where the service already exists. You probably won't buy a TV with Stadia in mind, but this significantly widens the number of sets where native support is an option — you might be more inclined to try it if the barrier to entry is that much lower.

Meta now has a more firm timeframe for a full return to the office, but it's also giving workers a chance to stay at home for a while longer. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, the Facebook parent company said US offices would fully reopen at the end of January 2022, but that an "office deferral program" will let staff in the US and Canada delay that return for three to five months. They can return as late as June if they aren't yet comfortable with in-person work, but don't want to commit to a long-term remote position.

Human resources VP Janelle Gale said Meta would still "prioritize health and safety" at offices for the employees who come back in January. However, the social media firm also accepted that others "aren't quite ready" to appear.

The move came just days after Google further delayed its return-to-office plans, and at the same time as Lyft said it would no longer require a return in February. An increase in COVID-19 cases and uncertainty about the Omicron variant has cast doubt on the safety of requiring every in-office worker to return, even if there are strict mask and vaccination requirements. Simply put, it might be a long while before companies can demand office work without facing significant resistance.

Do you play enough mobile games that your phone gets hot to the touch? Probably not, but Razer has you covered regardless. According to iMore, Razer has released a $60 Phone Cooler Chroma that promises to keep your handset cool. There's a version with a clamp for Android phones and older iPhones, but the star of the show is the MagSafe model — you won't completely sully the design of your iPhone 12 or 13.

This being a Razer accessory, you can expect the seemingly obligatory RGB lighting (controlled through Bluetooth) as well as a high-powered seven-blade fan that remains quiet at about 30dB. Be prepared to stay near power outlets, though, as you'll need to plug in a USB-C charger whether or not you're using MagSafe.

The Phone Cooler Chroma is available now. The question, of course, is whether or not you'll benefit from it in the first place. Modern phones do get warm and can throttle performance under sustained heavy loads, but it's not clear how much cooler your phone will get when the fan sits outside of your handset. There's also the simple matter of necessity. Do you really want a wired fan just for a performance bump in Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile? This might not be completely far-fetched, though — gaming phones with elaborate cooling have an audience in countries like China, and Razer's fan makes that overkill available to a wider audience.

Scuf Gaming is finally diving into PS5 controllers, and its first offerings might be noteworthy if you thrive on titles like Call of Duty. The Corsair brand has launched its first PS5 gamepad line, Reflex, with a variant specifically tuned for first-person shooters. The appropriately named Reflex FPS adds instant bumpers and triggers, includes grippier surfaces and even ditches haptic feedback — in theory, you'll a lighter control that won't disrupt your aim.

The FPS, the regular Reflex and the Reflex Pro all have four remappable paddles, a profile switch, removable faceplates and interchangeable thumbsticks. The Pro adds the improved grip of the FPS while preserving the adaptive triggers you might need for some PS5 titles.

Scuf's pricing shows these controllers are meant for enthusiasts and competitive players. The base Reflex is available now for $200, while the Reflex Pro and Reflex FPS respectively sell for $230 and $260. That's difficult to rationalize if you just want an alternative to the official DualSense pad, but might be justifiable if you're determined to emerge triumphant in a battle royale.