Tesla's long-delayed semi-truck has started production, and the company will begin making deliveries as soon as December 1st, Elon Musk has announced on Twitter. When the automaker unveiled the Tesla Semi way back in 2017, it expected to start manufacturing the electric big rigs by 2019. While that obviously didn't happen, Musk told employees in an email back in early 2020 that the vehicle was already in limited production and that it was "time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production." In April that year, however, the automaker announced in an earnings call that it's delaying deliveries yet again to 2021. 

Alas, 2021 wasn't the Semi's year either. Tesla notified shareholders in another earnings call that deliveries would be delayed to 2022 due to the global supply chain shortages affecting the tech and auto industries, as well as its then-limited production capability for the vehicle's 4680 style battery cells. Musk didn't say outright that the company's component shortage issues for the semi-truck have already been addressed. But if it has started building the vehicles, and there's already an expected delivery date, Tesla must have at least enough parts to build Semis for its first customer. 

The first batch of Semis will be delivered to Pepsi, which ordered 100 vehicles from the company back in December 2017. As TechCrunch notes, other big companies had also ordered trucks from the automaker, including Walmart and UPS. And in May this year, the automaker opened reservations to more customers for a deposit of $20,000. A Semi costs between $150,000 and $180,000, depending on the range, and it could go as far as 500 miles on a single charge. 

Amazon has been slashing the prices of its own products over the past few days as we approach its second Prime Day event for the year. After holding a sale for its Fire tablets, Kindle Paperwhite and Fire TVs, the company is now also selling the Eero Pro 6E tri-band mesh WiFi devices at heavily discounted prices. Among all the options available, the three-pack bundle of Eero devices seems to be the standout deal — at $419, it's even cheaper than the pack with two nodes that's currently selling for $499. That's also $280 or 40 percent lower than its usual price, and it's the lowest we've seen the three-pack go for on the website. 

This is the first Eero model to support WiFi 6E, which allows eligible devices to access a new 6 GHz band. Amazon said 6E support results in lower latency across the network, so even devices that don't support the extended standard will stand to benefit from the capability. The model supports network speeds of up to 2.3 Gbps, can cover up to 6,000 sq ft of space and can handle over 100 connected devices. Eero also uses TrueMesh technology to route traffic in order to reduce drop-offs and prevent dead spots. In addition to serving as a mesh router, Eero Pro 6E can be used as a smart home hub, allowing you to control compatible Thread and Zigbee devices with Alexa voice commands. 

While the three-pack bundle is obviously the best deal you can get, you can also purchase one node at a discount. A single Eero Pro 6E node will set you back $179, which is $120 less than its regular price. The single node option has been widely available at that price over the past few days, but the discounted three-pack deal is only available today exclusively for Amazon Prime subscribers. 

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Even Blizzard has admitted that Overwatch 2's launch has not met anybody's expectations. In a new post detailing the latest status updates for the game's rollout, the company has apologized to its players and discussed the lengthy list of issues it's had to face since the first-person shooter went live. One of the biggest updates it's making to the game is removing the need for for legacy players to link their phone numbers to Battle.net to be able to play. So long as they have a connected Battle.net account, which covers all players who've accessed the first Overwatch since June 9th, 2021, they're exempted from the requirement. 

Blizzard originally made SMS Protect, which requires players to link a phone number to their Battle.net accounts, a requirement to access Overwatch as a way to make it harder for people to cheat or to troll others. It doesn't always work with numbers associated with prepaid plans, though, and therein lies the problem. While some Mint customers were able able to link their numbers to SMS Protect just fine, players on Cricket seem to be completely locked out of the game. As Kotaku reports, fans feel like they're being punished or shamed for "being poor."

The developer is removing the requirement in response, and it expects the change to go live on October 7th. Blizzard said, however, that it remains "committed to combating disruptive behavior," which is why new accounts and old ones that had never been connected to Battle.net before will still have to meet SMS Protect requirements to be able to play. 

The company also made changes to simplify the queueing process, so players will no longer see their queue numbers jump from hundreds to tens of thousands and vice versa. Plus, it's working on making logins more stable to prevent players from being dropped from queues or from being able to login at all. A server update that's also in progress will reduce the chances of players being disconnected once they're already in the game. As for people's missing items, Blizzard explained that the issue is caused by incomplete account merging or by items simply taking longer to transfer over from the old game. 

These issues, Blizzard said in its announcement, were "exacerbated by DDoS attacks" upon the game's launch. While the attacks didn't directly cause any of them, they made "the environment in which [the team works] on these issues more challenging." Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said the team was working through a second DDoS attack late on launch day, but it sounds like the attackers have backed off. Blizzard said it has "not suffered any further attacks," which hopefully means it can now resolve issues more quickly.

Fast Company's website finally came back online eight days after the publication took it down due to a cyberattack. The business publication was initially hacked on September 25th, but it wasn't until the second security breach on September 27th that it had to take drastic measures to contain the situation. If you'll recall, Apple News users who are subscribed to Fast Company received a couple of obscene push notifications with racial slurs in late September. The bad actors had also defaced the website with obscene and racist messages and posted details on how they were able to infiltrate the publication. 

They said that Fast Company used an easy-to-crack password for its WordPress CMS and had re-used it for its other accounts. From there, they were able to grab the company's Apple News API keys, as well as authentication tokens that gave them access to employee names, email addresses and IPs. In a forum the hackers linked to on the defaced website, a user called "Thrax" posted a database dump with 6,737 employee records that include mails, password hashes for some of them and unpublished drafts, among other details.

No customer or advertiser information was exposed as a result of the hack, though, Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan wrote in a new post announcing that the publication is back. The main Fast Company website, its corporate site Mansueto.com and its sister site Inc.com remained offline for eight days while an investigation was being conducted. During that period, the publication posted content on other platforms, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Medium. Vaughan didn't go into details with the result of the probe, other than saying that no customer or advertiser data was compromised and that the publication has "taken steps to safeguard against further attacks."

Joseph Sullivan, who used to serve as Uber's security chief, was convicted of federal charges for hiding a 2016 data breach from authorities. According to The New York Times, a jury in a San Francisco federal court has found Sullivan guilty of obstructing the FTC's ongoing investigation into Uber at the time for another breach that occurred in 2014. He was also found guilty of actively hiding a felony from authorities. Sullivan's case, believed to be the first time an executive has faced criminal charges over a hack, revolves around how the former executive dealt with the bad actors who infiltrated Uber's Amazon server and demanded $100,000 from the company.

The hackers got in touch with Uber shortly after Sullivan sat for a deposition with the FTC for its investigation of the 2014 cybersecurity incident. They told him they found a security vulnerability that allowed them to download the personal data of 600,000 drivers and additional information linked to 57 million drivers and passengers. As The Washington Post reports, it was revealed later on that the hackers found a digital key that they used to get into Uber's Amazon account. There, they found an unencrypted backup collection of personal data on passengers and drivers.

Sullivan pointed them to the company's bug bounty program, which had a max payout of $10,000. The hackers wanted at least $100,000, however, and threatened to release the data they'd stolen if Uber didn't pay up. The former security chief paid them the amount they demanded in bitcoin and made it appear as if they'd been paid under the bug bounty program — an action reportedly sanction by then Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick. He also tracked them down and made them sign nondisclosure agreements.

The former executive's camp argued that Sullivan felt Uber's user data was protected after the hackers signed an NDA. "Mr. Sullivan believed that their customers’ data was safe and that this was not some incident that needed to be reported. There was no coverup and there was no obstruction," his lawyer David Angeli said. But prosecutors disagreed and viewed his use of NDAs as a way to cover up the incident. Further, they stressed that the incident shouldn't have been qualified for a payout under the bug bounty program, which is meant to reward friendly security researchers, when the bad actors threatened to release users' personal information if they didn't get paid the amount they wanted.

In the end, the jury agreed with the prosecutors that Sullivan should have notified the FTC about the data breach. It wasn't until Dara Khosrowshahi took over as CEO that the FTC was informed of the event. A sentence hasn't been handed down yet, but Sullivan now faces five years in prison for obstruction and up to three more years for failing to report a felony. 

Zipline has teamed up with a healthcare provider servicing the Intermountain Region in the US to deliver medicine to customers using its drones. The company has started doing drone deliveries to select Intermountain Healthcare patients in the Salt Lake Valley area. For now, it can only do drops for local communities within several miles of its distribution center. Zipline intends to add more centers over the next five years, though, so it can eventually expand beyond Salt Lake Valley and deliver medicine throughout Utah. 

As TechCrunch notes, Zipline has long been deploying drones for delivery in Africa, and it wasn't until the pandemic that it started doing drops in the US. In 2020, it teamed up with Novant Health to ferry personal protective gear and other types of medical equipment to frontline healthcare workers tending to COVID-19 patients in North Carolina. Later that year, it signed a deal with Walmart to deliver health and wellness supplies to customers near the retailer's headquarters in northwest Arkansas.

In June this year, the FAA authorized Zipline to conduct long range on-demand commercial drone deliveries in the US. The company said that the certification it received from the agency allows it to significantly expand its services in the country. That means we'll see it expand its covered areas with current partners and perhaps see it sign agreements with more partner companies in the future. 

Intermountain Healthcare patients in the Salt Lake Valley area can now sign up for Zipline deliveries. The company will then evaluate their eligibility based on their location, their yard size — its target delivery area must be at least two parking spaces big — and their surrounding airspace. Zipline's drones are six-foot gliders with a wingspan that's 10 feet long. These drones fly 300 to 400 feet above the ground, though they drop down to an altitude of around 60 to 80 feet to deliver packages outfitted with a parachute.

Bijal Mehta, head of global fulfillment operations at Zipline, said in a statement:

"Think back to the last time you had a doctor’s visit and then had to trek to the pharmacy for your prescription, making what can already be a time-consuming experience that much more draining, or the last time your child was ill and you had to pack the family in the car just to get cold medicine. Zipline and Intermountain Healthcare are working together to eliminate the burdens that make it harder to get the care you need when you need it. We believe instant delivery is a key element to the future of healthcare and we are excited to bring our service to the Salt Lake City area to make people’s lives better, easier, and healthier."

It has only been a year since Amazon launched Glow, its kid-focused video calling device that can also be used for interactive gaming. Now according to Bloomberg, Amazon is already discontinuing it, most likely due to lackluster sales. As the publication notes, Glow, while highly rated on Amazon, only has a bit over 500 reviews on the website. 

Another possible reason why the company is giving up on the device is a change in people's behavior. Glow was created so kids could stay in touch with and play with relatives they don't live with or regularly see. Now that people have gone back to their pre-pandemic routines, there's even less of a demand for a specialized video calling device. 

Amazon spokesperson Kristy Schmidt confirmed to Bloomberg that the company is killing the device. They said:

"At Amazon we think big, experiment, and invest in new ideas to delight customers. We also continually evaluate the progress and potential of our products to deliver customer value, and we regularly make adjustments based on those assessments. We will be sharing updates and guidance with Glow customers soon."

Glow was a product of Amazon's secretive Grand Challenge moonshot laboratory, which works on experimental projects, such as those involving cancer and last-mile delivery. It has a projector that beams games onto a 19-inch mat, and kids can interact with the projected image to play with their loved ones even from afar. The device comes with Tangram Bits, which are physical pieces kids can use to solve puzzles. It also comes with a free year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+ that's necessary to be able to access its games, books and other activities. After that ends, users will have to pay $8 per month for the subscription, or $5 if they're a Prime member. 

Only those who already have a Glow will have to worry about future costs associated with the subscription, though. Amazon listed the device for 55 percent off, or $150, a few days ago, but now it doesn't seem to be available for purchase anymore.

Overwatch 2's early access launch has been marred by a few bugs and a massive DDoS attack preventing players from getting into the game. Fans have been reporting getting stuck on the loading screen and getting one error after another. They're also put in queue behind hundreds — and in some cases, even tens of thousands — of other players also trying to get in. Blizzard president Mike Ybarra initially tweeted that the game is experiencing server issues and that the company's teams are working hard to fix it. In a follow-up tweet, though, the executive admitted that the game is "experiencing a mass DDoS attack" on its servers causing drop and connection issues.

Blizzard developed the new free-to-play shooter for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The new game reduces team sizes from six to five, so a team gets only one tank. It also comes with new maps, new heroes and new features, such as the ability to place a Ping on the enemy's location to point them out to the rest of the team. Servers for the original Overwatch went offline shortly after its sequel launched, so fans have no choice but to wait for Blizzard to fix the issue before they can play the game again. 

Aside from mitigating the DDoS attack, Blizzard also has to fix quite a few bugs that made themselves known upon launch. They include items and currency going missing from players' collections, sections not populating, some areas becoming inaccessible, actions resulting in a blackscreen and Blizzard's SMS Protect leaving the client unusable. Since Blizzard has yet to issue an update about its progress in mitigating the DDoS attack, it's unclear when Overwatch 2 will be up and running again. 

Google has launched Nest's second-generation wired doorbell for those who don't want to monitor their device's battery levels or to worry about spotty WiFi. The device is around 30 percent smaller than its battery-powered counterpart and could better fit smaller and narrower spaces. 

Google said it spent a lot of time fine-tuning this model, testing it in various conditions to ensure the images it produces are clear and identifiable and giving it HDR support to capture more details. It was also able eliminate the distorted fish-eye effect that's typical in footage seen from doorbell cameras. Apparently, DXOMark, a website known for assessing smartphone lenses and cameras, consider the device the best doorbell camera it has tested in terms of image quality. Images taken by the doorbell have a high level of details so that it's easy to recognize who's at the door, even at night, the website said. 

Like other Nest camera devices, this one has the power to recognize what it sees, whether it's a person, a pet or a vehicle that passes by, so it can send accurate alerts. Users can also chat with whoever's at the door with its "talk and listen" feature, or they could also pre-record messages to respond to visitors dropping in. 

The model can record an hour's worth of important events — significant sounds, motion and other activity that it detects — in its internal memory. Plus, Nest can keep three hours of event video history with footage of up to five minutes each for free. Users who choose to upgrade and pay for Nest Aware subscription worth $6 a month can have access to event video history for 30 days. Those willing to pay $12 for a Nest Aware Plus subscription will have access to 60 days of event video history and 10 days of 24/7 continuous video recording.

Finally, the new wired Nest doorbell was built to work more seamlessly with the Google Home app, allowing users to create routines, such as programming their porch lights to change settings when someone rings the doorbell. In the future, Google also will roll out an update to the Home website, giving users a way to view all their Nest doorbell and camera feeds on the web. The model is now available in Snow, Linen, Ash and Ivy in the US for $180. In Canada, the Snow and Ash color variants are now also out for CA$240.

Google Nest

Google introduced an initiative called Nest Renew last year to help you use more clean energy for your home if you have one of the brand's thermostats. Back then, only those who got an invite to preview the solution could join the program. Starting today, however, you can join Nest Renew for free, so long as you're in the continental US and have a third-gen Nest Learning Thermostat, the latest base Nest Thermostat model or a low-cost Nest Thermostat E. 

The program comes with a feature called Energy Shift that can automatically activate cooling or heating when there's a higher concentration of electricity from clean sources by adjusting your thermostat accordingly. Power grids typically obtain energy from both fossil fuel and renewable sources, and the mixture isn't always 50:50. Energy Shift works by gathering power grid forecasts from across the US every five minutes and then using its algorithms to determine the best times for when to run cooling and heating for your home. For instance, it can run cooling earlier in the day when the grid is getting power from more renewable sources and before emissions from electricity use are expected to rise.

Google said the feature was designed to make changes so subtle that you won't even notice them. When the program launched, Nest product manager Jeff Gleeson told Engadget that "customers are always in control." You can manually adjust your thermostat even after Energy Shift kicks in. The tech giant also said in its announcement that Energy Shift helped users prioritize cleaner energy usage for over 20,000,000 hours in all during the preview period.

While you can join the program for free, you can also choose to pay $10 a month for Nest Renew Premium if you want to match the fossil fuel electricity used in your home with renewable energy credits generated clean energy project from Google's portfolio.