SpaceX is planning to launch as many rockets as it can over the next two-and-a-half months in an attempt to fly 100 flights by the end of the year, company exec Bill Gerstenmaier recently told the US Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science. He also revealed that the company has an even more ambitious goal for 2024: To launch around 12 flights a month, for a total of 144 missions for the whole year. According to a company official who talked to Ars Technica, SpaceX intends to ramp up its mission numbers next year, mostly so that it could officially roll out its satellite-to-cell phone service. 

"With our 2 million users, (we) need that constellation refreshed," the spokesperson told Ars. "We're also going to look at direct to cell communications with Starlink, and that's a key feature that gets added next year with those 144 flights."

The company first announced the service, which will allow normal smartphones to connect with its satellites, back in 2022. It made the revelation alongside T-Mobile, which promised to make the capability accessible to its subscribers. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert likened the technology to putting a cellular tower in the sky and said it could eliminate deadzones one day, allowing people to easily get in touch with loved ones even if they're in the middle of the ocean. SpaceX VP of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller also said earlier this year that the company is gearing up to start testing the service. 

As Ars notes, SpaceX previously said that the capability will require larger satellites that will launch onboard the company's Starship vehicle. The giant rocket is yet to be operational, though, and the company had to design an intermediate-sized Starlink satellite that can fly on its Falcon 9 rockets. That satellite is bigger than older models but smaller than the ones needed to enable voice and data services. SpaceX doesn't have plans to roll out Starlink voice and data until 2025, though, and will introduce its direct-to-cell capability with texting coverage only next year. 

The Problem With Jon Stewart isn't coming back for a third season at Apple TV+, according to The New York Times. It was already supposed to begin filming for another eight episodes within the next couple of weeks, but Apple and Stewart reportedly decided to part ways before it can start. While neither party has issued a statement yet, the publications said the parties didn't see eye to eye when it came to hot button topics. The host apparently told production staff that Apple executives had raised concerns about certain subject matters he's potentially covering in the show, particularly China and artificial intelligence. 

Based on The Hollywood Reporter's confirmation of the news, Apple talked to Stewart about the need to be "aligned" when it comes to show topics and even threatened to cancel the series. Wanting full creative control of The Problem, Stewart chose to walk away instead. 

The Problem debuted on Apple TV+ in 2021, with episodes coming out every other week, six years after Stewart left The Daily Show. Its second season started streaming in 2022 and had four more episodes — for a total of 12 — than the first. It also streamed every week with a break of a few months after its sixth episode. The newer season covered controversial topics, as well, including gender identity and the indictment of former president Donald Trump. Although those episodes went out for streaming, The Hollywood Reporter's sources said there had already been tension between the parties before the third season production kicked off due to the previous themes Stewart had covered on the show. As The Times said, Apple may have been worried about being dragged into political controversies that the series could bring and had agreed to end their partnership. 

One by one, automakers have started adopting the North American Charging Standard (NACS) used by Tesla's Superchargers as they move towards their goal of replacing their fleet with electric vehicles. Toyota is the latest company to join the growing list. The automaker has announced that it has reached an agreement with Tesla to incorporate NACS ports into certain Toyota-branded vehicles starting in 2025. Some EVs under its luxury brand, Lexus, will come with the standard's charging ports, as well. 

By using NACS ports on its electric vehicles, Toyota is effectively giving its customers the power to access more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across North America. While the company won't be implementing the standard over the next year, its timeline matches its rival automakers'. To note, customers who already have Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with the Combined Charging System (CCS) will be offered access to NACS adapters starting in 2025, as well.

BMW also recently announced that it was adopting the standard for all its EVs in the United States and Canada. A few months ago, GM and Ford revealed they were making the switch starting in 2025, but owners will already be able to access Tesla Superchargers next year with an adopter. Hyundai will adopt the port for its EVs in the US in 2024, with EVs in Canada to follow in 2025. Honda, Toyota's fellow Japanese automaker, announced its transition to NACS in September and its plans to sell vehicles with the port in two years' time. It also said, however, that it's developing an adapter to allow pre-2025 Hondas to charge using Tesla's system. 

GM, Cruise and Honda are teaming up to introduce a driverless ride-hailing service in Japan, which could launch in early 2026 if things go according to plan. The companies have entered a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture for the project, and they're hoping to establish the company in the first half of 2024, provided they're able to secure the necessary regulatory approvals by then. Their ride-hailing service will deploy the Cruise Origin electric shuttle van that the companies had developed together. It's a self-driving vehicle with no steering wheel or even a driver's seat, which means it also has no pedals and no rearview mirror.

Cruise

Instead, it has a big cabin space where up to six passengers can sit facing each other, and its doors slide open like a subway's. "The opportunity for the ridehail service in Japan, which is expected to be the first of its kind, is huge," GM said in its announcement. It has the potential to solve the country's ongoing driver shortage and could provide an alternative for those who can't use Tokyo's extensive train and subway system for any reason. 

While it's still early days for the project, the companies already have a vision for how they want to execute their plans. They're looking to start by deploying "dozens" of Cruise Origins in central Tokyo by 2026 before expanding the fleet to 500 Origins. After that, they're hoping to make the service available outside of the capital's center. Like any other similar service, passengers will be able to hail an Origin through a dedicated app, as well as pay for their ride. 

YouTube creators may be able to upload music that sounds like it was actually sang by famous musicians one day. According to Billboard and Bloomberg, the video hosting platform is developing an artificial intelligence tool that can mimic the voice of recording artists. It was also hoping to introduce the feature during its Made On YouTube event in September, where it debuted other AI-powered creator tools including a generative green screen. Obviously, its plan didn't push through, and it was apparently because negotiating with recording companies is taking time. The technology is new, after all, and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered first. 

Billboard says one of the key issues they're still hashing out is how monetization would work. Will artists be paid for the music YouTube feeds its AI model, or for the output made using the AI tool? Further, how would songwriters be compensated for any of their music used to train YouTube's AI? Recording companies still reportedly have questions about how the AI model is trained, as well, and about how artists will have the power to opt in or out. If and when the tool does come out, YouTube intends to beta test it first by giving a select group of creators access to the voices of artists who opt in. 

While negotiations are taking time, recording companies are receptive to YouTube's idea, according to the sources. That's because they're looking at the use of AI in music as an inevitability, and they're concerned about getting left behind if they resist licensing deals like what YouTube is offering. As Bloomberg notes, though, YouTube is walking a tricky path and may have to brace itself for legal issues in its quest to explore the use of generative AI in music. OpenAI, for instance, had been sued by a group of authors, including John Grisham and George R.R. Martin, for the alleged use of their novels to train its large language model. 

If you have a personal WhatsApp account and a business one — or two accounts of the same nature — you'll soon no longer have to carry two phones to be able to access them both. WhatsApp will finally let you add two accounts to one device, as long as you have a second phone number or a phone that supports eSIM or dual/multiple SIMs. 

You won't even need to log out of one account to be able to access the other. To have simultaneous access to two accounts, go to the app's Settings page and click on the arrow next to your name to find the "Add account" option. Each account has its own privacy and notification settings, so you can choose to receive alerts from one and not the other, which sounds incredibly useful if you're on vacation and don't want to hear from your work or business for a while. 

The new feature follows an update earlier this year that gave you the capability to access your account on multiple devices. WhatsApp used to be very strict when it comes to account access and limited you to having one account on one phone. It started exploring multi-device functionality in 2021, though, and rolled out the ability to sync one account across up to four phones in April. This upcoming update, which could make it easier to juggle different aspects of your life while maintaining boundaries, is rolling out for Android devices in the coming weeks. 

Back in February, Meta launched a Telegram-like feature for Instagram called "broadcast channels," which introduced a one-way messaging feature to the app. It gave creators a way to update their followers without having to post on their main page. Now, the company is expanding broadcast channels' availability and is also bringing it to Facebook and Messenger. Creators and public figures with Facebook pages will now be able to send messages, including photos, videos and voice notes, to their community. 

It's still a one-way messaging tool, which means only Page administrators can send messages in the channel, but participants can react to them and vote in polls. Admins can launch a channel directly from their page, and Facebook will send their followers a one-time notification to join after they send their first message. Based on the screenshots shared by Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, broadcast channels will show up in users' Messenger chats under a tab aptly labeled "Channels." Participants will get notifications every time the page owner sends an update, but they can mute the channel anytime. Presumably, those who chose not to participate the first time can still access the channel from the page's profile like people can on Instagram. 

Meta says any page admin where the feature is now accessible can start a channel if they want. The feature still isn't available everywhere, though, and those who can't find the option to open a broadcast channel yet can join the waitlist for now. 

Qualcomm is working with Google to develop a RISC-V platform that can power Wear OS devices. RISC-V is an open standard instruction set architecture (ISA), which Arm describes as "part of the abstract model of a computer that defines how the CPU is controlled by the software." Since it's open standard, it could lead to open-source chip designs and could lower the costs for companies that want to build their own chips. That means more companies entering the industry and more devices on the market, which could foster innovation and give rise to more affordable options. 

Google came out in support of RISC-V earlier this year in hopes that it could compete on equal footing with Arm one day. However, the technology still has a long way to go to reach that status. According to Ars Technica, Qualcomm's could be the first mass-market RISC-V Android chip ever, if all goes according to plan. As the publication notes, a RISC-V platform represents a big threat to Arm, whose CPU architecture dominates the smartphone industry. Things had been pretty unsteady for Arm over the past couple of years, with its parent company Softbank trying to sell it to NVIDIA until regulators stepped in and prevented the acquisition from happening. The company ended up registering for a US IPO instead and raised $4.87 billion in September.

In its announcement, the chipmaker said its RISC-V Snapdragon Wear platform will power the next generation of Wear OS devices. It's planning to commercialize the technology for wearable products meant for global release, but it doesn't have a launch date yet. Qualcomm said it has already started the new chip's development and will be sharing more information about its timeline at a later date. 

Fans planning to see the Pokémon exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam may want to take note that they can no longer purchase the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card from its gift shop. The museum has updated the exhibit FAQ to notify visitors that it has removed the limited edition card from its offerings to ensure that they can enjoy their day "in a safe and enjoyable manner." It explained that it had to make "the difficult decision" after "a small group of individuals... created an undesirable situation." The museum didn't elaborate beyond that, but as Polygon reports, people descended upon the museum's gift shop when the exhibit opened in September.

Based on the videos that came out, pandemonium broke out at the shop as visitors fought over merchandise to buy. A good chunk of the buyers may have been scalpers, as well, seeing as there's now a bunch of the Van Gogh-style Pikachu cards being sold on eBay. 

The Pokémon account on X announced right after the exhibit opening that the franchise merchandise sold at the Van Gogh museum had sold out. In a newer announcement, it said that fans shopping at Pokémon Center in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada will soon receive one of the limited edition Pikachu cards with their trading card orders worth at least $30, at least until supplies last. The card will also be sold through participating retailers in the Netherlands early next year, but it won't be sold at the museum gift shop again. That said, the Van Gogh-inspired Pokémon paintings will remain available for viewing until the exhibit leaves the museum on January 7, 2024. 

It looks like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) truly was working on a free TurboTax alternative like earlier reports had claimed. The US tax authority has announced that it will start pilot testing its new Direct File program for the 2024 filing season, though it will initially be available for select taxpayers in 13 states only. During its pilot period, Direct File will only cover individual federal tax returns and won't have the capability to prepare people's state returns. That's why 9 out of the 13 states testing it — namely Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — don't levy state income taxes. 

Arizona, California, Massachusetts and New York, the other four states in the list, worked with the IRS to integrate their state taxes into the Direct File system for 2024. The IRS says it invited all states to join the pilot program, but not all of them were in a position to participate "at this time." In addition to being only available in certain locations, Direct File will only be accessible by people with "relatively simple returns" at the beginning. It will cover W-2 wages and tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, for instance, but it will not cover self-employment income and itemized deductions. However, the agency is still finalizing the tax scope for the pilot, so it could still change over the coming months. 

Based on the screenshots the IRS shared with The Washington Post, taxpayers will only have to answer a questionnaire to be able to file their taxes directly, simplifying the process without having to pay for a third-party service. An IRS official told the publication that select eligible taxpayers in the aforementioned states will start getting invitations to use the service sometime around mid-February next year. The agency says it will begin with a small group of taxpayers before expanding access to more and more people as the filing season for the 2023 federal tax return progresses.

"This is a critical step forward for this innovative effort that will test the feasibility of providing taxpayers a new option to file their returns for free directly with the IRS," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. "In this limited pilot for 2024, we'll be working closely with the states that have agreed to participate in an important test run of the state integration. This will help us gather important information about the future direction of the Direct File program."

The IRS is hoping to gather data and feedback during the pilot to be able to analyze how effective Direct File is. It's also hoping to identify areas of improvement for a "potential large-scale launch in the future."