An Apple Watch with LTE is worth the premium if you want to make and receive calls directly from the wearable. But, unlike its regular counterpart, deals on the cellular model have been few and far between. That all changed this month. The price of the untethered Apple Watch is currently at an all-time low for both sizes. Right now, you can purchase a 40mm cellular version in navy blue for $370 at Amazon, $129 below its normal price and at least $20 lower than the previous best deal. While the recent $429 all-time low price for the 44mm Product Red Edition with 4G LTE is also still active. 

Buy Apple Watch Series 6 (40mm, GPS + cellular) at Amazon - $370

Buy Apple Watch Series 6 (44mm, GPS + cellular) at Amazon - $429

The cellular Apple Watch offers all the features you'd get with the GPS model — a blood oxygen monitor, ECG, sleep tracking and always-on display — along with solo functionality. That means you don't need a phone nearby, or a WiFi connection, to make or take calls, reply to messages, receive notifications, download apps and stream music. 

Overall, Apple has made a bunch of improvements to the Series 6 over its predecessor. The latest Apple Watch features an S6 processor that the company claims is 20 percent faster than the Series 5's chipset. It also has a display that’s 2.5 times brighter, without any impact to battery life, which Apple says is actually longer. What's more, the charging speed has also been bolstered.

Alas, the fact that a new Apple Watch is likely just months away may influence your decision. But, if you can't wait, then now's an opportune time to grab the Series 6.

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Twitter scrapped Fleets, but it hasn't given up on audio. A new voice manipulation update is reportedly in the works for Spaces, the Clubhouse-style talk rooms introduced in December. The so-called "Voice Transformer" was first outed by social media researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who tweeted that it would let you change your pitch or add echo to your audio. Soon after, software miner Steve Moser — who recently leapt to fame by unearthing new details about Netflix's gaming feature — revealed several different effects. The list includes Bee, Cartoon, Helium, Incognito, Karaoke, Microphone, Phone, Spatial, Stadium and Stage.

If getting people to tweet was a slog, convincing them to talk is probably even harder. In that sense, the voice-warping feature may push reluctant users, or those self-conscious about their voice, to give Spaces a try. The goofy nature of some of the effects could even help to create a less serious, and hopefully, more inviting environment.

It's also a feature that many people will be familiar with having encountered voice filters on Snapchat. Word of the Twitter Spaces update arrives just as Clubhouse has gone wide and shortly after Spotify's own expansion into voice chat with its Greenroom app. Not to mention, Facebook's launch of a Clubhouse clone. All four platforms will have to keep things fresh if they want to win the audio chat battle.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted fresh scrutiny of social media's response to the anti-vaccine movement. But, even in the face of criticism from the White House, a new report claims Facebook is still failing to delete even the most incendiary misinformation. As recently as last week, posts containing the hashtag #VaccinesKill were still active on the social network, according to CNN. 

It was only until the news publication warned the company of the lapse that it blocked the posts behind a message that read Facebook is "keeping our community safe." To make matters worse, the same hashtag was banned by Facebook-owned Instagram almost two years prior. That action followed Facebook's pledge to crack down on vaccine falsehoods, including bogus claims that they cause autism and other diseases, in the midst of a measles outbreak in New York.

This time round, the threat is even greater. With the world still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cases of the Delta virus rising in the US, Facebook's latest slip-up will only draw more concern from policymakers. Just days ago, President Biden lambasted the company and other social networks by suggesting their failures were debilitating the vaccination drive. “They’re killing people,” Biden said.

In its defense, Facebook has previously noted that it's taking down more erroneous anti-vaccine information than ever before. In October, it banned ads encouraging people to avoid getting vaccinated, following that with a wider clamp down on anti-vaccine claims. 

The company told CNN that it did not take action against the #VaccinesKill hashtag in the past as it did not meet its threshold. Facebook explained that it determines whether a hashtag violates its policies by looking at numerous factors, including the type and spread of content it is appearing in. "Now, the #vaccineskill hashtag on Facebook violates our policies against misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines and we've blocked it from search," the spokesperson said.

At the same time, users are finding new ways to bypass the social network's misinformation rules. In May, some people began weaponizing Facebook's custom profile frames to display false vaccine claims, forcing it to take them down.

Partners Lyft and Ford are laying the groundwork for their driverless ride-hailing plans. Today, the companies announced that Ford's Argo AI-powered cars will be available on Lyft's network later this year in Miami, followed by Austin in 2022. The move will allow passengers to choose a Ford self-driving vehicle with a safety driver in those regions when they book their ride from the app. By 2026, Ford plans to add 1,000 of its driverless vehicles to Lyft's fleet in multiple markets, a pact that the companies are in the process of finalizing.

The deployment should provide a shot in the arm for Lyft's autonomous ride-hailing ambitions. The company plans to get fully driverless fleets serving customers in multiple US cities in 2023. But, it suffered a setback last year when its self-driving partner Magna chose to shift to assisted driving products instead. The decision reflected wider concerns within the industry over the revenue-bleeding nature of autonomous driving. In December, Uber decided to sell its self-driving unit to startup Aurora as a belt-tightening maneuver.

Fortunately for Lyft, it's had close ties with Ford — which is aggressively pursuing its own self-driving goals —since 2017. The partnership between the two companies was forged on the back of Ford's $1 billion investment in autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI. Since then, the automaker has been testing its driverless vehicle service in Miami, Austin and Washington, D.C.

“Argo and Ford are currently piloting, mapping and preparing for commercial operations of autonomous vehicles in more cities than any other [autonomous vehicle] collaboration, and this new agreement is a crucial step toward full commercial operations – the addition of Lyft’s world-class transportation network,” said Scott Griffith, CEO, Ford Autonomous Vehicles & Mobility Businesses.

The upcoming Steam Deck handheld could shape more than just Valve's hardware fortunes. According to a Steam forum post from a Valve employee, the console's user interface will replace Steam's Big Picture mode, a front-end for your games that's compatible with bigger displays, TVs and controllers. A slick new UI will probably be welcomed by those who believe the almost decade-old Big Picture mode is on its last legs. In fact, the feature hasn't really been visually updated much since its launch.

Valve surprised everyone last week by dropping the Steam Deck — a Switch-like hybrid console for PC gaming — out of the blue. Pre-orders were swiftly opened for the device, which comes in three variants with different storage sizes priced at $399, $529 and $649. The Steam Deck features a custom Linux-based SteamOS. As it's designed to be ported to TVs, it's not hard to envision the console's UI becoming a natural successor to Big Picture Mode.

Shedding light on the Steam Deck's UI for IGN, Valve designer Tucker Spofford said the home screen will let you continue the game you're playing, see what your friends are doing, see what's new in the store and your library and get recommendations.

Konami's cult Pro Evolution Soccer series is trying a new tactic in its endless duel against FIFA. To stand out from its bigger rival, the soccer franchise is adopting a new name, eFootball, and going free-to-play on consoles, PC and mobile. 

Clearly, this isn't a one-off. Konami has rebuilt the game using Unreal engine as part of the shift to providing a digital service. The biggest change to gameplay is the new "motion matching" technology designed to make player animations more realistic. Gamers will choose from different movements in real-time during matches. Seeing as the original Pro Evo's gameplay is what helped to distinguish it from FIFA, motion matching could prove a make or break feature.

As you'd expect from an F2P title, eFootball will regularly receive new updates after its launch this fall. Konami will have to tread with care, however. Free-to-play games have attracted the ire of players and regulators alike due to their exploitative nature, best summed up by loot boxes that cost real money to obtain. The last thing the storied developer wants is to sully Pro Evo's name. Maybe, that's why it's changing it. 

But, the news will probably raise alarm bells for fans. Konami said that only "local matches" featuring FC Barcelona, Juventus, FC Bayern, Manchester United "and others" will be available for free at launch. While, certain game modes will later be sold as optional DLC, "giving players the freedom to build an experience" that matches their interests. It's a major risk that Konami is banking on to restore the franchise as a regular feature in dorms and living rooms around the world. 

The game will land in early fall with cross-generation matchmaking between current and last-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Later in the fall, you can expect a managerial-style team building mode, online leagues, and a match pass system that rewards you with items and players. At the same time, cross-platform play will be introduced between consoles and PC. The winter will see the release of mobile controller support, full cross-play including mobile and the launch of professional and amateur eSports tournaments.

The lifetime emissions of an electric car versus a gasoline vehicle has become an intensely debated topic for governments. A new study that compares the climate impact of passenger cars could play a pivotal role in the argument. The report claims that electric cars produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions "from the cradle to the grave" than their gas-guzzling counterparts. According to the study, the core result is the same globally, even when applied to countries like China and India, where the majority of the electricity to recharge an EV comes from coal.

The findings are a rebuke for voices in the automotive and oil lobbying industries that still claim that electric cars are no cleaner than gas-powered vehicles. It arrives as governments are trying to cement their environmental policies in line with the Paris Agreement. Finalized in 2015, the climate change accord saw 143 countries, including the US, agree to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius. To help meet that target, Washington state and California have proposed banning the sale of new gasoline cars from 2030 and 2035, respectively.

The study conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) examined the entire life-cycles of EVs and gasoline cars, from extracting raw materials to production to their eventual disposal. Researchers examined the greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle and fuel types in four territories that together account for 70 percent of new car sales worldwide: the US, the EU, China and India.

For cars registered in 2021, the report found that lifetime emissions for a medium-sized EV in Europe are between 66 and 69 percent lower compared to that of a gasoline vehicle in the same category. In the US, an EV produces between 60 to 68 percent fewer emissions. In China, an EV results in between 37 to 45 percent fewer emissions. In India, it’s between 19 to 34 percent lower.

By 2030, the gap between EVs and gas-guzzlers is tipped to increase to 74 percent to 77 percent in Europe, 62 percent to 76 percent in the US, 48 percent to 64 percent in China, and 30 percent to 56 percent in India. 

Notably, the researchers assume that a vehicle will be on the road for around 18 years. They also state that the gap between the figures reflects the uncertainty around how the energy mix in each region develops, which itself is tied to future policies.

“One important result of the analysis is to show that life-cycle emissions trends are similar in all four regions, despite the differences among them in vehicle mix, grid mix, and so on. Already for cars registered today, [battery electric vehicles] have better relative [greenhouse gas] emissions performance everywhere than conventional vehicles,” said ICCT deputy director Rachel Muncrief.

There are still caveats, however. Though EVs cut back on carbon emissions over time, they inevitably take a toll on the environment. By one recent estimate, you'll need to drive a new EV thirteen and a half thousand miles before you're doing less harm than a gas-guzzling saloon.

Louis Vuitton's forays into tech-infused luxury gear have taken in handbags with screens and luggage trackers. A year after the release of its $1,000 earbuds, the French fashion house's latest stab at audio is as eccentric as they come. The new LV Horizon Light Up Speaker looks like a spaceship sculpted by aliens to resemble a sawn-off spinning top. What's more, it costs $2,890, but you knew it wouldn't come cheap. 

Inspired by its Toupie handbag, the speaker lights up to accentuate the brand's flower insignia and a spelled out Louis Vuitton around the center. There's also a top ring light with 23 LEDs that puts on a rainbow color show. The neons combined with the black perforated and embossed leather is best described as cyber-chic. 

Louis Vuitton

But, if you're going to splurge just shy of $3,000 on a speaker, you probably want it to sound good. The Horizon features a 3-inch woofer paired with two 0.75-inch tweeters that LV says combine to offer 360-degree sound. Though, the jury's out on whether it can match the immersive audio touted by the likes of the $700 Sony SRS-RA5000. If the mid-range Qualcomm QCS 404 chipset inside is anything to go by, it may not offer the big sound you'd associate with its price tag. It also comes with three mics in case you want to take calls on the glowing mothership on your desk.

The conical shape means the speaker sits on its side, which doesn't impact the sound as it can apparently "adapt to its orientation." Just don't leave it on a sloping surface. To avoid any (expensive) accidents, the Horizon comes with an accompanying dock that you can rest it in. Being wireless, it works with Bluetooth and supports Apple AirPlay to boot. You can purchase the speaker now from Louis Vuitton's online store, though it was unavailable at the time of writing.

The pandemic proved a boon for electric bicycle makers, not least Rad Power Bikes. The company claims to be North America's largest e-bike brand with 350,000 riders on the road. Those figures helped it to secure $150 million in funding from big name investors like Morgan Stanley earlier this year. Naturally, it's using that cash to do what it does best: Make more e-bikes. Rad's latest offering is the $1,999 RadRover 6 Plus, an overhauled version of its flagship durable bike. 

Rad Power Bikes

The first thing you'll probably notice are the fat tires, an attribute carried over from the first iteration in 2015. But, look closer and you should spot several noticeable changes. Firstly, there are the all-new hydraulic disc brakes for more stopping power (a first for a Rad bike). The plus-sized RadRover also features a custom geared hub motor that provides 750W of power, compared to 500W on the $999 RadMission Electric Metro Bike and $1,099 RadMission 1. For off-road enthusiasts, that apparently means the bike can climb hills 25 percent faster than its predecessor. 

Here, the battery is also semi-integrated instead of external. That effectively allows you to swap it out with the turn of a key. A new two-part display, meanwhile, shows real-time stats such as battery charge status, power output, trip mileage, time and a headlight indicator.

Rad Power Bikes

Overall, Rad pitches the new RadRover as its everyday bike that's versatile enough for grocery trips, commutes and trails. Which may explain why it costs more than some of its lightweight alternatives. In keeping with its focus on flexibility, the e-bike has two frame sizes (high-step and step-thru) to cater to a wider range of heights. The RadRover 6 Plus is available to pre-order today in the US and Canada.

Google has been giving Wear OS some much needed attention of late. In the lead up to the launch of its new smartwatch software collab with Samsung, Google has been focusing on apps. First it made YouTube Music available on Wear OS and now it's making apps easier to find and download. 

As part of a new Play Store update for Android phones and smartwatches, users will see new search filters and category pages on handsets that highlight "watch" apps or "watch faces." You'll also be able to remotely install your chosen software or visuals. 

Meanwhile, the Play Store on Wear OS is getting a new look in keeping with Google's Material You design. The aim is to make navigation more simple in the display's restricted surface area. As a result, Google is placing important info in cards to make it easier to read and make a selection. If you decide to buy, the Play Store will also prompt you to open a purchase page on your Android phone or the web to complete the purchase.

Google said the updates will roll out in the coming weeks to Android phones and watches running Wear OS version 2.x and up.