Satellite launching company Virgin Orbit is starting an "operational pause" and furloughing most employees except for a skeleton crew, CNBC has reported. The company is reportedly seeking new investors to relieve financial pressure and plans to give "an update on go-forward operations in the coming weeks," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

Companies like SpaceX launch heavy rockets from the ground to get satellite payloads in orbit. However, Virgin Orbit carries smaller rockets to a height of about 35,000 feet on the wing of a Boeing 747, reducing fuel required. Earlier this year, it attempted to launch nine satellites into low-Earth orbit from its UK base for the time. Unfortunately, the mission failed — reportedly due to a dislodged fuel filter. 

That setback came on top of existing financial problems, as the company has seen its stock drop precipitously from its debut in December of 2021. It reported a loss of $49.2 million in its last fiscal quarter, as it burned money with taking in any revenue. 

Despite those issues, Virgin Orbit seemed to be making progress toward its next launch. "Our investigation is nearly complete and our next production rocket with the needed modification incorporated is in final stages of integration and test," a spokesperson said last month. 

Starlink for RVs has been officially rebranded as Starlink Roam, now that you can opt for a global roaming package and take your terminal anywhere with you in the world where the service is available. In SpaceX's announcement, it said the option is meant for people "traveling to locations where connectivity has been unreliable or completely unavailable." The global roaming option will set you back $200 a month instead of the $150 a month its regional counterpart costs. Starlink's service for RVs was originally priced at $135 a month, but it raised its prices this February.

Further, if you look at the Starlink website, you'll see that global roaming is only available with the $599 portable hardware. That's the service's terminal that does not provide you with internet connectivity while your vehicle is in motion. If you want to be able to use Starlink on a vehicle that's on the move, you'll have to purchase the $2,500 Flat High Performance terminal. But again, you can only get it with a regional subscription that's "geo-fenced to work on land within the same continent as [your] registered shipping address." Take note that if you use Starlink in a foreign country for more than two months, you may be required to change your registered address altogether. 

Starlink started sending out emails about an upcoming global roaming option last month. It said back then that global roaming services are "contingent on regulatory approvals," because it still doesn't have the authority to offer internet connectivity in some countries like India. Starlink also said that you might experience "brief periods of poor connectivity, or none at all" while it's working to expand its satellite network for more coverage. 

The Biden Administration is significantly increasing pressure on ByteDance just days before TikTok’s CEO is set to testify in front of Congress. The United States government is now “demanding” that ByteDance sell TikTok, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.

The new demand, which TikTok confirmed to Reuters, is a major blow to the company, which has spent more than two years negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over its future in the country. Those negotiations resulted in a sweeping partnership with Oracle and other measures meant to safeguard US users' data.

Now, CFIUS has reportedly told TikTok that it wants ByteDance to sell its stake in the company after all. If it doesn’t, the app could face a national ban. The House and the Senate have both recently introduced bills that would make it easier for government officials to ban TikTok and other services deemed to be a national security threat.

TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously stated that divesting from ByteDance wouldn’t address the government’s underlying concerns about data security. However, Bloomberg reported earlier in the week that TikTok executives were “discussing the possibility of separating from ByteDance” if the CFIUS talks were to fall through.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the United States government has tried to force ByteDance’s hand. Former President Donald Trump also attempted to compel TikTok to sell itself, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The latest threats of a total ban on the app are, however, sure to amp up pressure on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who is set to make his first Congressional appearance next week.

You can add Duolingo to the growing list of companies jumping on the generative AI craze. On Wednesday, the company announced Duolingo Max, a new, more expensive subscription tier that comes with access to a pair of GPT-4 features. The first of those, “Explain My Answer,” allows you to ask Duo, a chatbot named after the company’s owl mascot, to spell out why your answer to a question was right or wrong, with the option to ask for additional clarification if you need more help.

The second feature, Roleplay, allows you to practice the skills you’ve learned through Duolingo in a handful of scenarios. For example, one session tasks you with ordering food and drinks at a Parisian cafe. Duolingo says no two conversations will be exactly the same, even when you rehearse a situation more than once, and users can earn experience points by completing the practice sessions.

“Most people don’t have access to a one-on-one human tutor, but I believe AI will allow us to eventually recreate the experience of a human tutor and scale it to everyone in the world,” said Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn. “I’m so excited to share these incredible new features with millions of Duolingo learners.”

Duolingo has been working on Duolingo Max since 2022, as part of a partnership that saw OpenAI grant the company access to its new GPT-4 model before this week’s announcement. Thankfully, Duolingo is aware enough to admit GPT-4’s language skills are far from perfect. “We’ve spent months collaborating closely with OpenAI to test and train this technology, and will continue doing so until the mistakes are nearly nonexistent,” the company notes, adding users can report an incorrect AI response by long pressing on a message. Users can also evaluate a Explain My Answer session by offering a thumbs up or down emoji after they’re done with one.

Starting today, Duolingo Max is available to English-speaking iOS users learning Spanish and French. In the US, the service will cost $30 per month or $168 annually. It comes with all the features that are part of Duolingo's existing Super subscription, including unlimited hearts and no ads.  

Volkswagen has teased a genuinely affordable EV for years (the ID.3 was originally meant to be that model), but now it's finally ready to make that machine a reality. The company has unveiled an ID.2all concept that previews a production compact car priced below €25,000 (about $26,000). It should be considerably more affordable than the second-gen ID.3 (€39,995 in Germany), but it won't be as compromised as you might think.

The ID.2all is based on an upgraded "MEB Entry" platform that promises more performance than you'd expect from an EV this size. The front wheel drive car will pack a 223HP motor good for a 62MPH sprint in under seven seconds, and it should muster an estimated 280-mile range. It's expected to take just 20 minutes to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent, too. While there are clearly faster and longer-ranged EVs, VW's offering is more capable than alternatives like the Mini Cooper SE.

Volkswagen

And like many EVs, the switch away from combustion power allows for considerably more interior space. VW claims as much room as a Golf despite pricing closer to the Polo supermini. The trunk isn't huge at 17 cubic feet, but the automaker claims it bests some larger cars. You might not compromise much on technology, either, as VW is promising Travel Assist, an EV route planner and smart lighting.

The production ID.2all should debut in Europe in 2025. Unfortunately, we wouldn't count on a North American release. Compact cars have been losing ground to crossovers and SUVs in the region for years, and VW's American branch only sells the sportier Golf GTI and Golf R in that category. Like it or not, you'll likely have to make do with an ID.4 if you want a reasonably-sized VW EV on this side of the Atlantic.

Even so, the ID.2all is an important car both for VW and the industry. It should play a key role in a stepped-up electrification strategy that will see VW launch ten new EVs by 2026, including the ID.7 sedan. This will also help the brand fend off competition from rival cars like the Renault Zoe (€35,100 in its native France). And importantly, this is part of a broader trend of making lower-priced EVs that don't feel like major compromises. Chevy's Equinox EV is poised to cost $30,000 when it arrives this fall, and Tesla is still clinging to dreams of a $25,000 model. Even if these cars are priced above combustion engine equivalents, they should help EVs transition into the mainstream.

Volkswagen has teased a genuinely affordable EV for years (the ID.3 was originally meant to be that model), but now it's finally ready to make that machine a reality. The company has unveiled an ID.2all concept that previews a production compact car priced below €25,000 (about $26,000). It should be considerably more affordable than the second-gen ID.3 (€39,995 in Germany), but it won't be as compromised as you might think.

The ID.2all is based on an upgraded "MEB Entry" platform that promises more performance than you'd expect from an EV this size. The front wheel drive car will pack a 223HP motor good for a 62MPH sprint in under seven seconds, and it should muster an estimated 280-mile range. It's expected to take just 20 minutes to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent, too. While there are clearly faster and longer-ranged EVs, VW's offering is more capable than alternatives like the Mini Cooper SE.

Volkswagen

And like many EVs, the switch away from combustion power allows for considerably more interior space. VW claims as much room as a Golf despite pricing closer to the Polo supermini. The trunk isn't huge at 17 cubic feet, but the automaker claims it bests some larger cars. You might not compromise much on technology, either, as VW is promising Travel Assist, an EV route planner and smart lighting.

The production ID.2all should debut in Europe in 2025. Unfortunately, we wouldn't count on a North American release. Compact cars have been losing ground to crossovers and SUVs in the region for years, and VW's American branch only sells the sportier Golf GTI and Golf R in that category. Like it or not, you'll likely have to make do with an ID.4 if you want a reasonably-sized VW EV on this side of the Atlantic.

Even so, the ID.2all is an important car both for VW and the industry. It should play a key role in a stepped-up electrification strategy that will see VW launch ten new EVs by 2026, including the ID.7 sedan. This will also help the brand fend off competition from rival cars like the Renault Zoe (€35,100 in its native France). And importantly, this is part of a broader trend of making lower-priced EVs that don't feel like major compromises. Chevy's Equinox EV is poised to cost $30,000 when it arrives this fall, and Tesla is still clinging to dreams of a $25,000 model. Even if these cars are priced above combustion engine equivalents, they should help EVs transition into the mainstream.

Sling TV is preparing for March Madness with several new features that make it easier to keep tabs on the tournament. It’s adding picture-in-picture viewing on desktop browsers, a new iOS widget and enhanced sports scores.

Picture-in-picture lets you watch NCAA Tournament games in the corner of your screen without minimizing whatever you’re supposed to be focused on at work. Sling calls the feature “Side View,” and you can activate it by clicking a button labeled, “Browse your computer while watching video” in the top-right corner of the Sling player in desktop browsers. You can then move the resulting pop-out window around the screen, and it will remain on top of any other active apps or web pages.

Sling also added an iOS widget displaying a custom channel list. For example, you can create a widget showing only the channels broadcasting March Madness (ESPN for the women’s tournament; TBS, TNT and truTV for men’s), providing a home screen shortcut to the action. It’s available in two-row and four-row sizes, and you can create widget stacks with different channel collections for each.

Sling

Finally, Sling has updated its in-app guide. During the tournament, the Sling TV app will display a dedicated March Madness row with live scores and game times, letting you quickly glance for nail-biters you don’t want to miss. (However, Sling adds the caveat that the feature “may not be available on all devices.”)

Watching games on Sling requires a Sling Orange (including both men’s and women’s tournaments) or Sling Blue (men’s only) subscription. Although you may see sign-up perks for first-time customers, the standard cost is $40 per month for each package after a price hike last year.

When we learned that a BlackBerry movie was in the works last year, we had no idea it would be something close to a comedy. But judging from the the trailer released today, it's aiming to be a far lighter story than other recent films about tech, like The Social Network and Steve Jobs. The BlackBerry movie stars Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon, Goon) and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton as Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the former co-CEOs of the Canadian firm Research in Motion. They're not exactly household names, but they both played a huge role in the history of mobile communications. Without the BlackBerry's success, the iPhone may have never happened.

Judging from the trailer, the film will cover everything from the origins of BlackBerry as a crazy idea between a few college students (director Matt Johnson also co-stars as RIM co-founder Douglas Fregin), to its ignominious end as it failed to keep up with the iPhone and Android smartphones. It's a classic innovator's dilemma tale: RIM revolutionized the way we communicated by tapping into early cellular networks, but it failed to see the potential of touchscreen smartphones that didn't need physical keyboards.

BlackBerry is based on the 2015 book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, which was written by Globe and Mail reporters Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. 

After teasing some of the titles during the recent State of Play event, Sony has unveiled the full slate of additions to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalog for March. It’s shaping up to be another strong month for the service.

Tchia will be just the second game to debut on PS Plus Extra on its release date, following Stray. It’s a gorgeous-looking sandbox adventure in which you can take over and control animals and objects, likely in a far less sinister way than in Prey. When you feel the need to take a break from exploring the New Caledonia-inspired world, you can bust out a fully-playable ukulele. Play the right tunes and you can attract animals or cause rain to fall.

Also coming to the library on March 21st is Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection. It includes Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, both of which have been remastered beautifully for PS5. Life Is Strange: True Colors and Life is Strange 2 will join the original game and Life is Strange: Before the Storm in the lineup too.

The other games that will hit the PS Plus Extra and Premium catalog this month are:

• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction

• Ghostwire Tokyo (which is also coming to Xbox Game Pass in April)

• Immortals Fenyx Rising

• Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

• Street Fighter V Champion Edition

• Untitled Goose Game

• Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

• Rage 2

• Neo: The World Ends with You

• Haven

Premium subscribers will soon gain access to a few more older games at no extra cost. Sony will add Ridge Racer Type 4, Ape Escape 2 (both PS1) and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PSP) on March 21st.

On the downside, several games are reportedly leaving the Extra catalog on the same date. Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 5, Override 2: Super Mech League, Danger Zone, Dungeons 2, Ghost of a Tale, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Velocibox, Victor Vran: Overkill Edition and WWE 2K22 will no longer be playable through the subscription service after that time.

Meanwhile, Sony has revealed the first game that all PS Plus members will be able to claim in April. Meet Your Maker, an intriguing fortress-building and -looting game from Dead by Daylight studio Behavior Interactive, will be available on the Essential tier on its April 4th launch day.

In 2013, former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicted Prime Air, the company’s then newly announced drone delivery unit, would be flying within four to five years. A decade later, the service appears to be no closer to reality than it was in 2018. However, some drone startups have had more success. Among those is Zipline, which says it’s on track to complete about 1 million deliveries by the end of the year. By 2025, the company says it expects to operate more flights than most airlines, a feat it intends to accomplish thanks to its next-generation drone, the Platform 2 or P2 Zip.

Zipline’s latest drone consists of two autonomous vehicles that will work in unison with one another to deliver packages that weigh up to 8 pounds. The first is a UAV that can complete a 10-mile flight in about 10 minutes. When it arrives at its destination, P2 Zip will hover about 300 feet off the ground and deploy its sidekick, an adorable “fully autonomous delivery droid.” The latter descends from its counterpart using a tether – the company is called Zipline for a reason – and gently drops off your package. According to Zipline, P2 Zip is nearly silent in flight, producing a sound the company claims is similar to rustling leaves in the wind, and precise enough, thanks to its droid companion, to deliver packages to areas as small as patio tables and front steps. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton told CNBC P2 Zip may even put an end to porch pirates since the drone is fast enough to enable on-demand delivery.

Zipline

For more distant deliveries, the P2 Zip can fly up to 24 miles one way from dock to dock, charging at each docking station before completing the next leg of its journey and picking up new cargo. The drone’s charging station looks like something from science fiction. It features a chute for the delivery droid to enter the building the station is attached to, and what looks like a net to catch one of the drones if they fall. The company told CNBC setting up a P2 Zip dock takes about as much time as installing an electric vehicle charger. It envisions restaurants and hospitals installing the dock to enable the fast delivery of food and prescriptions.

Zipline already has a few customers eager to test the P2 Zip, including restaurant chain Sweetgreen, Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City, Michigan Medicine and Multicare Healthcare in Washington State. Before those companies gain access to the drone sometime next year, the startup plans to conduct more than 10,000 test flights with about 100 aircraft.