Gayle d'Hondt has stepped down as head of HR at Bungie after 14 years, according to IGN. The move comes shortly after the same publication released a report with accounts by former and current Bungie employees painting a picture of a workplace culture that's both toxic and sexist. In some instances, HR personnel were reportedly unwilling to help complainants and actively protected harmful individuals.
In her email sent to employees and seen by IGN, d'Hondt said she wants to do "everything in [her] power to make sure everyone who works [at Bungie] has a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment." It's necessary, she added, for the company's HR team to move forward with membership "largely comprised of people new to Bungie." d'Hondt didn't say who would be replacing her, but she told employees in the email that the HR team needs "to be trusted to be [their] advocates — not labeled as 'enablers' or seen as company resources who provide bad actors with safe harbor." It's also unclear if d'Hondt is leaving the video game developer completely or just moving to a different role.
The former HR head mentioned about her own experience with an abuser at the company, as well: A male executive whom she thought was her friend. While she didn't name her abuser, she said Bungie eventually fired him. She concluded:
"I am proud of the work I did at this company. I believe I made recommendations that were in the best interest of our people and in service of the company we wish to become. I also believe we made some mistakes, and that to become the better version of ourselves — the company I know we can be – we have to acknowledge and confront them, in good faith, and grow together."
While IGN's report showed the company in a less-than-flattering light, it also showed how the studio is struggling to shake its toxic culture in an effort to foster a better one. In response to it, company CEO Pete Parsons published an apology letter, admitting that Bungie's "actions or, in some cases, inactions, caused these people pain." He also talked about the changes the company has made over the past few years to make it a better place for employees, including removing bad actors irrespective of their "tenure, seniority or interpersonal relationships."
Developer CD Projekt has reportedly agreed to pay $1,850,000 to settle an investor lawsuit over the buggy launch of Cyberpunk 2077, The Verge has reported. That's a fairly tiny sum next to the game's reported $316 million development budget and the fact it was an instant hit last year with eight million pre-orders. The settlement is still preliminary and must be approved by a court.
The lawsuit was effectively four separate actions combined into one, brought by shareholders who alleged that the company misled them about financial performance. It's not clear why the settlement was relatively low, however. CD Projekt's shares have dropped 54 percent since the game's release, and analysts have lowered Cyberpunk 2077 sales forecasts significantly, according to Bloomberg.
On top of that, CD Projekt has delayed the much-anticipated next-gen console updates for Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3 for the end of 2021 until the first quarter of 2022. "Apologies for the extended wait, but we wanted to make it right," the company said. The developer released a Cyberpunk DLC in August, but it only added a few cosmetic items and a car.
Arrival, the Anglo-American startup which is hoping to revolutionize the design and manufacture of electric vehicles, is ready to talk about its first car. The Arrival Car, as it is known, is designed, first and foremost, to be used by rideshare drivers during their working day.
Much as the company doesn’t want to call it a taxi, this is more or less what the Arrival Car is, an electric update to the London black cab for cities of the future. But with a number of tweaks that mean it’s smaller and more efficient than current cars, but still has buckets of room inside.
The (capital-C) Car has been teased for a while, and back in May, Arrival announced that it had teamed up with Uber to create a “purpose-built vehicle for ride-hailing.” It’s a project with an ambitious deadline, too, with the first models expected to roll off the production line in Q3, 2023.
Visiting Arrival’s Oxfordshire HQ, I was able to look at, and sit in, the Alpha prototype, but the company is a little leery about sharing too many images of the same. That’s, in part, because it doesn’t feel the first model, built in about six months, is fully representative of what’s to come. I wasn’t allowed to take images of the car in all of its glory, and instead was supplied with a mixture of renders and close-up shots of various components.
Arrival
Part of the reason that Arrival feels confident that it can turn a car around in such a short space of time is that it’s standing very much on its own shoulders. After all, the Car uses the same integrated EV skate platform that was developed for the van and the bus. It means that Arrival can, effectively, cut its skate to the right size and plonk any cabin structure on top.
The Arrival Car is deeply uncool, a box on wheels with an emphasis on maximizing the internal space for passengers. It has the same silhouette as a French-made minivan; you could easily imagine a line of these parked outside a Saturday-morning under 15’s soccer match. But, because it wholly rejects the need to be aesthetic for the sake of aesthetics, it’s also quite cool.
And despite the sci-fi styling, there’s something quite humane about its design, something quite organic. Because the propulsion is on the floor, there’s no need for a pronounced bonnet, so the windshield just melts into the chassis. There’s a cambered glass roof stretching over the cabin, making the interior space airy and roomy.
One big focus, naturally, was on maximizing the interior space and legroom, and I’ve seen visitor centers that are more cramped. Despite sitting on (roughly) the same footprint as a VW Golf, the Car probably has more legroom than a (famously-roomy) London Black Cab. The front passenger seat can also be folded down and pushed slightly forward, should you need extra room. The height, too, means that you can easily step up and into this vehicle rather than awkwardly crouching down, which should help folks with mobility issues.
The only issue with this first version, which is likely to change in the second prototype, is the luggage space. This first model has a fairly small luggage compartment, designed for two large and two small suitcases and little else. But Tom Elvidge, EVP of Vehicle Platforms, believes that changes will be made to improve this for the second prototype.
Arrival
Arrival’s custom software platform drives the system, and the Car has a Tesla Model 3-esque 13-inch screen mounted in the middle of the dashboard. That’s good for localization, given that this will need to be made available in left and right-hand-drive models. But it also helps clear out some of the clutter that rideshare drivers sometimes have cluttering up their view.
Another driver-focused benefit is the fact that the Car has been designed to be comfortable but not full of delicate materials. Of course, a lot of this remains in flux, but the prototype uses brightly colored woven fabrics for seat covers and something spill-resistant on the floor. Given the risks of passengers dirtying up the vehicle, reducing the amount of time drivers can be on the road, ease of cleaning is a key priority.
It’s early days, and Arrival has still got the better part of two years to answer many of the key questions we have about this vehicle. Facts about battery capacity, range, speed and cost are all left blank since the company is, right now, focused on ironing out the design. We know that it won’t be speed-capped to only go around city streets, given that 10 percent of rideshare journeys are to the airports. And that it has to at least pass as a family hatchback for when drivers aren’t working and want to use the car as their own ride.
Arrival
And, of course, the cost will be a big factor to help drivers ditch their existing vehicles. Arrival thinks that many of the innovations it has already developed will help it there, but there are no concrete figures yet. Given how many taxi fleets adopted Priuses (and other Toyota hybrids) to help squeeze more range from their fuel budgets, you can imagine this becoming a hit.
What we do know is that Arrival’s EV platform makes for an extraordinary driving experience and one that’s very fun to use. I was allowed to drive one of the test vans around the company’s car park-cum-test-track and it’s wild. This thing is a heavy-ass UPS-style package van that drives with the ease and precision of a go-kart. I’m sure that plenty of professional drivers will enjoy the feeling of connection to the road that this particular system offers.
For now, Arrival is working on identifying which elements from this first model don’t work, and refining them for the second prototype. There’s plenty of work to do between now and the end of 2023, however, and so we’ll wait and see how this shakes out in the end.
Huawei is no stranger to foldable mobile devices and had released three over the past few years: The Mate X, Mate Xs and the Mate X2, which is the most recent model launched in February. All of those are similar to the Samsung Galaxy Fold in that they're devices that fold vertically and are the size of a small tablet when unfolded. Recently, however, Huawei has started teasing a foldable phone that's more akin to the Samsung Galaxy Flip, and a fashion shoot published by Harper's Bazaar China has revealed what the device looks like.
The model, called Huawei P50 Pocket, is prominently featured in a pictorial with Chinese actress and singer Guan Xiaotong. It looks fairly large, based on the photos posted on Weibo, with a circular external display that can show the time, notifications and a view of what you're capturing with the camera if the phone is flipped shut. P50 Pocket's external display is right next to the camera, and according to Engadget Chinese, its fingerprint reader is located along the edges of the device. The version in the Harper's Bazaar photoshoot is gold with some sort of leafy pattern, but Huawei's teaser shows that it will also come in a silver variant with a diamond plaid pattern.
Huawei will officially unveil the P50 Pocket on December 23rd.
Reddit has taken a big step towards going public. In a press release, the company has revealed that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding "the proposed initial public offering of its common stock." The announcement offers very little detail about its planned IPO, which is expected to take place after the SEC's approval.
The social network also said that it has yet to determine how many shares will be offered and for how much. It will likely reveal an initial valuation in the near future as it prepares for an IPO, but it's worth noting that it raised $700 million in a funding round back in August at a valuation of over $10 billion.
According to Reuters, Reddit sought to hire investment bankers and lawyers in September as advisers for a planned IPO in New York. While the IPO's timing will depend on market conditions, Reddit was apparently hoping that the company will be valued at over $15 billion by the time it takes place next year. In March, the company also hired hired Drew Vollero, who led Snap's IPO back in 2017, as its first chief financial officer.
Reddit was founded in 2005 and has shot up in popularity as a news aggregator, messaging board and social media website since then. In the second quarter of this year, it generated $100 million in advertising revenue — 192 percent more than what it generated in the same period of 2020 — for the first time. Going forward, it intends to find more way to incorporate video and audio into its website, which could lead to even bigger ad earnings.
Ken Block’s Gymkhana series is ready to go electric. On Wednesday, the rally driver showed off his new Audi S1 Hoonitron, a purpose-built EV the automaker designed specifically for Block. Audi didn’t share many details on the prototype, but as you can see from the photo above, it pulls more than a few design cues from the company’s iconic Sport Quattro S1. That’s not by accident; it was that car that inspired Block to pursue his career.
Block promised to show off what the EV can do in a future video tentatively called “Elektrikhana.” It’s unclear if Travis Pastrana will join with a custom-built Solterra from Subaru. If you’ve not seen a Gymkhana event, they involve some of the most skillful driving you’ll see on a closed course. The S1 Hoonitron could significantly change how Block tackles the annual series.
The instant torque of an EV should help with the constant drifting that’s involved in Gymkhana courses. The lower center of gravity could also make cornering a lot tighter. One thing we’ll have to see is if the S1 Hoonitron replicates the sound a rev limiter makes in a traditional internal combustion engine car. After all, that sound is part of the fun of watching rally car driving.
You'll have to say goodbye to Via's personal on-demand rides. Bloombergreports Via is shutting down its ride-hailing operations, currently in New York and Washington, DC, after December 20th. After that, the company will shift its attention to mass transit systems like buses, shuttles and vans. You might still use Via to arrange pickups (including for paratransit) or check schedules, but you won't have much more control and will likely share the vehicle.
The company isn't shy about its reasoning: its public transportation business is more successful. Via chief Daniel Ramot told Bloomberg his firm's transit business is "growing quickly," and it's a more reliable revenue stream thanks to long-term contracts. Via would have needed a "major investment" to return its ride-hailing business to pre-pandemic levels, and the company didn't want to incur those costs when transit was thriving.
Via's challenges contrast sharply with its ridesharing rivals. Lyft and Uber have been scrambling to find drivers as demand picks back up. They have far larger slices of personal ride hailing than Via, however. Even if Via were to remain committed to personal rides, it would be competing for a small slice of a market with two clear incumbents. The ride-hailing shutdown lets it sidestep that battle entirely and corner a segment Lyft and Uber have largely left untouched.
As with many wild and dramatic stories, the tale of Theranos and its former CEO Elizabeth Holmes is getting multiple adaptations. The Jennifer Lawrence-led Bad Blood, which was just snapped up by Apple, will likely get the most attention. (Expect it to get plenty of Oscar love, like Adam McKay's recent films, Vice and The Big Short.) But don't count out Hulu's miniseries, The Dropout. First announced in 2019 with Kate McKinnon as the infamous serial fibber, Elizabeth Holmes, the series will now star Amanda Seyfried when it premieres on March 3rd, 2022.
Hulu
Judging from the first round of pictures, Seyfried certainly captures the wide-eyed magnetism of Holmes. It's also surprising to see the great Naveen Andrews (Lost, Sense8) as Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Theranos' former COO and Holmes' former boyfriend. According to Hulu, the series will follow "an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?"
Theranos managed to raise over $700 million from investors due to its seemingly miraculous device, the Edison. It was a blood testing machine that was supposed to test for a wide range of illnesses. But of course, it was all a lie. Reporting from the Wall Street Journal and others revealed that the company's technology never actually worked. Ultimately, the SEC charged Theranos, Holmes and Balwani with "massive fraud."
Alex Gibney's HBO documentary, The Inventor, did a serviceable job of covering the drama around Theranos, and Holmes' unusual mystique. But there's also plenty of ground to cover in a dramatic adaptation.
Apple is closing more stores in response to COVID-19's resurgence. Bloombergreports the iPhone maker has temporarily shuttered three stores in the US and Canada following increases in exposures and outbreaks among employees. Shops in Annapolis (Annapolis Mall), Miami (Brickell City Centre) and the Canadian capital Ottawa (Rideau Centre) will remain closed until either December 18th or December 19th.
It's not clear how many employees developed COVID-19 at the affected stores. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple reiterated a prior statement indicating that it "regularly monitor[s]" pandemic conditions and has a "comprehensive" store safety initiative that includes daily health checks, masks, extra cleaning and paid sick leave. All workers will have to take COVID-19 tests before they return.
There's no certainty closures like this will continue in the near future. With rising infection rates and uncertainty around the new coronavirus' Omicron variant, however, it won't be surprising if there are more until this latest wave dies down.
The move also underscores the persistent risks for retail staff at many stores, not just Apple's. While many retail employees have to wear masks and share their health statuses, they can't necessarily avoid sick customers —and there are concerns Apple store managers may have pressured subordinates to come in despite showing COVID-19 symptoms. Stores can minimize risks, but they can't completely avoid them so long as the disease persists.
The wait is over. Following an announcement at WWDC 2021, Apple has released Swift Playgrounds 4.0. The update is a significant one for the app, which both kids and adults can use to learn the company’s Swift programming language. For the first time, the software allows you to build both iPhone and iPad apps directly on your iPad. You can now also use your tablet to upload your creations to the App Store.
Additionally, Swift Playgrounds 4.0 comes with a host of quality-of-life enhancements. For instance, you can preview changes to your app as you make them in real-time. And speaking of previews, you can now see how they look in full-screen mode. Apple has also added inline suggestions to help users write code quickly and accurately. The project search feature is more robust too since it can now find results across multiple files. Rounding out the list of improvements is a feature for moving your projects between Playgrounds and Xcode and back again.
