YouTube might have ditched the annual Rewind series, but it's still planning to send off the year in style. An interactive 24-hour livestream event called Escape2021 will take place on December 16th.

Using the live chat, users will participate in challenges based on trends from this year, get involved in "real-time experience" and answer trivia questions, as Adweek notes. When viewers complete all of the challenges, they'll be able to watch a musical performance from a mystery guest.

There will be three "chapters" within the stream to give viewers around the world a chance to take part. They start at midnight, noon and 7PM ET. As well as in English, Escape2021 will stream in German, French, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.

YouTube has roped in some superstar artists such as BTS and Doja Cat. Expect many popular YouTubers to appear as well, including Mark Rober, AyChristeneGames, Muselk and Jelle’s Marble Runs. LoFi Girl (of "beats to relax/study to" fame) is the protagonist of Escape2021 and she'll be featured at the start of the stream and in between the three chapters.

Following a private beta release in 2020, Horizon Worlds is now available to download for free in the US and Canada. The only caveat is that you need to be 18 or older to access the social VR playground. With today’s announcement, Meta is also debuting a new minigame inside of Horizon Worlds called Arena Clash. It’s a three-on-three take on laser tag.

The company’s hope is that users will do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to creating the experiences that will turn Horizon Worlds into something people want to visit regularly. To that end, you’ll find new templates and mechanics you can use to create your own games. Similarly, it’s now also possible to modify working scripts for that same purpose.

Horizon Worlds is one of the pillars of Meta’s metaverse strategy, but what the technology will actually look like once you get past the flashy demos the company showed off at its recent Connect conference is hard to say. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described it as “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” Beyond that, however, the company has yet to present a cohesive vision of where the technology is headed.

If you've been putting off placing a reservation for Ford's upcoming EV F-150, you're in for some bad news. There aren't any more. Reservations, I mean. The company has reportedly received 200,000 orders for the model and aren't taking any more. 

As Ford CEO, Jim Farley, announced on a live airing of CNBC Investing Club Thursday, “we are completely oversubscribed with our battery electric vehicles, Lightning especially.”

“We had to stop reservations we got so many,” he added. “We stopped at 200,000, and those are orders. Hard orders.” That's unlike the Maverick, which saw 100,000 reservations in the first two months after its debut but did not require potential buyers to actually put down a cash deposit so anyone could add their name to the list, financially risk-free. 

Even with this newly installed cap, Ford faces a significant production challenge. Farley noted during the show that full production capacity for the Lightning currently sits at “70,000 or 80,000 units." Don't fret if you're already on the reservation list, Ford is already looking for ways to boost its EV output. 

“We’re going to try to double that,” Farley told CNBC host Jim Cramer. “We’ve done it in the past. Don’t bet against Ford when we have to increase capacity. This is what we do.”

Initial deliveries for the F-150 Lightning are slated for the middle of 2022. 

GM will take the wraps from its Silverado EV at CES 2022, but you'll have to wait considerably longer to put one in your garage. According to Automotive News, GM has revealed that its mainstream electric pickup will enter production in early 2023 ahead of sales late that year. It's arriving well after the Hummer EV pickup ships this December, then, and months after the electric Hummer SUV (now slated for early 2023).

The automaker is still shy on details, although it has already teased a few key details. The Silverado EV will share the same drivetrain and Ultium battery tech as the Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq, with promises of over 400 miles of range and four-wheel steering. The regular version will have a glass roof that adds to the perceived interior space, and there will be fleet variants for workplace buyers.

The timing isn't ideal. The electric Silverado will surface over a year after its expected main rival, Ford's F-150 Lightning. Tesla's Cybertruck might arrive sooner, too. And while pricing is still unknown, there's a chance the Rivian R1T might siphon some of Chevy's customers for the next two years. Simply put, the CES unveiling could be crucial to sparking interest and setting expectations — buyers will want to know if the Silverado is worth the extra patience.

Women's hockey teams are coming to EA Sports' NHL games for the first time. The publisher will bring 10 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) women's teams to the Play Now mode in NHL 22 in January. You'll be able to play as Team USA and Team Canada, among others. The update will also add the tournament structure and visuals of the Women's World Championships.

"The introduction of women's national teams to NHL 22 as part of the upcoming IIHF content will be an important moment for the franchise in its continued effort to reflect the diversity of the hockey community," EA Sports vice president Sean Ramjagsingh told ESPN.

The move is long overdue. Other major sports games franchises have added women's teams over the last several years. Women players were introduced to EA's FIFA series in 2015, while NBA 2K20 was the first game in the 2K Games franchise to feature the WNBA.

Meanwhile, starting today, NHL 22 includes IIHF men's and junior teams. You can play through the IIHF World Junior Championship now and the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship next month. The branding and jerseys for men's national teams will be updated in January too.

This has been another rough year for many of us, but there have perhaps been more high points than in 2020, with families and friends reuniting and vacations becoming a bit more viable. To give you another way to reflect upon 2021, Instagram is rolling out a feature called Playback.

Starting today, the app will create a Playback using up to ten of your Stories. You'll be able to remove some of the Stories and add your own through the Stories archive. A message will appear on the feed that asks if you'd like to create or modify your Playback. Instagram says that if you see a Story with a 2021 sticker, you can tap on it to see and share your own Playback. The feature will only be available for a few weeks, so folks can "celebrate and reflect on 2021 ahead of the New Year," according to Instagram.

Over the last few years, many Instagram users have been using third-party apps to create a collage of their top nine most-liked posts of the year, which they can share in the main feed or Stories. Given how popular the top nice grid is each year, it would have been nice to see Instagram offer that feature in its own app. It seems Playback will have to suffice for now.

Paramount+ is offering folks another way to watch ViacomCBS' vast library of shows. The streaming services now includes live channels (just like TV!). 

The initial batch of 18 channels includes one focused entirely on Star Trek, which will stream episodes from new shows like Discovery and Picard and classics such as Enterprise and The Next Generation. There are franchise-specific channels for Survivor, The Challenge, PAW Patrol and SpongeBob Squarepants too.

The other channels focus on themes and/or genres, including drama, comedy, adult animation, Black voices, crime and justice and reality shows. "Nostalgic Hits" showcases hit series from the '80s and '90s, including Cheers, Frasier and Wings. "TV Classics" goes a bit further back with episodes from the likes of I Love Lucy, The Love Boat and The Twilight Zone. 

There are several kid-friendly channels too, such as "Animation Favorites," "Kids & Family Fun" and "Preschool Corner." Later this month, Paramount+ will add two more live channels: Movies and one focused on RuPaul's Drag Race. In addition to these channels, the platform offers live sports, breaking news from CBSN and, for Premium subscribers, a live stream of their local CBS station.

ViacomCBS says the live channels, which are available to all paid Paramount+ subscribers, were "inspired and informed" by Pluto TV, its free streaming platform. Pluto TV founder Tom Ryan became president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming last year. 

You probably already know about the conveniences an Instant Pot can provide, but choosing the right size can be a tricky task. If you've been on the hunt for a good deal on a large multi-cooker, Walmart has the 8-quart Instant Pot Duo Nova for only $59 right now. That's nearly half off the price it's going for on Amazon right now as well as the lowest we've seen in a long time.

This particular Instant Pot is a Walmart exclusive, but it's almost identical to the standard Duo Nova aside from its front panel looking a bit different. It's an upgraded version of the Instant Pot Duo, adding a lid that automatically seals shut when you close it. It's a 7-in-1 device, combining a pressure cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, cake maker, slow cooker, egg cooker and sauté machine into one. You're also getting a number of different one-touch cooking programs for things like soup, meat and stew, porridge and more, taking even more of the guesswork out of preparing a meal for your family. And with the 8-quart model, you'll be able to prepare a lot of food — it's arguably the best size for large families and those who entertain often.

The number of Instant Pot models has grown over the years to the point that there's almost a confusing number of these devices available. Some are more straightforward than others, like the Duo Crisp, which includes an air-fry mode and comes with the appropriate lid for it. But the Duo Nova remains a solid option for newbies as it combines the convenience of a pressure cooker with a bunch of other functions in a relatively counter-friendly appliance. You may need to make a bit more space for the 8-quart model in your kitchen, but it's a small price to pay for all of the cooking time you'll get back while using it.

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It's a sad moment for gamers. Kotakureports Masayuki Uemura, the lead creator of the Famicom and Super Famicom (aka NES and SNES), died on December 6th at the age of 78. He started working at Sharp, where he sold solar cell and light sensor technology, but he's best remembered for a long and highly influential run at Nintendo that effectively revived the video game industry following the 1983 crash.

Uemura first became involved with Nintendo after the company's Gunpei Yokoi asked about using Sharp solar cells to produce light gun games. The future console designer joined Nintendo in 1971, and the company released gun games that included a home-friendly game called Duck Hunt (yes, the predecessor of the NES title). Company president Hiroshi Yamauchi put Uemura in charge of the R&D2 division responsible for hardware, including consoles, and in November 1981 famously called Uemura asking him to build a machine that lets you play arcade games on your TV. The result was 1983's Famicom, the system that would become the NES outside of Japan.

You know at least some of what happened next. The Famicom and NES were wild successes, selling nearly 62 million units combined and rejuvenating interest in home consoles. Uemura then led work on the Super Famicom, whose global launch as the SNES further cemented Nintendo's reputation. He also produced some NES games, including Ice Climber and three sports titles. He retired from Nintendo in 2004, but continued to serve as an advisor and would go on to teach and research video games as a professor at Ritsumeikan University.

It's hard to overstate Uemura's influence. The video game business as it exists today arguably owes much to the skill of Uemura and his team when they designed their first TV consoles. He also helped grow Japan's overall tech industry by making Nintendo a global force in electronics. While he certainly wasn't the only star at Nintendo, he was one of the most directly influential.

The holiday shopping season is one of the best times of the year to look for a robot vacuum. Since many are quite expensive, you'll usually find good discounts during this time, and even some of the most budget-friendly models can be on sale. Today, Amazon has a one-day sale on a mid-range Shark robo-vac that brings the machine down to its lowest price yet. The Shark AV2001 robot vacuum with AI navigation is on sale for $300, or $130 off its normal price.

Shark took the top spot in our budget robot vacuum guide, and this model is more advanced and has more suction power than the one we tested. It has a self-cleaning brush roll that will help it pick up debris and even pet hair more easily, and it supports UltraClean Mode, which lets you deep clean specific rooms of your home. It moves through your home in neat rows thanks to its AI laser navigation system and it should bump into furniture less than other robo-vacs thanks to its ability to detect and avoid objects four inches high or taller.

The AV2001 also has precision home mapping with LiDAR, which means it'll learn the layout of your home as it cleans the first few times. You can then use the companion mobile app to send the machine to clean your bedroom only, and you can also set "no-go" zones to block off certain areas. The mobile app also lets you control the robot from anywhere and set cleaning schedules, and since it's compatible with Alexa and the Google Assistant, you could do all that with voice commands if you prefer. While it doesn't have a clean base like some higher-end robot vacuums do, it does come with a dock that it'll automatically return to once it's done cleaning or when it's battery has run low. All of those features make it a pretty capable robo-vac and a good option if you've been holding out for a good deal on a mid-range device.

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