Land Rover executives unveiled the latest iteration of the company's renowned flagship on Tuesday, showing off a strikingly well-appointed 5th generation SUV that's also surprisingly friendly to the environment, if not your budget.

The company's emphasis on modernism is on full display with the 2023 Range Rover's exterior. A gently sloping roofline contrasted against a rising sill line as well as other classic design details are joined by state-of-the-art amenities like retractable exterior door handles to help improve the vehicle's aerodynamic performance by nearly 12 percent compared to its previous iterations. The entire vehicle is built on Land Rover's new MLA-Flex architecture allowing for 11.6 inches of ground clearance and fording through more than 35 inches of water. 

Land Rover

An electronic air suspension, which debuted on the Range Rover back in 1992, will keep random road divots from detracting from the drive while the new Dynamic Response Pro system will electronically negate body roll during high speed cornering. Coolest of all, the 2023 Range Rover will offer 4-wheel steering, enabling the rear wheels to turn up to 7 degrees to help maintain stability while cornering as well as reducing the Range Rover's low-speed turning radius to rival that of a Honda Civic.

In terms of powertrains, the new Range Rover offers a slew of options. The base models will come with a 48V mild-hybrid 3.0L Turbocharged I6 — turning out 395 hp and 406 ft-lbs of torque — standard. Above that, a 523 hp (553 ft-lbs of torque) 4.4L Twin Turbo V8 is available as well. By the time the Range Rover hits US shores in 2023, Land Rover expects to offer it with an optional 434 hp plug-in hybrid engine capable of travelling up to 62 miles on electric power alone using its 38.2 kWh battery. And, come 2024, Land Rover has announced plans to offer its flagship with an all-electric drivetrain. 

But the luxury shown off during Tuesday's livestream comes at a price. A very steep price. The entry level P400 SE starts at $104,000 ($110,000 if you opt for the 7 seater variant) and climes to a whopping $163,500 for the P530 First Edition with the long wheelbase. Preorders for the new Range Rover are already open and deliveries are expected to begin next spring.

The Senate Commerce Committee just wrapped up another three-hour hearing about social media’s effect on children and teens. But the latest hearing was different from previous ones in an important way: it featured representatives from TikTok, Youtube and Snap.

Though the three apps are some of the most popular apps among teens and younger users, all three have gotten less attention from lawmakers than Facebook and even Twitter. It was the first time TikTok and Snap had appeared at such a hearing. All three companies tried to head off criticism by drawing distinctions between their platforms and Facebook, which has recently drawn comparisons to tobacco companies. And each company promised new features to ramp up parental controls and other child protections on their service.

YouTube VP Leslie Miller said the company was working on a new feature that would allow parents to “choose a locked default autoplay setting” in the YouTube Kids app, in addition to other new parental controls. She didn’t provide further detail, but said it would launch “in the coming months.”

Snap also said it was working on new features for parents, with Jennifer Stout, the company’s VP of Global Public Policy, saying the features would be “rolling out very soon.” She said the update would allow parents to view information about how their children are using Snapchat, such as who they spend the most time chatting with and what their privacy and location settings are.

TikTok said it would add additional controls to allow parents and children to better customize their feeds, but was light on specifics. “We're investing in new ways for our community to enjoy content based on age appropriateness or family comfort,” said Michael Beckerman, the company’s VP of Public Policy, “We're developing more features that empower people to shape and customize their experience in the app.”

But the senators of the Commerce Committee seemed unimpressed by these promises. Throughout the hearing, they pushed the companies on issues like algorithmically-boosted content about eating disorders and self harm on YouTube and TikTok. Snap’s Stout was pushed on what the company is doing to stop drug dealers on its platform.

Several Republican senators also pushed Beckerman on TikTok’s ties to Chinese parent company ByteDance, and how it handles US user data. In one particularly memorable exchange, Senator Ted Cruz said Beckerman was dodging questions about TikTok’s affiliation with a company called Beijing ByteDance Technology, which reportedly has links to the Chinese government. Beckerman also deflected questions about what data TikTok collects by saying Facebook and Instagram collect more data about users than TikTok does.

Though Facebook wasn’t officially part of the hearing, disclosures from whistleblower Frances Haugen were referenced several times. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who at a previous hearing said Facebook and other companies were facing a “big tobacco moment,” said that “tech is not irredeemably bad like big tobacco.”

But he said that the companies need to do much more than prove they are “different” from Facebook. “I understand from your testimony that your defense is ‘we’re not Facebook,’” he said. “Being different from Facebook is not a defense. That bar is in the gutter. It's not a defense to say that you are different.”

GM is close to launching a new wave of electric vehicles, and it's making sure the charging infrastructure is in place to keep those EVs on the road. The automaker has launched a community charging initiative that will install as many as 40,000 Level 2 charging stations across North America. The program will give dealers up to 10 chargers they can place at "key locations" in their neighborhoods, such as apartments, colleges and businesses. The units won't be limited to GM EV drivers.

These chargers will also be available to buy directly both through dealerships and online. GM ultimately plans three chargers, including a basic 11.5kW/48-amp model, a "premium" version of that charger (with touchscreen and camera) and a more powerful 19.2kW/80-amp model. The community effort starts in 2022 and is part of a larger $750 million investment through Ultium Charge 360.

Level 2 charging isn't very fast. This is more like a wall charger you'd buy for your home (where overnight charging is fine) than a speedy option like a Tesla Supercharger or Electrify America's fast stations. The distribution also isn't quite as good as it sounds. Dealers may want to install multiple stations in one location to minimize queuing.

This could still be welcome news. Many charging network expansions focus on high-powered chargers intended for long-distance trips. GM's community program caters more to daily driving, where you might just need top-ups. It could be particularly useful for some apartments, though. Residents in those buildings rarely have options to recharge at home, and this might make EVs practical without foisting expenses on building owners and tenants.

After debuting on Samsung Galaxy devices at the start of September, WhatsApp’s cross-platform chat history transfer feature is now rolling out to the wider Android ecosystem. Starting today, you can move your entire message history, including any voice memos, photos and videos, from an iPhone to an Android device.

However, unlike with Samsung phones, where the feature is available on devices running Android 10 and above, here it’s limited to phones with Android 12. Effectively, that means it’s only accessible to those with Pixel devices at the moment, but Google says it will also soon come to new smartphones that launch with its latest mobile OS. As before, the process also isn’t as straightforward as other chat apps offer. You’ll need a Lightning to USB-C cable to connect your two phones together. What’s more, it involves a QR code you need to scan when first setting up your new Android phone.

Blizzard won’t host a BlizzConline event in early 2022 as it previously said it would. Back at the end of May, when it canceled BlizzCon 2021, the studio said its plan was to put on a global event at the start of 2022 that would feature both in-person and online components. Now that won’t happen.

“Any BlizzCon event takes every single one of us to make happen, an entire-company effort, fueled by our desire to share what we create with the community we care about so much,” the company said. “At this time, we feel the energy it would take to put on a show like this is best directed towards supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences.”

Without directly referencing the sexual harassment scandal that has rocked the studio in recent months, Blizzard notes it plans to take time to “reimagine” BlizzCon. “Whatever the event looks like in the future, we also need to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible,” it said.

It’s no surprise Blizzard wants to rework the event. One of the most serious allegations made by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing involved BlizzCon. According to the agency, the annual show was the site of the infamous “Cosby Suite” where Blizzard employees, including former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi, allegedly sexually harassed women.

It didn't take long to greenlight a follow-up to Denis Villeneuve's Dune. Legendary Pictures has confirmed plans to release Dune: Part Two, saying it was "excited to the continue the journey." The studio expects the movie to premiere October 20th, 2023, and it's safe to presume Part Two will cover the back half of Frank Herbert's classic novel.

The move isn't shocking. Villeneuve clearly wanted to finish telling Paul Atreides' story, but the movie also fared better than expected. Deadlinenoted that Dune racked up $41 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend. That's not as strong as movies like Shang-Chi ($71.4 million) and a far cry from pre-pandemic openings, but it's the best opening for a Warner Bros. movie with simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max releases this year.

It's not yet clear how much the HBO Max launch helped (or hindered) Dune's theatrical premiere. However, Villeneuve won't have to worry about a simultaneous streaming release for Part Two. Warner Bros. is returning to theater-first openings starting in 2022. Like it or not, you'll have to brave the crowds and buy tickets if you insist on watching the follow-up as soon as possible.

The Federal Communications Commission has revoked the ability of China Telecom Americas to operate in the US. Citing national security concerns, the agency voted unanimously in favor of a proposal it had been considering since the end of 2020. With today’s order, the company, a subsidiary of China’s largest state-owned carrier, has 60 days to discontinue telecom services in the US.

Following a proceeding that involved input from the Justice Department, the FCC found that China Telecom is likely to comply with requests from the Chinese government, affording the country the opportunity to access, store, disrupt and misroute US communications. “Promoting national security is an integral part of the Commission’s responsibility to advance the public interest, and today’s action carries out that mission to safeguard the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure from potential security threats,” the FCC said.

Over the last year, the FCC has taken similar actions against other Chinese telecoms and equipment manufacturers. Most notably, it labeled both Huawei and ZTE as national security threats and ordered US carriers to replace any networking equipment from the two companies.

We've reached out to China Telecom Americas for comment.

Even though Valve usually keeps the dates of Steam sales close to the chest until almost the time they go live, the details usually end up leaking anyway. This time, though, Valve is getting ahead of the curve. It confirmed when the next three sales will take place.

As spotted by Eurogamer, the Steamworks Documentation page notes that the Steam Halloween sale is this weekend and it runs between October 28th and November 1st. The autumn sale will take place from November 24th-30th. As for the Steam winter sale, one of the platform's two biggest sales of the year alongside the summer edition, you'll be able to score discounts on a ton of games between December 22nd and January 5th.

It's not a bad idea to reveal the dates well in advance. Steam connoisseurs know the sales are coming anyway and the dates are less important than announcing which games will be included beforehand. If a player knows that a game they want to buy will likely get a hefty discount in a couple of months, they'll be less inclined to buy it now. In any case, Steam users now know when they'll be able to stockpile games for their Steam Deck.

Now that 5G phones are more affordable, Qualcomm wants to make those low-cost devices more desirable. The company has introduced three new systems-on-chip that all promise improved performance for budget 5G hardware. The star is easily the Snapdragon 695. This 6nm-based sequel to the 690 adds much faster millimeter wave 5G (important for carriers like AT&T and Verizon) while delivering up to 30 percent faster graphics and 15 percent speedier CPU tasks. Your next mid-range phone might be that much better-suited to gaming and giant downloads.

The Snapdragon 480 Plus and 778G Plus, meanwhile, are iterations of the 480 and 778G that deliver minor gains to CPU and GPU performance through increased clock speeds. Think of them as tune-ups for entry-level and upper-mid-range phones, respectively — you won't have to make do with a chip several months old.

There's also a lone LTE chip, the Snapdragon 680, that shares the 695's 6nm process without the added costs of 5G. It's aimed at markets where 5G service is either limited or too expensive.

All four parts are due to reach shipping products before the end of 2021. Honor, Motorola, Nokia (that is, HMD Global), Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi all expect to use one or more of the new Snapdragons in their phones.

There's a pragmatism at work. The 6nm parts (including the 778G Plus) help Qualcomm continue to serve a large chunk of the smartphone market despite limited supplies of 5nm parts like the 780G. It doesn't have to rely on truly old process lStill, it's notable that the chip maker is launching so many speed-bumped chips in the first place — the company is clearly determined to fend off heavyweights like MediaTek that thrive on budget and mid-range hardware.

After introducing the $80 YubiKey Bio and $85 YubiKey C Bio at the start of the month, Yubico’s latest physical security is for those who want a no-frills option. At $29 or €29, the Security Key C NFC comes with almost everything you could want from a security key at a decent price. As the name suggests, it’s a USB-C key with NFC support built-in. Out of the box, it works with FIDO-compatible websites and services. That includes major platforms like Google, Twitter and Facebook. Yubico also claims it’s the most durable security key on the market. What you won't find here is support for legacy authentication platforms, but for most consumers that shouldn't matter too much. 

If you're not familiar with physical security keys, they're one of the most effective ways to protect your privacy and security when used to add two-factor authentication to your online accounts. In 2018, Google reduced successful phishing attacks on its 85,000 employees to zero thanks to a policy that mandated their use. The Security Key C NFC is available to buy today from Yubico’s website. The company also offers a USB-A version that costs $25.