A host of features are being added to Google's Android Auto experience, and the company's Automotive OS will come to more cars including, for the first time, Honda vehicles from 2022 onwards.
Google introduced its Android Auto app in 2015, enabling drivers to run a tethered connection between their smartphone and their vehicle’s stereo system to play music from the device, have Maps’ turn-by-turn directions be read aloud, and take calls through the sound system. In the six years since, both Android Auto and the infotainment systems they operate on have gotten a whole lot smarter. On Thursday, Google announced that it will be rolling out even more features and capabilities to drivers, whether they run Android Auto on their phones or directly through their cars.
While Android Auto has been designed to minimize distractions to the driver when on the road, initially connecting the phone to the infotainment or stereo system has to date been a whole thing. You’d have to make sure the Bluetooth radio was live on your phone, then cajole the vehicle into recognizing and pairing with the device, then remember the myriad various oral commands to incite Android Auto into doing what you actually wanted it to. But no longer! Drivers will soon be able to effectively automate the tethering process just by saying “Hey Google, let’s drive.”
What’s more, Google has redesigned the Auto UI to enable access to a bevy of content sources including Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRadio, JioSaavn, Pandora, Podcast Addict, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music with one-tap accessibility as well as have the system read incoming text messages aloud and allow the driver to respond by voice. Expect to see these new features arrive over the next few weeks in English-speaking markets as well as Germany, Spain, Mexico, France and Italy.
And for international travelers using dual-SIM phones, Android Auto will allow you to establish separate Work and Personal profiles and have their relevant contact lists and calendar appointments display, depending on when and why they’re behind the wheel.
For vehicles with in-car displays, Android Auto (the mirroring version, not what you’d find on the Polestar 2 or the XC40 Recharge) will soon boast a few new features, such as games. Google is partnering with GameSnacks to offer drivers quick and fun diversions to play while the vehicle is parked. Finally, an end to doom-scrolling while sitting in public charging lots. Conversely, Google is making paying for gas less interactive. Just say “Hey Google, pay for gas” to have the vehicle’s infotainment system complete a contactless payment with Google Pay. You do have to select the fuel grade and, you know, actually pump the gas but, still. The feature will be available at Exxon and Mobil gas stations to start with support for Shell, Conoco, Phillips 66 and 76 stations coming soon.
As for the integrated Android Automotive OS (like what you’d find in select Ford, GM, and Volvo vehicles), get ready to see it in a whole bunch of new makes and models. Google announced on Thursday that its latest partner is Honda, which will begin producing vehicles with built-in AAOS come the 2022 model year, and will soon be available in both the Chevy Silverado and the Renault Mégane E-Tech.
Google has introduced quite a lengthy list of Android features, including new accessibility tools for the mobile OS that rely on eye and facial gestures. Starting this week, users will see a new addition to the Android Accessibility Suite that can turn a phone's front-facing camera into a switch. Aptly called Camera Switch, the tool replaces keyboards, mice and touchscreen displays as a device's input method. With the feature, users will be able to navigate their phones with eye movements or with facial features, such as smiling or opening and closing their mouths. The tech giant started beta testing it in August, but it's now giving the feature a wider rollout.
Google
The tech giant has also launched a new application called Project Activate specifically for those don’t speak or have neurological conditions. Its purpose is to make it easier for the users to communicate with other people. They can program the app to speak phrases like "Please, wait!" when they move their eyes a certain way or make a gesture with their face. The application can also be programmed to play audio, make phone calls or send texts, such as emergency messages seeking assistance.
Finally, Google has updated its Lookout app with handwriting recognition. It can now read out handwritten and printed text for Latin-based languages while in Documents mode. Further, it can now recognize Euro and Indian Rupee in currency mode, with Google planning to add support for more currencies in the future. The tech giant first announced Lookout back in 2018 as a way to provide Blind individuals and people with visual impairments spoken notifications about their environment. Google added food and document scanning to its capabilities in 2020, along with support for languages other than English.
The following contains spoilers for episode three of 'Star Wars: Visions' and episode seven of 'What If...?'
Back in the days when DVD was king, I remember there was a trend of making animated tie-ins for live-action franchises. There were direct-to-video features for Chronicles of Riddick, Van Helsing and, the most famous project of them all, The Animatrix. Nearly 20 years later, streaming reigns supreme and services like Disney+ seem to be returning to the idea, but bigger and grander with shows like Marvel’s What If…? and Star Wars: Visions.
Visions, premiering this week, is probably the more ambitious of the two, enlisting talent from various Japanese anime studios to create short films about different aspects of the Star Wars universe. The list includes juggernauts like Trigger (Kill la Kill, Promare) Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Haikyu!!) and Science SARU (Devilman Crybaby, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!). Unlike The Animatrix, Lucasfilm was content to mostly hand over the reins to these studios, creating shorts that differ in tone, style and, most notably, continuity.
Robot Jedi? Sith twins? Intergalactic rock band whose members include a Hutt and a former Jedi padawan? It’s an intriguing array of concepts, but as a long-time Star Wars fan I couldn’t tell you how they fit into the timeline. If they fit in, at all. Visions is more about taking some base concepts — the Force, the Jedi, the Sith — and playing around with them in each studio’s unique style. It reminds me the most of Batman: Gotham Knight from 2008, a collection of shorts also by various anime studios, including Production I.G. The one thing that DC Entertainment has always had going for it is the variety of TV and movie adaptations it’s had going on independently of each other, where audiences just understood that these weren’t meant to be connected in any way.
Lucasfilm
However, even for DC things have been changing in that regard, especially after last year’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. For years now, the TV “Berlanti-verse” has been flirting with continuity, not just in how The Flash was a spinoff of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow was a spinoff of both, but even having the Flash and Supergirl meet up even though they were on different networks and in different universes.
DC
“Crisis” upped the ante by merging these separate worlds in the end, while also confirming almost every other DC-based TV show as part of the bigger multiverse. It was great for fans who obsessively watch every comic book program they can, but less so for people who would rather keep their viewing limited and compartmentalized.
On the other side, Marvel didn’t have the same deep catalog as DC did, with its live-action MCU franchise only taking off 13 years ago. Marvel Studios was perfectly happy to wipe the slate clean of everything that had come before, from the 1989 Punisher film to 2007’s Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage. Since then everything live-action has tied into the universe somehow, including Netflix shows like Daredevil, Hulu shows like Runaways and the Freeform show Cloak & Dagger. This was great for someone committed to the franchise, but could be daunting to casual viewers.
It also presented some creative constraints. Everything Marvel now had to fit in with the larger MCU somehow, so once a character appeared another movie or show couldn’t present its own take on the same person (alas, poor Inhumans). They couldn’t have world-shaking events outside of, say, the Avengers films — at least, not without making some kind of excuse why Captain America or Thor couldn’t just come charging in. Everything had to be carefully planned out as the universe expanded and connected internally.
That’s partly why the show What If…? exists. Sure, it’s based on a pre-existing comic series, but what both show and comic do is allow creators free rein with the characters and events of the Marvel Universe, experimenting to see what would happen if you change one or two things. Though this week’s is hardly a “slight” difference.
Marvel Studios
The point of divergence here is that Odin doesn’t adopt Loki as his son, leaving Thor to become an arrogant, spoiled child who prefers to party rather than take his duties as the would-be king of Asgard seriously. How is he still worthy of Mjolnir? We have no idea and the episode isn’t interested in telling us. Instead we’re shown how Thor likes to take the Warriors Three on long benders across the galaxy, with his next destination being the “backwater” of Earth. And everyone’s invited — Drax, Rocket, Howard the Duck, the Grandmaster and even Loki and the other ice giants who somehow, are friends with Thor anyway in this reality. When you consider why and how these characters got involved in the “main” timeline in the first place, it really doesn’t add up.
Marvel Studios
You could just try to enjoy it at face value, as just a silly story with no larger bearing on continuity. However, the point has been made repeatedly that this show is technically, in continuity, and not just in the sense that the Marvel Universe consists of many realities and everything is valid somewhere. While other comics and shows can be given an official universe “number” like 616 or 1,999,999 and just written off as a huge divergence from what we know, the concept of What If…? is that it shows us incremental changes from the MCU in particular. But the divergences shown in this week’s episode are far more than incremental, with an offbeat, cartoonish tone to match. It’s the least What If-like What If…? installment so far.
Unfortunately, like most of the episodes so far, it still ends on a downbeat, one that’s sort of rushed in and not explained. I can’t even imagine how we ended up with a Vision-Ultron hybrid in possession of the Infinity Stones and, unless this episode gets a sequel, it doesn’t really matter. The ending is just a non sequitur to affirm, as every episode does, that the regular MCU sequence of events is the “correct one.” It’s tacked on, and makes what was already a messy adventure even worse.
Lucasfilm
This is where the strength of Star Wars: Visions lies. There’s no attempt to tie the episodes to each other or the larger Star Wars universe. It lets each installment stand on its own as an homage to the larger “ideas” of Star Wars, while also showcasing the idiosyncrasies of each studio. The third episode, “The Twins,” is a great example of this in action. There’s a lightsaber fight on the hull of a Star Destroyer! No one is wearing environmental suits! They’re yelling at each other despite a lack of air! People’s clothes explode off their bodies! It doesn’t make a damn lick of sense, but it doesn’t have to, because it’s not meant to be more than a bit of fun.
Europe may require all manufacturers to use USB-C charging for all phones and electronic devices, according to a new EU Commission ruling proposal. It aims to reduce e-waste and "consumer inconvenience" caused by different and incompatible chargers still in use. The Commission also wants manufacturers to unbundle the sale of chargers with electronic devices.
"With today's proposal... USB-C will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles," according to the report.
The EU said its work with industry has managed to reduce the number of mobile phone chargers from 30 to 3 over the last decade. One of those three is Apple's Lightning port used by around 20 percent of devices sold in Europe. The EU hopes to change that situation, according to a statement by executive VP Margrethe Vestager:
European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers. We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions.
When a common charger was first voted on by the EU last year, Apple issued a statement saying that the proposal would "stifle innovation," and its position has not changed. "We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world," an Apple spokesperson told the BBC.
Since the launch of the iPhone 12, however, Apple has stopped including chargers in the box, something it said would save 861,000 tons of copper, zinc and tin. Apple itself now uses USB-C charging on its latest Mac laptops and certain iPad models, since that standard supports higher voltage charging required for larger devices.
Nearly all Android smartphones now use USB-C charging, and many models from Samsung and others are sold with charging/data cables but not chargers. It total, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices sold in Europe just in the last year.
The EU throws away 12,000 tons of chargers each year, some unused, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, consumers spend around 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) on standalone chargers not included with devices. The law is still in the proposal stages and needs to be passed by EU lawmakers and governments, so it could come into force around two years after that.
Despite being more than a year old, Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds remain our favorites if you're looking for the best sound quality you can get. But they're pretty pricey at $300, and we rarely see them drop lower than $250. But both Amazon and Sennheiser direct have them right now for $200, or $100 off their normal price, making it a great time to upgrade to a better pair of wireless earbuds without completely emptying your wallet.
Sennheiser brought its audio expertise into its wireless earbuds and it resulted in stellar audio quality that remains unmatched. Out of the box, the True Wireless 2 have a warm, inviting tone, with an audio profile that highlights the subtle details in songs. You're able to customize the EQ in its companion mobile app if you want more bass or something similar, but these buds don't require the manual adjustments that some other earbuds do to sound their best. The active noise-cancellation is good as well, blocking out most surrounding noises, but unlike other buds, there are no ANC levels to choose from — just on and off.
We also appreciate the True Wireless 2's small, comfortable size, customizable controls and handy mobile app. As far as battery life goes, these buds should last for seven hours before they need more juice and unfortunately they don't support wireless charging. But our biggest complaint about Sennheiser's buds have always been their high price tag — and this sale fixes that.
But if the True Wireless 2 still fall outside your budget, Amazon has the white model of the Sennheiser CX 400BT wireless earbuds on sale as well for $90. That's $100 off their normal price and a record low. These are the company's midrange wireless buds and they were just replaced by the CX Plus series. The CX 400BT have a 7mm dynamic driver, customizable controls, voice assistant support and up to 20 hours of battery life with its case.
This post contains major spoilers for season two, episode seven of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks.’
Artificial intelligence has been baked into the Star Trek universe since the original series. Kirk and his crew occasionally faced off against computers gone amok, including Nomad, Landru and the M-5. The only way to defeat these digital villains was to outwit them using logic, which caused them to self-destruct. But in The Next Generation, the franchise became more interested in exploring the personhood of artificial beings like Data and hisfamily, Voyager’s holographic doctor or the exocomps. This week, Lower Decks dredges up the old-style megalomaniacal AI and asks, are you really sure about those rights?
The USS Cerritos is once more called upon to help out a civilization enslaved by an evil computer, this one called Agimus (voiced by long-time Trek actor Jeffrey Combs). Disconnected from his network of drones, he’s actually pretty pathetic, desperately begging the organic beings around him to just hook him up to a computer. All that’s left for Starfleet to do is to drop him off at the Daystrom Institute, which isn’t the most glamorous of jobs, so of course Beckett Mariner and Bradward Boimler end up on this particular babysitting gig.
CBS
A gravimetric shear complicates things for the pair, forcing their shuttle to crash on a barren world with only the pleading voice of Agimus to keep them company. The computer uses this opportunity to pit the two against each other, continuing a plot thread that we thought had been settled two episodes ago. Beckett still doesn’t trust Brad's abilities despite all they’vebeen through. It feels like a regression or perhaps even a mis-scheduled episode, except that we the audience still see his growth while his supposed best friend doubts him. It’s a plot line unlikely to go away after a few episodes, reaffirming this show’s commitment to character-driven storytelling.
However, that breadth of characterization doesn’t really apply to Agimus. He’s really just… kind of a jerk, and he doesn’t have the ability to directly influence anything due to his lack of arms and legs. Boimler and Mariner spend the entire episode lugging his box around: a sentient MacGuffin. If you’re not familiar with that term, it means an item (or person) that moves the plot forward and motivates the characters, but is not actually important in itself. With Agimus’s reign over, he really just serves here to get Mariner and Boimler at each other’s throats.
CBS
His status as a sentient being is never in question, but the problem of what to do with him as his behavior worsens goes in directions that would never come up for an organic individual. Mariner suggests burying him, a suggestion turned down by Boimler because he’s a sentient being and that’s not what Starfleet does. So it seems we have made some progress from the ol’ “destroy them with their own logic” days of TOS. But then the two ensigns end up burying him anyway, while Agamus protests that “he has rights!”
And yet Star Trek has always been a bit sketchy about what those rights are. While episodes like “The Measure of a Man” and “The Offspring” have reaffirmed Data’s humanity, it’s been contradicted since by events on Voyager and Picard. The Doctor asserted his authorial rights to a holonovel he created and won, but wasn’t actually recognized as a person. The question remained unanswered nearly 20 years later on Picard, with us only being shown holograms of limited capabilities, or those based on the personalities of other sentient beings (Rios’ crew). And fully synthetic beings like Data, ones with brains and bodies, were illegal after the attack on Mars.
CBS
Lower Decks takes place a mere year after the end of Voyager, so it’s free to pick up and explore some of those plot threads without that later baggage. But without a synthetic crew member on the USS Cerritos it can only glance off the subject. Agamus is dumped in a storage facility as just another “self-aware megalomaniacal computer,” not too dissimilar from the warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant is dumped at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Is it a prison? Did he get a trial? Are he and the other computers just going to sit there until the end of the Federation? From an ethical perspective it isn’t great, but it’s unlikely to ever be fully addressed, because who in Starfleet is really going to fight for the personhood of a computerized fascist dictator?
If you've been thinking of getting a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 — the model formerly given the Active moniker, not the Classic one — you may want to check out Amazon's Deal of the Day. Over the next 20 hours or so, the website is selling the wearable bundled with a fast charging wireless charger for up to 26 percent less than its original price. The bundles are even cheaper than the watches alone, and yes, the deal includes both 40mm and 44mm smartwatches in various colors, as well as both Bluetooth-only and LTE models.
The 40mm Bluetooth-only version bundled with a wireless charger will set you back $230, or $80 less its usual price. Meanwhile, its 44mm counterpart is now on sale for $260 instead of its usual retail price of $340. If you want the the capability to call, text and stream on the smartwatch without your phone, you'll need to get the LTE version. The 40mm LTE bundle is currently priced at $280, down $80 its typical retail price, while the 44mm LTE bundle is also listed at $80 less for $310 instead of $390.
In our Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review, we said the devices are still the best smartwatches around. They're the first models to run the new "Wear OS powered by Samsung," which allows you to download apps from the Play Store directly to your wrist. While the Classic has a spinning bezel and the non-Classic models don't, both versions feature upgraded biometric sensors, a body composition scanner and improved sleep tracking. The watches also come with gesture controls that let you answer or dismiss calls by flicking your wrist or lifting your arm.
Samsung just released a much pricier Thom Browne Edition Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. But if you'd rather not pay $799 for a smartwatch, head over to Amazon for the limited-time sale.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Microsoft has announced a small flotilla of new devices during its fall event, and there’s plenty of highlights to pick through. Most interesting, of course, is likely Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio, a notebook with a screen that pulls forward just like its desktop namesake. This replacement for the Surface Book 3 also turns into a tablet-esque PC, although its stacked design may divide users.
As we surmised a few days back, the Surface Pro 8 did get a fairly magnificent redesign with a new skinny-bezel, 13-inch 120Hz display, Thunderbolt 4 and new, faster internals. It’s been built with Windows 11 in mind and goes on sale when the new operating system arrives on October 5th. Thankfully, Microsoft allowed our chum Cherlynn Low behind the velvet rope to spend a little time with the Laptop Studio and Pro 8, so read this for all the juicy details.
Much as with the band U2, we also need to discuss the “other two” members of the lineup, the Surface Pro X and the Surface Go 3. For the former, the only real news is the new, cheaper WiFi-only model, which retails for $899, and the bundling of Windows 11. Similarly, the Surface Go 3 (arguably the Larry Mullen Jr. of Surface tablets) gets faster chip options but is, in most other regards, the same affordable but deeply underpowered device we already know and, uh, love.
On the mobile front, Microsoft announced the Surface Duo 2, its second-generation dual-screen Android smartphone. The most notable upgrade for this year is a triple camera system and a notification bar on the hinge, so you can see what’s going on without opening your phone. And yes, Cherlynn has already spent some time up close with the Surface Duo 2, and you can read all her impressions right here.
Microsoft also unveiled a bunch of other accessories, but the one that’s probably worth focusing on is the Adaptive Kit. It’s a set of add-ons that can help people with accessibility needs get around their Surface devices more easily. That includes raised port indicators, cable wraps and labels to help your fingers land on regularly used keys. Given Microsoft’s increasing focus on ensuring its devices are useful for everyone, products like this are always welcome.
If you’re interested in watching our edited highlights of the event, you can check out our supercut here, and if you’re already reaching for your wallet, here’s all the pre-order information you could possibly need or want.
The new iPad Mini is, more or less, a shrunken iPad Air, with USB-C, a TouchID-capable power button and an 8.3-inch display. What it packs in performance, style and support for the Apple Pencil 2, it lacks in ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack. Valentina Palladino has reviewed the new baby slate, finding that, despite all the changes, much of its basic utility has stayed the same. Sadly, that higher price might be a sticking point for all those folks who wanted an entry-level iPad that doesn’t cause your bank account to break into tears.
Everyone deserves a second chance to make a first impression, and it looks as if the second Marvel game has atoned for the sins of its predecessor. Jess Conditt dived into the world of Square Enix’s Guardians of the Galaxy and has come away pretty pleased. The characters may look and sound different to their cinematic counterparts, but they feel much more fleshed-out, and there’s a better emphasis on relationship building over button mashing. Conditt says the game has an emotional core that bodes well for the finished title, saying it already feels “way better” than Marvel’s Avengers.
Facebook shareholders believe the company overpaid its $5 billion FTC settlement in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to personally protect Mark Zuckerberg. Reports say the FTC was originally going to levy a fine closer to $106 million (yes, million). The smaller fee, however, was conditional on Zuckerberg himself being named as a defendant in the case. Those shareholders are alleging in a lawsuit that Facebook offered $5 billion on the condition that Zuckerberg avoided any personal liability.
It’s always a delight to see wall-to-wall shade buried in a pile of legalese, and this missive, purportedly from Apple’s lawyers, is a doozy. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has published a letter he received saying Apple won’t restore Fortnite to the iOS and Mac App Stores just yet. The letter, put simply, says Apple cannot presently trust Epic to behave itself, especially after public comments made by Sweeney. Consequently, Fortnite will remain off the platforms until the lawsuit Epic brought against Apple reaches its conclusion. But the letter is well worth a read in its entirety, given all of the sass lurking between those lines.
You can get an Apple's latest MacBook Air powered by the tech giant's M1 chip for $850 on Amazon again if you missed previous deals the sold the laptop at that price. That's an all-time low for the device, which has an original retail price of $999 — that's also $100 less than its average price on the website since the beginning of September. Take note that the $850 deal is for all colors of the version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. If you need more space than that, you can get the variant with 512GB of SSD storage for $1,100, which is also an all-time low for the laptop that usually sells for $1,249.
We gave the MacBook Air with M1 chip a score of 94 in our review, praising it most of all for its impressive speed and iOS-like smoothness. The laptop was shockingly responsive, and launching apps built for the chip felt as fast as opening apps on an iPad Pro. If you use Safari, websites would even load up instantly, and scrolling would feel smooth and effortless. The M1 chip gives the laptop decent gaming performance capability, as well, and it blew away Intel's integrated graphics during our tests.
Since the 2020 MacBook Air relies on heatsink and passive cooling, you won't have to deal with fan noise at all. Another thing we praised is its battery life, seeing as it lasted 16 hours and 20 minutes during our benchmark tests — and that's with us playing HD videos on the laptop. It also comes with a responsive trackpad and Apple's scissor-switch keyboard.
Most of the MacBook Air M1 laptops are marked "in stock soon" on Amazon. The silver 512GB model is in stock and could arrive at your place as soon as tomorrow, but you may have to wait until October and November for the other versions.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Researchers have created a winged microchip around the size of a sand grain that may be the smallest flying device yet made, Vice has reported. They're designed to be carried around by the wind and could be used in numerous applications including disease and air pollution tracking, according to a paper published by Nature. At the same time, they could be made from biodegradable materials to prevent environmental contamination.
The design of the flyers was inspired by spinning seeds from cottonwood and other trees. Those fall slowly by spinning like helicopters so they can be picked up by the wind and spread a long distance from the tree, increasing the range of the species.
The team from Northwest University ran with that idea but made it better, and smaller. "We think we've beaten biology... we've been able to build structures that fall in a more stable trajectory at slower terminal velocities than equivalent seeds," said lead Professor John A. Rogers. "The other thing... was that we were able to make these helicopter flyer structures that are much smaller than seeds you would see in the natural world."
They're not so small that the aerodynamics starts to break down, though. "All of the advantages of the helicopter design begin to disappear below a certain length scale, so we pushed it all the way, as far as you can go or as physics would allow," Rogers told Vice. "Below that size scale, everything looks and falls like a sphere."
The devices are also large enough to carry electronics, sensors and power sources. The team tested multiple versions that could carry payloads like antenna so that they could wireless communicate with a smartphone or each other. Other sensors could monitor things like air acidity, water quality and solar radiation.
The flyers are still concepts right now and not ready to deploy into the atmosphere, but the team plans to expand their findings with different designs. Key to that is the use of biodegradable materials so they wouldn't persist in the environment.
"We don't think about these devices... as a permanent monitoring componentry but rather temporary ones that are addressing a particular need that’s of finite time duration," Rogers said. “That's the way that we're envisioning things currently: you monitor for a month and then the devices die out, dissolve, and disappear, and maybe you have to redeploy them."
