PILOT

Apple reportedly trialed plans for a primary care service on its own employees

Apple took over a health clinic to test plans for a primary care service with its own employees, The Wall Street Journal reported. But efforts reportedly stalled as employees questioned the integrity of data collected through the services. Tech companies including Apple and Amazon have spent the past few years looking to expand into healthcare,… Read more

Larry Page’s air taxi startup is buying former DJI rival 3D Robotics

Kitty Hawk, the air taxi company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, is buying what’s left of one-time DJI competitor 3D Robotics. As part of the acquisition, 3D Robotics co-founder Chris Anderson will become Kitty Hawk’s chief operating officer. The acquisition was first reported by Forbes, which published a detailed look at the current state… Read more

Waymo teams up with trucker JB Hunt on autonomous freight hauling in Texas

Waymo’s autonomous trucking unit got a boost with the announcement that it would be teaming up with JB Hunt Transport Services, a 56-year-old company based in Arkansas. The two companies will work collaboratively on a pilot project to evaluate the use of Waymo’s autonomous technology to move freight. The test will take place in Texas,… Read more

Fortnite season 7 has Superman, flying saucers, and a virtual influencer

As expected, aliens have invaded Fortnite’s battle royale island. The game’s latest season — Chapter 2: Season 7 — is called “Invasion,” and it’s just kicked off with a sci-fi vibe that’s a big change from last season’s prehistoric theme. Among the changes are flying saucers that players can hack and then pilot, weapons like… Read more

Loki is a chance for Disney Plus to escape the shadow of Marvel blockbusters

Loki, the one-time Marvel villain played for over a decade now by Tom Hiddleston, is on the verge of starring in his own series. Instead of playing the scene-stealing antagonist — or, later, grudging sidekick — to Chris Hemsworth’s square-jawed Thor, the God of Mischief is finally going to get to be fully in the… Read more

Cruise gets permit from California to provide passenger test rides in driverless vehicles

The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) said Friday (pdf) it has authorized General Motors-owned self-driving vehicle company Cruise to provide driverless passenger service to the public in its robotaxis. The CPUC said Cruise is the first entrant in its driverless pilot program, which lets companies give test rides in vehicles without drivers. Under the terms… Read more

Rimac reveals the Nevera, a 1,900-horsepower electric hypercar

The Rimac C_Two concept has evolved into a production-ready electric hypercar called the Nevera, and it’s still just as absurd as it was three years when it first broke cover at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. Powered by a 120kWh battery pack, the Nevera uses four electric motors — one for each wheel — to… Read more

NASA’s Mars helicopter had a midair brain fart

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter ended its sixth flight test on Mars earlier than planned last week after bugging out mid-flight, the rotorcraft’s chief pilot wrote in a blog post on Thursday. The four-pound mini helicopter was aiming to fly farther than any of its previous excursions to test out its scientific reconnaissance capabilities, as the latest… Read more

Bird announces its third-generation electric scooter with automatic emergency braking

Bird is out with a new electric scooter that’s designed to be the Santa Monica, California-based company’s most durable and sustainable vehicle yet. The Bird Three scooter has a longer wheelbase, a dual-sensor throttle, and a “triple braking system” with dual independent handbrakes and an “autonomous emergency braking” system that the company claims is an… Read more

Lime Prime is the scooter company’s new monthly subscription service

Lime is rolling out a new monthly subscription service for its electric scooters that’s called — no joke — Lime Prime. Lime typically charges a fixed rate to unlock a vehicle and then a per-minute fee to ride. For $5.99 a month, the company will waive that initial fee for Lime Prime subscribers. And in… Read more

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is returning to space — this time, on a private ride

Peggy Whitson, one of NASA’s most experienced retired astronauts, is going back to space — this time with a racecar driver and two other passengers in the latest mission planned by Axiom Space. The Houston-based space company announced on Tuesday that Whitson will serve as the mission commander for its second private flight to the… Read more

Google I/O 2021: the biggest announcements

Google just finished its live Google I/O 2021 keynote, where the company unveiled a huge number of announcements, including a new look coming to Android, a bunch of features coming to its Google Workspace productivity suite, and even a new AI that talked as if it were Pluto. Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn followed the… Read more

London’s electric scooter trials will kick off on June 7th

London’s long-awaited electric scooter trials will begin next month on June 7th, the city’s transport authority and local councils announced today. Three scooter companies have been selected to offer rentals for up to 12 months as part of the pilot program: Dott, Lime, and Tier. Privately owned electric scooters will continue to be illegal to… Read more

Volvo XC40 Recharge review: Electrified elegance

(Pocket-lint) – One of our very favourite electric cars ever is the Polestar 2. You might be wondering why on earth we’re mentioning that as a prelude to this Volvo XC40 Recharge review. Well, it’s simple really: they’re like long lost cousins (Polestar was once an arm of Volvo, which separated back in 2017). Anyway,… Read more

Microsoft tries to evade scalpers by offering Xbox Series X and S to Xbox Insider members

Microsoft is introducing a new “Console Purchase Pilot” program that will give selected Xbox Insider members the chance to register to reserve an Xbox Series X or Series S console directly from the company through their existing Xbox One consoles. The new program is only rolling out in the US for now, and even if… Read more