Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Richard LawlerOct 25, 2023

For Android’s 15th birthday, Google revisited the great cheeseburger emoji debate.

After 15 years of Android, Google’s blog post walking down memory lane didn’t do much for me beyond one note about 2017’s Android 8 (Oreo) launch and the big emoji problem that was so important that CEO Sundar Pichai got involved.

For some reason, the Android 8.0 emoji for cheeseburger and beer had some odd mistakes (the originals are on top, see if you can spot the differences) that were fixed a few months later with the release of Android 8.1.

A picture of two sets of emoji, showing that the original Android 8 “cheeseburger” emoji had the cheese under the burger until it was fixed, while the emoji for beer was half-empty with foam floating at the top for no reason.

Image: Google

Richard LawlerOct 25, 2023

I just have one question about this Polyphony Digital co-developed car interior.

Nissan says it teamed up with the Gran Turismo developer on an interior for the Hyper Force EV that was just revealed at the Japan Mobility Show 2023. Part of a concept series that includes the low-poly spaceship on wheels-looking Hyper Adventure, this coupe is “designed for racing enthusiasts and gamers who crave the adrenaline rush of the racetrack but are also eco-conscious.”

Yes, this continues a tradition established with the iconic GT-R, but why not Sony’s own electric car or one with Sony’s Afeela partner Honda?

Richard LawlerOct 25, 2023

“Avoid all robots until further notice.”

At about noon local time, Oregon State University warned the campus of a bomb threat targeting Starship autonomous food delivery robots. About an hour later, officials gave the all-clear.

Starship Technologies temporarily suspended service before saying the threat came from a student who claimed it was a joke and a prank, while the Associated Press reports the person who made the threat has been arrested.

Screenshot of posts from October 24th as Oregon State University warned of a bomb threat regarding food delivery robots, that was cleared about an hour later.

Yes, this really happened.

Image: X.com / Oregon State University

Richard LawlerOct 25, 2023

Mazda unveils the Iconic SP concept, a mid-engined rotary hybrid sports car.

While Toyota has an electric Land Cruiser, Mazda’s Japan Mobility Show 2023 move is this roadster, suggesting the power unit has a future beyond appearing in some editions of the MX-30.

Mazda president and CEO Masahiro Moro said this “new-generation, new-genre sports car” could go on long weekend drives without running into range anxiety.

So, will they build it, or will this one fade away like 2015’s rotary-equipped RX Vision concept?

<em>Iconic SP photos from the Japan Mobility Show 2023</em>

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Iconic SP photos from the Japan Mobility Show 2023

Image: Mazda

Richard LawlerOct 24, 2023

And we’re back!

A backend issue prevented us from publishing posts or updates for a bit, but it has been resolved, so enjoy some updates from Qualcomm, as well as earnings reports for Google and Microsoft, as we catch up on this afternoon’s news.

Richard LawlerOct 23, 2023

Forza Motorsport: Drag Me to Hell.

In my initial hands-on time with Forza Motorsport, I didn’t run into many problems, but now I have seen some issues, even after installing its first significant patch.

An inconsistent penalty system is one thing, but I’ve also had crashes while trying to join races, and trying to view saved replays of multiplayer races turns into... this. You can see it in video form here, complete with cheering crowd audio, as cars are alternatively raptured to heaven or banished to the depths below. It’s listed as a “known issue” on the game’s bug tracker list.

Animated GIFs of race cars in Forza Motorsport descending through the track into oblivion due to a bug in the game.

1/4Image: Richard Lawler

Richard LawlerOct 21, 2023

Enjoy improved Gmail multitasking on your Android foldable.

Last year Google updated several Workspace apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and even Keep) for bigger Android screens, and now a similar update for the Gmail app has fully rolled out.

Upon tapping a link (or attachment) in your email, the link (or attachment) will open on the right half of the screen and the email will move to the left half.
You can control the width of each half or make one the full screen by dragging on the divider handle.

Mentioned earlier this week along with several other productivity apps recently updated to work better with the growing roster of foldable Android devices, this feature is available on both Workspace and personal Gmail accounts.

Animated GIF showing what it’s like to use Gmail across two screens of an unfolded Android device like the Pixel Fold, that can now open links and attachments next to email content.

Gmail’s updated split-screen UI on an Android foldable device.

Image: Google

Richard LawlerOct 20, 2023

Supreme Court lifts ban on Biden admin contacts with tech platforms about content moderation.

The DOJ was granted (PDF) a stay of an injunction barring DHS, CISA, FBI, and other federal officials from contact with social media platforms about content moderation. The judge who wrote the injunction this summer claimed their requests about posts containing covid misinformation amounted to a violation of the First Amendment.

An appeals court limited the terms of the ban last month but paused the process to see if the Supreme Court would weigh in. Now it will hear the DOJ’s appeal, over dissent from three justices (Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch).

Richard LawlerOct 20, 2023

Disney finally revealed how many billions ESPN pulls in.

The Front Office Sports Today podcast has a segment digging into the annual 8-K financial report released by Disney this week.

For the first time, it includes ESPN’s revenue and profit details — handy timing if you’re hoping someone will buy a part of the sports network — showing that even with the cable market much smaller than it was a few years ago, in 2022 it had $16 billion in revenue and $2.9 billion in profit. That probably explains why Netflix is about to test a live sporting event too.

Richard LawlerOct 19, 2023

Lucid will bring its electric Gravity SUV to the LA Auto Show next month.

Lucid gave us our first look at the new vehicle last year and now it says the Gravity SUV is preparing to start production in late 2024. However, we’ll get a much better look at the EV next month when it “makes contact” at the LA Auto Show on November 16th.