Thomas Ricker

It’s DMA day in Europe, and I’ve immediately been prompted to choose a default browser after updating to iOS 17.4. The list is populated with “the most downloaded browsers on iOS in that country in the prior year.” I picked Chrome, but quickly switched back to Safari because I’m not crazy. But instead of finding the default setting under something like “Browser” it was under “Safari” instead — confusing.

In some countries including the Netherlands (where I live), the price has dropped to €50/mth (from €65/mth) for residential customers while my roam plan that lets me take my dishy anywhere in Europe has dropped to €59/mth (from €100/mth), down from €124/mth when I started service back in 2022. One-time hardware costs have now been lowered from €450 to €225, as well, down from the €720 I paid for gen 1.

The Gigafactory — which produces around 850 Teslas each day — lost power after a nearby transmission tower was set ablaze early Tuesday. The fire did not spread to the Tesla site and workers from the energy company are currently repairing the high-voltage pylon. Police are investigating the incident as possible arson since the area has been the focus of environmental protests ever since Tesla moved in.

The “Your apps” row is getting a refresh with rounded app icons and more of them as well as a new shortcut to free channels and quick access to reorder apps and add more.

Elon Musk isn’t great with timelines so take his latest proclamations about a 2024 reveal for the second generation Roadster announced in 2017 with appropriate skepticism, especially since he already missed the 2020, 2022, and 2023 dates.

As usual with the drip, drip, drip of teases that heralds any Nothing product announcement, we’ve now got not one but two official “Fresh Eyes” glimpses at the Phone 2a ahead of its March 5th launch at 11:30 GMT.

Despite US sanctions the company continues to pump out interesting (HarmonyOS 4) handsets including this new clamshell with folding 6.94-inch 2690 × 1136 (420ppi) OLED display and a cluster of four cameras on the outside, one of which measures UV light for sun protection. It’s got satellite messaging, 66W wired and 40W wireless fast charging, and hands-free gesture controls.

Not all renders are the same and the latest batch posted (and removed) to the Nothing Community site are labeled “official press renders.” While they mostly align with previous renders from Onleaks, the side buttons are different here and we’re now seeing it in white. Of course, it’s still just rumor until this thing gets official on March 5th.

Here’s how The Washington Post describes the trove of documents deemed authentic by cybersecurity experts: