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The parent company of the $10-per-month CBS All Access streaming platform is reportedly about to launch... another $10-per-month streaming platform. For some reason, the newly merged ViacomCBS is planning a separate service that will “build on” CBS All Access by adding content from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central, and streaming service PlutoTV — as well as Showtime for those willing to pay extra, CNBC reports.
The question remains: why launch a new channel when the company has an existing service that’s just starting to gain some traction?
The merger that created ViacomCBS was announced in August. Originally, execs suggested they’d bring the new Viacom content to the existing CBS All Access and Showtime...
Tesla has remotely disabled driver assistance features on a used Model S after it was sold to a customer, Jalopnik reports. The company now claims that the owner of the car, who purchased it from a third-party dealer — a dealer who bought it at an auction held by Tesla itself — “did not pay” for the features and therefore is not eligible to use them.
The features were enabled when the dealer bought the car, and they were advertised as part of the package when the car was sold to its owner. It’s a peculiar situation that raises hard questions about the nature of over-the-air software updates as they relate to vehicles.
Cars sold with hardware-based upgrades, such...
Take your charging game into 2020 with Mophie's new battery packs.
Mophie, one of the most popular brands behind charging, has just released three new battery packs to their lineup. All three are, as announced in the company's press release, only available at Apple.com, select Apple stores, and at Mophie's own website.
All three Powerstations come with the ability to charge them with a lightning cable, with the majority having one actually built into the battery pack itself. They all include a traditional USB-A port as well to charge all of the devices that aren't quite upgraded to USB-C yet. A four-dot LED light alerts you to the current level of charge, and each is lightweight enough to throw in a bag and take it along with you. All of those similarities aside, there are some valid differences between these chargers that make them unique.
The first is the Powerstation, which sports a 6000mAh battery that can give you iPhone over 32 hours worth of extra battery life. It is the only of the three chargers to also feature an 18W fast-charging USB-C port that can charge an iPhone to 50% battery in under thirty minutes. You can also charge two devices at one time by plugging one into the USB-C port and another into the USB-A port. The Powestation features a fabric and TPU finish to give it a textured but grippy feel.
The second that dropped today is the Powerstation Plus, which is also a 6000mAh battery pack but is the first to feature a built-in Lightning cable to charge the battery pack when you need to. The cable is well protected under a hidden flap on the bottom of the battery. This battery pack also offers 18W fast-charging, but does it through the integrated Lightning port. You can charge multiple devices by plugging one device into the built-in Lightning port and another using the USB-A port. This model opts for a "high-gloss top surface and metallic perimeter" to give the Powerstation Plus a more premium, durable feel.
The last battery pack launched is the Powerstation Plus XL, which increases the battery power to 8000mAh. The Plus XL includes all of the features of the previously mentioned Powerstation Plus, but with one key difference: wireless charging. This model has an integrated Qi-enabled wireless charging pad on the top of the battery, which allows you to charge your iPhone or AirPods by simply placing your device on top of the battery pack. You can also charge multiple devices at once on this model by using both the wireless charging pad and the USB-A port at the same time.
The Powerstation, Powerstation Plus, and Powerstation Plus XL are available now from Apple and Mophie:
Last August, Apple announced it would let more indie repair shops buy genuine iPhone parts and tools so they could do common iPhone repairs. It seemed like an exception to Apple’s tight restrictions around who it deems worthy of repairing your phone. But it sounds like Apple drew up a contract so draconian that some shops are refusing to sign it, making us wonder whether Apple meant to assist the repair industry at all.
Vice obtained a copy of the contract, and the terms sound extremely invasive. Apple can apparently do unannounced audits and inspections of a repair shop at any time to make sure it isn’t using knockoff repair parts, for example. And if Apple finds that a shop used knockoff parts in more than two percent of its...
Boeing’s new passenger spacecraft suffered a second major software bug during its debut flight to space in December — one that would have ended in a “catastrophic spacecraft failure” had it not been corrected. Fortunately, Boeing patched the issue before it became a problem, but the issue has safety experts worried about the company’s ongoing oversight of its space vehicles.
The spacecraft under close scrutiny is Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, a vehicle designed to take crews to and from the International Space Station for NASA. Boeing launched the Starliner on its first test flight on December 20th, without any people on board. The flight was meant demonstrate the vehicle’s ability to get to space, dock with the International Space...