Light Start – Audi and Porsche, the sounds of SpaceX, V30 upgrade, and going Solo

Audi and Porsche are getting together to make EVs

There’s more in common between the Porsche and Audi brands than the casual observer might think. They’re both German and they’re also both owned by VW. They’re also shared car components in the past (notably a chassis)  and now the two brands will be collaborating on an electric vehicle platform, one that is expected begin rolling out from 2021. One Oliver Blume (on behalf of Porsche) and Rupert Stadler (Audi) confirmed as much in a recent interview. The major concern for the pair is money — it’ll cost them 30% more to develop an EV platform independently and it’ll likely cost a few billion Euros and take until 2025 to complete development. And that’s if the companies team up. Tech from the collaboration is expected to pitch up from 2021 but that won’t alter the Porsche Mission E project (above). That’s still being developed separately.

Source: Engadget

Since you weren’t sitting on the tarmac, this is what the SpaceX Falcon Heavy sounds like on takeoff

Go and get yourself a set of headphones and experience what it was like to hang around near the launch pad of the Falcon Heavy launch. Not next to the launch pad, that would just be silly. No, this is binaural 3D audio of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch at a safe distance. And it’s still impressive, being an immersive experience where you’re surrounded by shutter-clicks and people talking before the awesome noise of a bunch of Merlin rockets rattles your skull. Unless you’re not wearing your headphone, in which case the audio won’t work as intended. The noises you’re after begin at the 3:25 mark in the video above but stick around for the noises of the rocket boosters landing, a couple of sonic booms, and a collection of other science.

Source: Smarter Every Day

LG could be upgrading the V30 with a new AI camera

LG’s V30 is the phone that the LG G6 flagship could have been — sleek, sexy, powerful, amazing camera — ticking all the boxes, really. But LG reckons they can do better. At least, that’s the talk on the grapevine. LG is thought to be bringing out an upgraded V30 handset, one which will looks and run very similarly to the V30. The major difference? An AI-powered camera that will let you identify items — you know, similar to what Samsung and Google’s Pixel already have. Oh, and it may just have a storage upgrade too. 256GB is nothing to sneeze at. The updated phone is said to be making an appearance at this year’s Mobile World Congress — we’ll be looking out for it there.

Source: The Verge

Looking ahead to May with Solo: A Star Wars Story

If we’re going to be honest, the thought of a standalone Han Solo prequel didn’t really impress us at first. The latest teaser trailer has gone some way towards changing our minds, since the cast selection and story looks like it’ll do the character justice. A look at the origin story of our favourite smuggler now seems like it’d be an experience that we’d like to… um… experience? Solo: A Star Wars Story will be launching on Memorial Day, which seems to be 28 May. Or 25 May, according to the Star Wars YouTube page (which isn’t Memorial Day). Either way, we’re probably going to wind up buying tickets.

Source: Star Wars (YouTube)