Light Start: Hummer sold out, Mass Effect remastered clout, Spotify’s podcast flout and Apple Watch gives nightmares a knockout

Spotify may offer a subscription just for podcasts

Spotify is reportedly looking into offering a subscription service plan that would cater to those who use the app to listen to podcasts and nothing else. Which makes sense, right? Why would you want to pay for a full subscription if you prefer to listen to your music on vinyl? You know, the best way to listen to music.

It should be noted that my fellow Stuff writers have clipped me round the ear for bringing a “hipster” energy to this Light Start.

Honestly, Spotify’s approach to this podcast-only subscription doesn’t sound great. This exists separate from Spotify Premium, meaning that users will need to pay extra to access exclusive shows and episodes. Which is especially cheeky if you think about it. A survey for select users was pushed out by Spotify this weekend asking opinions on potential new subscription models. The cheapest one nets you that exclusive content but will still come with ads. Which is, well, pretty terrible if you ask us.

It should be noted that it was just a survey so none of this is actually set in stone, confirmed a Spotify spokesperson. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Source: Gizmodo

Apple Watch will soon help with PTSD nightmares

NightWare, which is a great name for an app, has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will soon be available to purchase for your Apple Watch. NightWare is an app designed to help people who suffer from nightmares, often triggered by PTSD. It’s a really cool idea and one that will no doubt be especially helpful for a lot of people.

NightWare monitors the Apple Watch wearer’s heart rate while they sleep and uses this data to determine when a nightmare is taking place. Once it’s figured out that a real bad dream is on the verge of occurring it vibrates to wake the sleeper up and prevent them from potentially reliving a horrendous moment. Or just ensure you don’t have that dream where you’re told you’re writing an exam but you haven’t studied for it.

NightWare is a “prescription only” app and works in tandem with medication to help users sleep better and maybe move past whatever is troubling them subconsciously. It’s not a confirmed cure for night terrors but the FDA has confirmed that within their tests it often resulted in a high quality sleep for users.

Source: Engadget

The Hummer EV has already sold out

The recently unveiled EV Hummer, General Motor’s almost literal reboot of the Hummer brand, has already sold out despite not actually existing yet. Okay, let’s be more specific as they haven’t “sold out” but every one of the planned vehicles has already been reserved by folks desperate to go off-roading with a completely electric military vehicle. GMC has confirmed that it won’t be producing the car for at least another year so all those pre-orders will have to wait a while.

We wrote up the announcement of the EV Hummer a few weeks ago and admittedly it looks pretty cool. The big feature being punted for the car is the CrabWalk mode, which allows it to move almost horizontally while still facing forward which will no doubt be used by drivers once and then never again unless they’re perpetually stuck in the sand.

The first edition of the EV Hummer is the one that’s completely reserved but follow up models still have some apace for folks that are excited to spend what will no doubt be a ridiculous amount of cash. That could be you if you’re fast (and rich) enough.

Source: TNW

Mass Effect Trilogy Remastered has finally been confirmed

Mass Effect is one of our favourite series games at Stuff so having a remastered version of all three classic games… well, it does give us a reason to smile. Announced on 7 November, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition takes all three games of the original trilogy and bundles them together alongside every piece of DLC for every title.

If that collection wasn’t enough, the games have been given a slick new coat of paint. All the games will be improved with enhanced visuals, including overhauled shaders, textures, models, visual effects and lighting. The Mass Effect games looked gorgeous back on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 but haven’t aged all that well so we’re excited to see what they look like with some much-needed enhancements.

The collection will be out next year and will be available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5.