Xbox is a no-show for E3 2023
After Nintendo’s departure from the biggest gaming show in the world, Xbox confirmed to IGN last week that it would be following in the Japanese giant’s footsteps. Kinda. While Nintendo has pulled itself from the show entirely, Xbox will still be attending in a somewhat muted manner for E3 Digital.
The confirmation came soon after Microsoft announced its own annual Xbox showcase would take place on 11 June, with a separate Starfield show still in the works. The timing of which is surely no coincidence, what with E3 taking place from 13 to 16 June.
“We can’t wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11th and will share more details later,” said an Xbox spokesperson in its statement to IGN. “We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 show floor.”
All that’s left to do is await Sony’s announcement concerning E3. Don’t get your hopes up though. Sony gave the 2019 event a miss and hasn’t looked back since. According to a January report, all signs point to Sony’s decision to give the occasion a miss, focusing instead on its own State of Play events.
Source: IGN
SpaceX’s ISS resupply
SpaceX’s 27th ISS resupply mission is set to take place this week, with the unmanned Cargo Dragon blasting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre on Tuesday, 14 March (Wednesday morning for watching South Africans). If Florida’s weather allows the launch to happen. NASA is live-streaming the entire launch over on its YouTube channel, NASA TV. Or, you know, you could watch it via that handy video above. Just sayin’.
Besides standard supplies, the capsule is carrying a horde of scientific experiments and equipment. Once there, the Cargo Dragon will stick around in the ISS docking bay for a month, allowing the astronauts to conclude their experiments and return the equipment and their findings for the capsule’s return journey.
On board is a project – led by students – to create and test a new sort of camera clamp designed to film in space, a Japanese experiment studying microscopic life’s resistance to space and research into tissue chips.
The launch is slated to begin at 5:30 PM P.T on Tuesday, 14 March. For South Africa, that’ll be at 2:30 AM the following Wednesday, 15 March. The Cargo Dragon capsule will spend all of Wednesday travelling, arriving at the ISS sometime on Thursday. If you’re more interested in the how and why of the ISS’ resupply missions you can find more information here.
Source: Digital Trends
Vinyl is back, baby
Vinyl has returned. But you probably already knew that, didn’t you? Vinyl has been a popular medium since its inception, though it’s seen a major uprising in the past decade amongst audiophiles and hipsters alike. And now, for the first time since 1987, vinyl sales have surpassed that of its largest physical competitor, the CD.
That’s according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which recently published its year-end revenue report for the music industry, showing vinyl’s far larger unit sales compared to CDs.
Keep in mind, vinyl has been the top dog for quite some time now in terms of revenue, raking in $1.2 billion compared to CDs, which only made $483 million in 2022. But that’s just revenue. What we’re discussing are physical unit sales. CDs, due to their price and availability, held the title for most units sold until vinyl recently snatched that spot.
Whether vinyl’s resurgence is just a trend, we couldn’t say. Many claim that vinyl records’ sound quality is unmatched, while others just like the aesthetic LPs bring with them. In ten years, we could be reporting the comeback of the CD, with whichever short-form app is king at the time leading the ‘retro’ charge.
Source: Ars Technica
Audi has an electric mountain bike that costs how much?
2016 was an… odd time. The internet still fawned over Elon Musk and electric vehicles were meant to radicalise the motoring industry almost overnight. Much has changed since then. Musk is no longer the internet’s golden boy and the motoring industry is still happily chugging fuel. The biggest difference? EVs are getting stranger by the minute.
Audi is proving our point with the announcement of its first electric mountain bike, inspired by the RS Q E-tron E2 electric Dakar Rally racer. The 250W Brose motor and 720Wh battery are being built by Italian brand Fantic. Three sizes will be on offer, with the cheapest starting at £8,500 – translating to roughly R186,000. Why? We couldn’t tell you.
We imagine it has something to do with Audi’s choice of premium materials. Sure, the battery and motor make up a large chunk of the cost, but Audi’s insistence on using big-budget components like Vittoria tires and a Selle Italia saddle do plenty to drive up the price. And that’s only the beginning. Audi has used plenty of other premium brands to build their e-bike. A full list can be found here.
We’re not sure whether Audi’s e-bike will be available in South Africa or not. We’re guessing… not. Audi has described the bike as being sold in a “limited run”, with the automobile manufacturer failing to mention where it would be sold, and how many it would be making. Should the “limited run” prove to be successful, we can expect to see Audi spend more time in the e-bike industry.
Source: Engadget