Load shedding who?
Despite constantly suffering at the hands of load shedding, BMW seems willing to look past the country’s troubled power generation history because it hopes to manufacture electric cars in South Africa, according to Sunday Times.
The German manufacturer of cars and, apparently, indicators, is reportedly in talks with the South African government surrounding the current policies in place where EVs are concerned. Specifically, BMW South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen is in talks with the country’s minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, Ebrahim Patel.
“We are encouraged that minister Ebrahim Patel is focusing on that and are in discussions about the strategy and policy. We see this as a necessity,” said van Binsbergen, according to a report.
Before BMW South Africa can plead its (business) case to the big cheese at BMW’s headquarters in Munich, it first needs the policy decision to go its way. There’s no word on when that’ll happen, though van Binsbergen’s hasty decision to begin updating its Rosslyn facility to accommodate the manufacture of EVs is rather telling.
Should the government’s decision favour BMW’s plans (and we think it will), it could be a sign for other manufacturers to begin the development of their own EVs within South Africa.
Source: Sunday Times
Weird FLEX, but OK
Travelling the Moon is about to become a whole lot simpler, and let’s face it, cooler, for the few astronauts that get to visit. Astrolab, makers of FLEX – an SUV-sized lunar rover, is officially heading to the Moon, booked aboard SpaceX’s crew-less Starship cargo mission, pencilled in for a 2026 launch.
The delivery is a first for SpaceX, according to Astrolab CEO Jaret Matthews, speaking with The New York Times.
Astrolab has hopes of its FLEX (Flexible Logistics and Exploration) rover becoming the transport of choice for any company sending astronauts to Earth’s biggest satellite. About the size of a Jeep Wrangler, it features two seats for astronauts, a robotic arm to do the heavy lifting and can go about as fast as the Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter 3 when it needs to — so about 24km/h.
Once it’s atop the glowing sphere, Matthews said that customers are already signed up to use the rover to move cargo around. “Ultimately our goal is to have a fleet of rovers both on the Moon and Mars,” said Matthews. “And I really think I see these vehicles as the catalysts ultimately for the off-Earth economy.”
Source: Engadget
Fan Editions making a return
Many thought that Samsung was done with Fan Editions. And we don’t blame you. We thought the same thing. The distinct lack of any Galaxy S22 FE in 2022 felt like a clear message that FEs would not be making a return. But, according to SamMobile, Samsung is marking 2023 as the return of the Fan Edition.
According to SamMobile’s unnamed sources, the Galaxy S23 FE could be arriving in Q4 – also known as ‘October, November and December’ and will launch with an Exynos 2200 processor instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in the rest of the Galaxy S23 range. Some owners of the Galaxy S22 will note the renewed use of the Exynos 2200 processor, which launched in certain parts of the world, while the rest got the benefit of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
That isn’t all we know. The Galaxy S23 FE is rumoured to feature a 50MP main sensor, 128 or 256GB of storage and the choice of 6 or 8GB of RAM. To round it all off, a 4,500mAh battery has been shoved in, matching that of the Galaxy S21 FE. Pricing hasn’t yet been revealed, though if Samsung is aiming for a 2023 release, we can’t be far off from an official announcement.
Source: SamMobile
April Fools: Sonic is dead
Of the many poorly-executed April Fool’s jokes this weekend, one stood out above the rest: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. That isn’t to say Sonic’s death wasn’t real; it’s about as real as you or the chair you’re sitting on. It’s more the manner of his death that Sega found so hilarious.
Sega silently released The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog over the weekend – a free-to-own murder mystery game for PC and Mac. The story pits Sonic’s crew against one another in a murder-mystery-themed party aboard the Mirage Express. Surprise surprise, Sonic is found dead during the party, leaving the rest of the gang to uncover the mystery. If you didn’t see that one coming, we suggest watching or reading any murder mystery out there.
This is the kind of April Fool’s joke we can get behind, even if it does come at the cost of our favourite blue hedgehog’s death. This wasn’t just some feeble attempt at pulling heartstrings through a badly-worded fake tweet, like most of the “news” we had to put up with over the weekend. The effort was appreciated.
Source: The Verge