The Morning After: We review the new GoPro Hero 10
Plus: Ikea’s new gaming collection, and T-Mobile wants to fix your phone.
It’s been a decade, more or less, since GoPro crested into the mainstream as the name in small, portable, rugged action cameras. Since then, the company has continued to refine its flagship product, all while defending itself from cheaper fly-by-night competitors. Our James Trew has reviewed the new GoPro Hero 10 Black, which can shoot footage in 5.3K and take 23-megapixel stills from inside that notoriously sturdy housing.
We won’t spoil the bones of his review, but suffice to say the improvements in hardware and shooting technology are certainly welcome. Sadly, you might see a hit in battery life, but GoPro says customers aren’t trying to shoot theatrical movies on a single charge. If there’s one thing James really wasn’t a fan of, though, it was the price, which is $50 more than the last model, even if you subscribe to GoPro’s unlimited cloud backup service.
— Dan Cooper
IKEA's ASUS ROG gaming collection comes to the US and UK this October
But beware the dangers of the gamer tax
IKEA and ASUS’ Republic of Gamers division teamed up last year to build more gamer-friendly furniture and gear. Now, the product of that union is coming to the US and Europe after making its debut in Asia. The range includes a sculpted wooden hand to hold your headphones (or, at a push, VR headset) gaming chairs, storage and even a powered sit–stand desk. Bear in mind, however, some of the products are just regular IKEA doodads painted black, with $3 added to the price.
AMC theaters will accept cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin
The company is leaning hard into its ‘meme stock’ status.
AMC CEO Adam Aron has announced the theatre chain will soon accept more than just Bitcoin at its cash registers. In a tweet, Aron said, by the end of the year, AMC would also accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash for ticket purchases and at concession stands. The move is likely to boost the company’s relationship with the army of meme-stock traders who provided succor to the beleaguered company in the worst of the pandemic.
T-Mobile will start offering in-store phone repairs on November 1st
500 stores will offer repairs to Protection subscribers.
T-Mobile has announced it’ll start offering in-store repairs at 500 of its locations on November 1st. Customers who pay for the monthly Protection package can get their broken smartphone repaired on the same day. The company says that “highly credentialed” Assurant technicians will do the work using parts approved by the manufacturer. It’s a good start, especially since getting your phone repaired can be an unbearable chore. Hopefully initiatives like this, coupled with some decent right-to-repair legislation, will make it less of a headache in future.
Ford will spend $250 million to boost F-150 Lightning production
The company has 150,000 reservations for the electric truck.
Ford will invest a further $250 million to increase production capacity for its F150 Lightning electric truck. The vehicle, which seems staggeringly popular, currently has around 150,000 reservations waiting to be fulfilled. That cash will go on recruiting more workers both to produce the car and the components needed to make it work, like drivetrains and batteries. Sadly, it won’t be until 2022 that Ford will see the benefit of that investment, but it needs to do something to ensure it doesn’t lose sales to its EV pickup-truck rivals.
Lucid's limited edition Air EV rated for a Tesla-beating 520 miles of EPA range
For comparison, Tesla's Model S with a 100kWh battery pack has a 402-mile EPA range.
Don’t shoot the messenger, EV fans, but Lucid says its Air EV has an EPA range of 520 miles on a charge. That’s 100 miles or so more than you could expect out of a fully specced Tesla Model S LRP with the 100kWh battery pack. CEO Peter Rawlinson was bullish, saying its battery management and drivetrain technology is tremendously efficient. Then again, it’s easy to make promises: The real proof will be when we can try this car out for ourselves.
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