Today, NASA announced that its crewed SpaceX flight will launch on May 27th, The Washington Post reports. The flight will mark the first astronaut launch from US soil since 2011, and it will be the first SpaceX flight carrying passengers, not just cargo.
If successful, this Crew Dragon Demo-2 test will clear the way for a series of regular Crew Dragon flights to the International Space Station. NASA has already lined up astronauts for this test and the first operational flight, which it hopes to launch later this year.
Anderson shared a screenshot of a speed test he conducted at his house. To put into context just how slow his internet is, average fixed broadband speeds in the UK are 67Mbps down and 20Mbps up, according to Ookla. You can’t use the modern internet with a 5Mbps connection. “It doesn’t surprise me,” he told The Sun. “I struggle to pay bills online in my house. It’s really frustrating.”
The important context here is that Gary Anderson lives in rural Somerset, England. He can’t get faster internet where he lives. The rural digital divide is as much of an issue in the UK as it is in the US and other parts of the world. It was a problem before the coronavirus pandemic, but with so many people stuck at home, it’s become a more visible issue.
Number six ranked Daryl Gurney also dropped out for much the same reasons. The good news is that the other players who were supposed to take part will still be able to compete. The tour starts today with reigning champ Peter Wright opening the schedule.
The new handset keeps many of the things that people loved about the previous iPhone SE, in particular a 4.7-inch Retina display and a physical home button with Touch ID. But Apple brought over a lot of new things from more advanced iPhones as well, including wireless charging, a water- and dust-resistant design and the latest A13 Bionic chipset. The latter brings flagship-level computing to a budget smartphone, and that’s fantastic upgrade for anyone switching from an older iPhone to the new iPhone SE.
You can still grab Google’s Pixel 4 for $450 and Pixel 4XL for $550 at Best Buy right now. We gave the Pixel 4 a score of 83 and the 4XL a score of 85 and there’s a lot to like about these handsets: they still have some of the best cameras you can get on a smartphone today, Google’s Motion Sense feature is great (when it works properly) and they both have good performance that’s enhanced by a “smooth” display feature that ramps up the refresh rate to 90Hz. The deal knocks $350 off each smartphone’s starting price, making it a good opportunity to get flagship smartphones at mid-range prices.
Bed Bath and Beyond continues to offer a discount on a Google Nest WiFi bundle, dropping the price to $200. The bundle includes a router and one access point, and it’s normally priced at $270. We gave the Nest WiFi system a score of 84 for its simple yet attractive design, easy installation process and its improved speed and reliability. Power-users may not appreciate the lack of support for WiFi 6, or the access point’s lack of Ethernet ports, but those are small prices to pay for an otherwise solid, easy-to-use mesh WiFi system.
You can still snag the Amazon Echo for $60 at Best Buy and Amazon. This sale price is the same as the smart speaker’s Black Friday price, and we likely won’t see it drop to this price or lower again before Amazon Prime Day. The Echo’s solid audio quality and responsive mics led us to give it a score of 90. Both retailers are still offering a bundle option as well — add an Amazon Smart Plug to the order for only $10 more.
Walmart still has the Google Home for $50. The Echo competitor typically goes for $75 to $100, so this is a great way to save money on one of the original Google Assistant smart speakers. You’ll get more powerful audio from the Google Home than you would the Google Home Mini, and it can do anything you could ask the Google Assistant to do: read weather reports, control smart home devices and music playback, set timers and create reminders.
Dash cam company Vantrue has discounts on some of its newest dash cams. You can get the Vantrue N2 Pro for $130 using the code VTCAMN2P at checkout. This model records both the road ahead of you while you’re driving and the inside of your car, making it useful for those who drive for ride-hailing services and those that may just want to record silly videos with their friends while on a road trip. Both the front- and rear-facing cameras record 1080p video, and the dash cam has infrared night vision and loop recording. Vantrue also has a more affordable option with a super capacitor, which allows the dash cam to record footage even when the car is off by connecting it via the OBD port. That model, the Vantrue T2, is only $100 using the code VTCAMT2S.
One of Samsung’s budget smartphones is even more affordable right now — the Galaxy A50 is $200 at Best Buy. Normally priced at $350, this handset has a 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, a 4,000mAh battery and 64GB of storage that’s expandable up to 512GB. It was first released in developing markets, but Samsung decided to bring it to the states last year.
DJI’s handy smartphone gimbal, the Osmo Mobile, is down to $100 on Amazon. Instead of buying a camera-and-gimbal combo device, you can stick your smartphone into this gadget and use its 3-axis stabilization to shoot smooth footage. This is the newest version of the Osmo Mobile that has an updated, foldable design that makes the accessory more travel-friendly.
Best Buy has a good deal on Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro true wireless earbuds, dropping them to $130. These earbuds normally cost $150, and they are a good alternative to some of the big-name true wireless earbuds that often come with too-big price tags. The Liberty 2 Pros have 11mm dynamic drivers, four noise-cancelling mics that transmit your voice clearly when making a phone call, and Bluetooth 5.0 support. They also have 8 hours of run time and both USB-C and wireless charging capabilities.
Today through April 19th, you can tune into Games Done Quickly’s (GDQ) streamed COVID-19 charity event to watch some of the fastest speedrunners in the world race through new and classic games and raise money for the coronavirus pandemic. The event, Corona Relief Done Quick (CRDQ), kicks off at 12PM ET, and 100 percent of donations will go to Direct Relief, which helps provide medical supplies to those in need. Earlier this year, a similar GDQ event raised more than $3 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, so we can expect this to be a significant fundraiser for COVID-19 relief.
You can find the stream through GDQ’s Twitch channel. While most of GDQ’s speedrunning events are hosted in-person, this one will be virtual, for obvious reasons. According to Polygon, in each segment, a streamer and host will take over to explain their strategy and read out donations coming in from viewers. The event will run around the clock through Sunday, and the full schedule can be found online.
To help teachers and students learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Netflix is making a handful of documentaries available for free on its Netflix US YouTube channel. At the moment, there are 10 documentary films and series available, including 13th, Babies, Chasing Coral, Knock Down the Houseand Our Planet. Each comes with educational resources, like discussion questions, ways to take action and more info. Netflix says it plans to add Q&As with some of the project creators soon.
For years, Netflix has allowed teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms. Now that classrooms are virtual, it makes sense to share some of that content online. Even with that precedent, Netflix doesn’t make content available for free very often, so this is a bit unusual. Of course, you don’t have to be a student or teacher to view these through the Netflix YouTube channel.
Apple Music’s web player is no longer in beta, Mac Rumorsreports. The browser-based version, which Apple introduced last fall, is now available at music.apple.com. This makes Apple Music essentially platform agnostic. You’ll no longer need to have iTunes or the Music app to stream your Apple Music playlists. Now, you can log in on devices running Windows 10, Linux and Chrome OS.
In the web version, you’ll find features similar to those in the Mac version of the Music app, like “For You,” “Browse” and “Radio” sections, as well as playlists and recommendations. You’ll also find Apple Music Replays, which curate your favorite songs from every year you’ve subscribed to Apple Music.
The next big Windows update is almost ready for the public. Microsoft has released what it believes is the final preview build for the Windows 10 May 2020 Update. It’s now available to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview ring — it’s initially being pushed to a small subset of users, but everyone can manually check for a download in Update & Security under Settings.
This update comes with an improved Cortana experience that gives the assistant the power to create and find emails. Users can also easily choose between typing and speaking for Cortana interactions by going to “Talk to Cortana” under Settings. They’ll be able to resize the Cortana window and sign-in to Safe mode using a Windows Hello PIN, as well. Microsoft listed those along with the many other changes that’ll come with the May 2020 Update on its website.
Like so many other industries, journalism has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. And yet it’s also one of those categories people depend on among the most during a time of crisis. Acknowledging the situation, Google has announced additional assistance for media outlets.
For five months, Google will waive serving fees for publications that use Ad Manager. Not all organizations that use the ad exchange platform will qualify for relief. Specifically, Google says it will help publications that produce “original” journalism. Those that do fit the bill will hear from Google sometime in the next couple of days. “With these efforts, we aim to help news organizations reduce some of the cost of managing their businesses and funding important journalism during this time,” Google said.
The Nest Wifi hardware is easy to set up — you don’t even have to type 192.168.1.1 into your browser — and it’s rather attractive, especially in mist blue. The router also has a built-in Google Assistant speaker, though whether this is a pro or con is up to you. Google claims that the bundle can cover up to 3,800 square feet of your home — the router has a range of 2,200 square feet and the access point has an additional 1,600. Our stress test showed that the network was able to withstand several video streams — including two 4K streams — on opposite ends of the house. There was an initial hiccup, but after that, everything worked perfectly. The downsides are that the bundle doesn’t support WiFi 6, and the access point doesn’t have an ethernet port.
Overall, the Nest WiFi bundle is much easier to recommend at this lower price. If you don’t need the most cutting edge networking equipment, but do need to cover a large swatch of your home with a solid and reliable signal, this deal may be worth it.
In addition to the News app on Fire TV, #AtHome will curate the latest COVID-19 updates from ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, NBC News and more. NBC News will stream a kids edition of the “Nightly News with Lester Holt” twice a week. There will be plenty of other kids programming, too, both entertaining and educational. And if you’re looking for more workout inspiration, #AtHome will feature apps from Peloton, Yoga International, Gaia and others.
Amazon plans to add more content, including more educational content, and will expand #AtHome to the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada and India.
