Smartphone market hurt by supply chain issues in third quarter
Smartphone market hurt by supply chain issues in third quarter
Worldwide shipments of smartphones took a greater hit than expected in the third quarter, declining 6.7% after posting double-digit growth in the first half of 2021, according to an IDC report Thursday. The market researcher attributed the decline to disruption in the supply chain that has been dogging many device manufacturers.
"The supply chain and component shortage issues have finally caught up to the smartphone market, which until now seemed almost immune to this issue despite its adverse impact on many other adjacent industries," Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said in a statement. "In all honestly, it was never fully immune to the shortages, but until recently the shortages were not severe enough to cause a decline in shipments and was simply limiting the rate of growth."
Smartphone makers shipped 331.2 million units during the quarter and while shipments were expected to experience a seasonal decline of 2.9%, the actual drop was more dramatic and varied greatly based on regions. Central and Eastern Europe suffered the greatest decline of 23.2%, while the US and Western Europe experienced less severe drops of 0.2% and 4.6%, respectively.
Samsung retained its markets title with a 20.8% share, down from 22.7% in the year-ago quarter, on 69 million units. Apple regained the No. 2 spot by shipping 50.4 million units shipped for a 15.2% marketshare, up from 11.7% a year ago. Xiaomi came in a close third with 44.3 million units shipped for a 13.4% share, up from 13.1% despite shipping 2 million fewer units than a year ago.
In addition to component shortages affecting all vendors, the industry has been hit by other challenges, including stricter testing and quarantining policies, that will affect production well into 2022.
"Despite all efforts to mitigate the impact, all major vendors' production targets for the fourth quarter have been adjusted downwards," Popal said. "With continued strong demand, we don't anticipate the supply-side issues to ease until well into next year."
Enjoying a movie with your family is great. Enjoying it outside, relaxing under the stars, is even better. As projectors have gotten smaller, brighter, and cheaper, it's become easier than ever to set up a backyard movie night. You can choose between easily portable, battery-powered models, or wired models with built-in streaming and tons of brightness.
Ideally, you'll have some sort of screen, but even a big sheet or posterboard can do the trick. All the projectors on this list have speakers, but if you have a big yard, or want the movie to be heard over the ruckus of some younglings, it'd be best to connect to a Bluetooth speaker. If your Wi-Fi isn't strong enough to reach where you want to show the movie, you can turn your phone into a hotspot. In a few cases you can download some content to the projector itself, but don't expect this from every model nor with every streaming service.
Here are the best outdoor projectors we've tested.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
The small Mars II Pro isn't the brightest, nor smallest, nor cheapest projector on this list. It's not even the easiest to use. But it does combine a pleasing image with decent sound for a good price. It's an all-around great option without the serious drawbacks of many other portable projectors.
The main issue with the Mars II Pro is it doesn't use the full version of the Android TV streaming service like some newer models. As such, it's not as easy to use and you won't get every streaming service. The big ones are here, of course, like Netflix and Disney Plus, but no HBO. You can connect a streaming stick, of course, and there's a USB connection to power it right on the back.
The battery lasts about the length of a long movie.
Check out our in-depth review of the Mars II Pro..
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
The AAXA P6 throws out an impressive amount of light, and lasts up to a claimed 4 hours with its built-in battery. You'll need to add a streaming stick to watch anything, but there's a USB connection to power one so that's easy to do.
Overall the image quality is OK, but not great. The colors are off, the contrast ratio isn't great and its resolution of 1,280x800 pixels is noticeably softer than 1080p and especially 4K projectors.
That said, it's bright and inexpensive, which is a great combination.
Check out our full review of the AAXA P6X.
Geoff Morrison/CNET
The Vimgo P10 regularly hovers around $250, and often drops even cheaper. It's a strange product, doing something right and a lot of things wrong. The image it produces is watchable, and has an impressively high contrast ratio, but the colors are flat-out atrocious. The brightness and sharpness uniformity are some of the worst I've seen, which means everything that's not dead center in the image is dimmer and softer than the middle. It also has no upwards throw, so it needs to be placed at the same height as the middle of the screen, which is, like I said, strange for an inexpensive projector.
The biggest drawback for this list is its lack of a battery. But for the added price of an extension cord it's still cheaper than most other projectors on this list.
But for the price, it's hard to beat. But if you can spend more, you'll get more.
Check out our full review of the Vimgo P10..
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
The AAXA P8 is tiny, like the Nebula Capsule, but rectangular to that projectors cylindricalness. It's significantly brighter than the Capsule, but it lacks that projector's battery.
Like its big brother, the P6X, the P8 doesn't have the best picture quality. However, it's inexpensive and bright, two things we like a lot. For similar money the Vimgo P10's picture quality is a little better, but that projector has its own serious drawbacks.
All ultra-budget projectors have concessions to price, but with the P8 those concessions don't include brightness and size.
Check out our full review of the AAXA P8..
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
The Laser 4K's claim to being portable and "outdoor" boils down to a huge handle built into its design. It lacks a battery, is quite heavy, and it's really expensive.
It is, however, exceptionally bright. One of the brightest projectors we've ever tested. It has built-in Android TV too. It's more portable, and better suited to outdoor movie nights than, say, the Epson 5050.
The Optoma UHZ50, the BenQ HT2050A or the Epson Home Cinema 2250 are better overall, however. They're all bright, cheaper and easily carried, though they lack a stylish handle.
Check out our review of the Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K.
Klaus Vedfelt/GettyImages
Other products we've tested
Anker Nebula Solar Portable : The Solar's sibling, the Mars II Pro, is better. The Solar's main disadvantage compared to others on this list is its relatively dim image, which means it can't project as large a picture and still look good. If you want a sleek, budget-friendly portable with 1080p and plan on keeping the image on the small side, however, this is a solid choice. Read our Anker Nebula Solar Portable Review.
LG CineBeam PH30N : The tiny LG PH30N is only slightly larger than the AAXA P8. It's not particularly bright, however, nor does it have built-in apps. The battery doesn't last as long as the AAXA P6X although it is a bit cheaper. Read our LG CineBeam PH30N review.
Samsung Freestyle : The small, stylish, cylindrical Freestyle is an interesting idea, but it's not very bright, lacks a battery, and is quite expensive. Read our Samsung Freestyle review.
The Samsung Freestyle is a cool looking design but too expensive for what you get.
Geoff Morrison/CNET
Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2 : Is another relatively expensive small projector that could be better. You may appreciate the compact size, 1080p resolution and built-in Android TV streaming, but it's relatively dim, especially for the price. It also lacks both a built-in battery and compatibility with a USB power source, so it's not truly portable. Read our Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2 review.
How we test outdoor projectors
We don't treat outdoor projectors any differently, testing-wise, than any other projector. Just because a projector has the convenience of being portable doesn't mean it shouldn't perform to reasonable standards. The biggest difference is checking the performance on the battery vs. plugged in. That almost always just results in a difference in light output.
Read more: How We Test Projectors
Outdoor projector FAQs
Can any projector work outside?
Yes! Well, sort of. No projector should live outside. The humidity and temperature variations will quickly ruin a projector, just like it will with a TV. But if you plan to bring it inside after every use, something we highly recommend, you can use any projector outside.
What if my Wi-Fi doesn't reach outside?
Most phones can work as a Wi-Fi hotspot, using your cellular data instead. If you're not on an unlimited data plan, this can drain your available data however. Also consider some free, or low cost, improvements to your home's wireless network. That might extend the reach enough.
Do outdoor projectors have streaming apps? Netflix, Disney, etc?
Sometimes. Most of the projectors on this list either have full, or partial, streaming interfaces like you'd find in a modern smart TV. They might not have every streaming app, however. Netflix is pretty much a given, but beyond that, it varies.
All the projectors on this list have an HDMI input, and all except the Capsule also have a USB connection, so you can connect any streaming stick to them and get all the apps you're used to.
Save $350 on One of Our Favorite Chromebooks of the Year, the HP Chromebook x2
Save $350 on One of Our Favorite Chromebooks of the Year, the HP Chromebook x2
If you're looking for a laptop that's simple, user-friendly and great for the basics, you'll probably want to opt for a Chromebook. There are tons of great premium models out there, including the HP Chromebook x2 11. We named it one of the best Chromebooks this year thanks to its detachable keyboard and impressive design and features. Its largest drawback was the high $600 price tag, but right now at Best Buy you can pick it up for just $249, almost 60% off the usual price. Because this deal expires tonight, we'd recommend acting sooner rather than later if you're committed to snagging one at this price.
At just 0.3 inches thick, this sleek HP two-in-one is slim enough to take on the go, and is crammed with great specs. It boasts 8GB of RAM, and while it only comes equipped with 64GB of storage, that's easily expanded with a microSD card. The 11-inch LED touchscreen has impressive 2160x1440-pixel resolution, as well as a built-in fingerprint reader for added security and preprogrammed gesture controls for intuitive navigation. It has a battery life of up to 11 hours on a single charge, and has two USB-C ports for extra versatility. This deal also includes at no extra cost the detachable keyboard, kickstand and HP's wireless USI pen, which can be difficult to find in stock on their own.
This model has an Auto Update Expiration of June 2024, meaning it will continue to receive updates through at least that time.
Read more: Best Chromebooks for 2022 Starting at Under $300
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch review: Far from the cutting edge
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch review: Far from the cutting edge
Deja vu. Just like last year's Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, the 2021 Surface Laptop 4 indistinguishes itself by its utter averageness. It's still not particularly light, or fast or feature-packed. It's not inexpensive or full of cutting-edge tech and it doesn't have an especially long battery life. It's faster and has better battery life than the older model, but so does every other laptop updated for 2021. But it's also still reasonably portable, sufficiently fast, pleasantly sleek looking, durable, somewhat upgradeable, and backward-compatible with previous power supplies and Surface Connect accessories sold by Microsoft.
Very little has changed for this generation. It's been bumped to the 4000-series of the AMD Ryzen 7 mobile processor and 11th-gen Intel Core i7-11875G7, plus storage and memory increases and newer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Given the rote upgrades, it's a bit annoying that Microsoft chose to use the last generation (Zen 2) of the AMD CPUs rather than the current and faster 5000 series (Zen 3), though that's probably due to the timing of the laptop's release. It's also par for the course: the Surface Laptop 3's AMD CPU was also an older-than-current generation.
Like
Retains the thin, sleek look
Solid performance and battery life
Don't Like
Screen still has wide-ish bezels
Too few ports
Can't upgrade memory
The Ryzen 7 4980U processor in the 15-inch system is dubbed the Ryzen 7 Microsoft Surface Edition. That made sense last year when the processor differed from the rest of its siblings by the addition of an extra graphics core (compute unit) its Vega 9 integrated graphics. But this year's CPU is effectively identical to the Ryzen 7 4800U, albeit with clock speeds a mere 200MHz faster, and in fact its Vega 8 integrated GPU has one CU less than the chip in the Surface Laptop 3.
Note that this year's AMD model will always outperform last year's simply because the older model used a lower-end Ryzen 5, not a Ryzen 7, and the AMD model will likely outperform the Intel model, at least on multicore-intensive tasks, simply because it has 8 cores compared to the Intel's 4.
The 3:2 aspect ratio, 201 pixel-per-inch display is the same as before; nothing to get excited about unless you're upgrading from an old laptop with a dim screen. It's fine for work, but somewhat washed out for Netflix. There are two color profiles which come with it, a standard sRGB and an "Enhanced" mode, but the latter seems to be the native screen profile and looks like it just increases the contrast. It retains the same old sufficient 720p webcam and the paucity of ports -- one each USB-A and USB-C plus an analog headphone jack.
Read more: Meet Microsoft's new Modern family of work-from-home audio accessories
The under-the-hood-only updates mean much of what we liked and disliked about the Surface Laptop 3 remain the same, from the slim and sleek design to the insufficient number of ports and soldered memory. This year I'll toss in the somewhat stodgy looking screen bezels because it uses the same screen in the same chassis as before; even Apple finally overcame bezel inertia for the MacBook Pro a few years ago.
Still slim and still Microsoft Surface Connector powered.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Down to business
Microsoft offers only AMD processors in its consumer-focused models, but both AMD and Intel for its Surface Laptop 4 for Business line. The two sales channels differ by the variety of configurations and version of Windows they offer -- Windows 10 Home versus Windows 10 Pro. The biz prices are about $100 higher.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15 inch)
Price as reviewed
$1,700, £1,649, AU$2,699
Display
15-inch 2,496 x 1,664 (201 ppi, 3:2 aspect ratio) pen and touch display
PC CPU
2.0GHz AMD Ryzen 7 4980U
PC Memory
16GB 4,267MHz LPDDR4
Graphics
AMD Vega 8
Storage
512GB SSD
Ports
1 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A (1 in power brick), headphone jack, 1 x proprietary (Surface Connect port)
Networking
Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200, Bluetooth 5.1
Operating system
Microsoft Windows Home (2H20)
Weight
3.4 lbs/1.5 kg
The pricing for the 15-inch model starts at $1,300 (£1,469, AU$2,499) for AMD and $1,800 (£1,799, AU$2,849) for Intel, but the AMD base models have only 8GB of RAM. You really can't run Windows 10 very well in 8GB except for maybe lightweight cloud-based applications and possibly enterprise remote PC software like Citrix Desktop. The flip side is that 32GB is overkill for most software you'd be running on this laptop. So if you're going to opt for the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4, I recommend the 16GB memory, 512GB SSD models.
That's still a lot to pay for what you get compared with competitors: Laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 9i, a 2-in-1 which is smaller at 14 inches but superior in almost every other way for hundreds less. On sale, it might be a different story. That model even has discrete graphics for gaming; there's not a ton of graphical muscle here with the integrated Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics. The heavyweight multiplatform shooter Outriders was choppy even at the lowest graphics preset, but lightweight Hades, the recent award-winning indie game, ran perfectly.
Overall, the Surface Laptop 4's AMD CPU performed very well for its size class. At 11-12 hours, battery life was much improved over the previous generation, to the tune of about 2.5 hours, and quite competitive for its size.
Toss in some wonky USB-C and touchscreen behavior I experienced -- they both stopped working until a random reboot fairy sprinkled some magic dust on them -- and it's hard to place the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 in the top tier of models we've tested over the past couple of years. But you'll probably be perfectly happy with it, especially if your IT department buys it for you.
Geekbench 5 (multicore)
Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance.
Cinebench R20 (multicore)
Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance.
3D Mark Fire Strike Ultra
Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)
Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance.
Video streaming battery test
Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)
Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance.
PCMark 10 Pro Edition (complete)
Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch Intel)
Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch AMD, 2021)
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
System configurations
Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-1165G7; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; 128MB Intel Iris Xe graphics; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Book 3 (15-inch)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; Intel Iris Plus Graphics and 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q design; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch, Intel)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1903); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,667MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel Iris Plus Graphics; 256GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch, AMD, 2021)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2H20); 2.0GHz AMD Ryzen 7 4980U; 16GB LPDDR4 SDRAM 4,267MHz; tkGB (dedicated) AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics; 512GB SSD
Facebook Stories makes big move in war against Snapchat
Facebook Stories makes big move in war against Snapchat
Facebook just made its biggest move in its war against Snapchat.
The social network on Tuesday widely released Facebook Stories, a near-identical clone of rival Snapchat's popular feature, also called Stories. The feature lets people post a string of videos and photos that disappear after 24 hours.
If it sounds like you've heard this before, you have. Facebook has already brought Stories to many of its other apps: Instagram has Instagram Stories. WhatsApp has something called Status. Messenger's version is called Messenger Day. But this is the first time Facebook is bringing Stories globally to its marquee app, which gets more than 1.7 billion mobile visitors a month. (Facebook had previously been testing the feature in a handful of countries outside the US, including Ireland and Chile.)
"Yes, this is something that was pioneered by Snapchat," Connor Hayes, a product manager at Facebook, said during a press briefing in San Francisco on Monday. "We think they did a great job of uncovering that Stories as a format is the way that people really want to share photos and videos in social apps."
You can add filters to photos and videos.
Facebook
With Facebook Stories, you can add filters or masks -- what Snapchat calls "lenses" -- to your pictures or videos. For example, you can give someone a unibrow, mustache, sunglasses or glitter beard. (Yes, that's a beard made of digital glitter.) Or you can filter a video so it looks like it was created in the style of a famous artist, like Picasso.
To get to the new camera features, open up the app and swipe right. After you've decided what you want to share, you can post it as a Story, post it on your News Feed, or send it to groups or individuals with another new feature called Direct. Those photos and videos you send with Direct will self-detonate too, just like on Snapchat. The features are available on iPhones and Android phones.
The updates amount to the biggest change to how people can post to Facebook since the social network introduced the News Feed in 2006 or Timelines in 2011. Hayes said that now people take a lot more photos and videos, so these products are meant to keep up with that behavior.
"We think it's our responsibility to update the Facebook app and really upgrade it so [pictures and videos] are more a part of their experience," he said.
But for anyone who uses Snapchat, those products are anything but new. Facebook has a long history of trying to edge out its younger competitor, which is beloved by teens and young adults. Nearly 70 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds in the US use the app, according to ComScore.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in 2013, only to have Snapchat cofounder Evan Spiegel balk at the offer. Facebook also built two Snapchat ripoffs, called Poke and Slingshot, that never caught on. They've both been killed. Meanwhile, Snap, Snapchat's parent company, grew to become a formidable Facebook opponent. Earlier this month, Snap went public in a $3.4 billion IPO.
You can post your filter-enhanced images as a Story, add them to your News Feed, or send them to groups or individuals with another new feature called Direct.
Facebook
But while Facebook's early attempts floundered, the company has found some success in trying to clone Snapchat Stories. Instagram Stories, which debuted in August, now has 150 million users a day, and the company said earlier this year that ads are coming in the feature.
For the Facebook Stories launch, the company partnered with two artists, Vancouver-based Douglas Coupland and London-based Hattie Stewart, to create art for some of the filters and effects. Facebook also partnered with movie studios to create masks for movies including "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "Wonder Woman" and "Despicable Me 3." That last filter turns your image into a Minion. But Facebook declined to discuss the terms of those partnerships, or its ad strategy going forward.
Zuckerberg seems convinced products like Stories are the way to go. "In most social apps today, a text box is still the default way we share," Zuckerberg told financial analysts in November. "Soon, we believe, a camera will be the main way that we share."
Now, he's taking that bet to hallowed ground for the company: Facebook itself, the social network he created in his dorm room 13 years ago. So get ready, here come the glitter beards.
CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.
Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech is cool.
Big Tech's danger to kids finally aligns Democrats, Republicans
Big Tech's danger to kids finally aligns Democrats, Republicans
More than once over the course of a five-hour hearing before Congress on Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's parenting style became a point of focus for angry lawmakers. One House Republican asked if he had issues with his young daughters watching YouTube. Another asked if he lets them use Facebook's own services.
"My daughters are five and three, and they don't use our products," Zuckerberg said, before adding that he lets his older child use Facebook's chat app for kids.
The exchange typified a common refrain as the leaders of Facebook, Google and Twitter weathered a grilling from Congress -- the fourth such event in the last year where a Big Tech CEO took the hot seat -- over the misinformation that flows through their platforms. While lawmakers tried to advance their disparate agendas, one bipartisan theme emerged among Democrats and Republicans who are usually bitterly divided: the danger of Silicon Valley's services on children.
"Big tech is essentially handing our children a lit cigarette and hoping they stay addicted for life," said Rep. Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Florida, peppered the CEOs with statistics that show a rising level of depression and suicidal thoughts among adolescents that coincides with the rise of social media.
Historically, Big Tech products have been reserved for people 13 and older. But in the past few years, companies like Google and Facebook have tried to push the bounds of those limits, creating services for younger and younger kids. (Twitter, primarily used by older users, evaded scrutiny on the issue.)
YouTube Kids, launched in 2015, is billed as a child-safe version of the massive Google-owned site. Last month, Google said it's testing new parental controls for kids 9 and up to use the full scale version of YouTube. Facebook four years ago unveiled a version of its Messenger chat app for kids to talk to their parents and friends. Now, the social network is working on a version of Instagram for kids under 13.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he doesn't let his young daughters use the company's products, except Messenger for Kids.
Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET
Technical issues like content moderation or the opaque advertising model of social networks are hard concepts to grasp, so lawmakers have glommed on to an issue that's more visceral and universal in nature: the safety of our children. It isn't a topic that the tech executives can easily swat away.
Even tech luminaries have sounded the alarm. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates talked about raising their kids with limited tech. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has recently feuded with Facebook, has said he doesn't want his nephew on a social network.
"These hearings reflect an emboldened Congress and a tech industry that's on the defensive because the companies know that serious regulation and legislation is coming," said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, a child advocacy nonprofit. "No one is going to take Mark Zuckerberg seriously as a voice for parents, but the truth is our kids lives are being dramatically shaped by social media and internet platforms."
Silicon Valley companies have received blowback in the past when they've waded into kids products. YouTube Kids faced controversy in 2017 when the service's filters failed to recognize some videos that feature disturbing imagery but are aimed at children -- like Mickey Mouse lying in a pool of blood, or PAW Patrol characters bursting into flames after a car crash. Facebook's Messenger for Kids, meanwhile, suffered a bug in 2019 that let children join group chats with strangers.
Critics accuse Google and Facebook of skirting the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, a federal law that regulates user data collection from sites with users who are under 13 years old. In 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission slapped the company with a record $170 million fine, as well as new requirements, for YouTube's violation of COPPA. In response, the video site made major changes to how it treats kids videos, including limiting the data it collects from those views.
The pushback from Congress on Thursday comes as lawmakers have drafted other legislation that deals with Silicon Valley's treatment of kids.
In September, Castor introduced the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, in the House. This bill banned "auto-play" sessions on websites and apps geared for children and young teens. The legislation also banned push alerts targeting children and prohibited platforms from recommending or amplifying certain content involving sexual, violent, or other adult material, including gambling or "other dangerous, abusive, exploitative, or wholly commercial content."
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who asked Zuckerberg if his kids use Facebook products, has introduced the Big Tech Accountability Platform, which is a road map for how Republicans are approaching regulating the tech industry. While Republicans are still concerned about the censoring of conservative voices online, they also are concerned with how the big platforms use their algorithms "to drive addiction," as well as the role the companies play "in child grooming and trafficking."
"Remember, our kids -- the users -- are the product," McMorris said Thursday. "You -- Big Tech -- are not advocates for children. You exploit and profit off them."
3-Motor Lucid Air Sapphire Super-Sports EV Debuts With Over 1,200 HP
3-Motor Lucid Air Sapphire Super-Sports EV Debuts With Over 1,200 HP
California-based electric automaker Lucid announced a new three-motor variant of its flagship Lucid Air luxury sedan today. The Lucid Air Sapphire is the first model in Lucid's new Sapphire performance sub-brand and is said to boast over 1,200 horsepower, which makes it the most powerful production sedan in the world.
Lucid has been teasing big news this week with social media posts themed around the number 3, so the three-motor spec aimed squarely at Tesla'sModel S Plaid is no big surprise. (In fact, the automaker previewed the tri-motor hardware in 2020..) However, the level of claimed performance is staggering and Sapphire's position as a performance brand -- not just a model -- implies that perhaps high-power variants of Lucid's upcoming Model 3 rival and the recently delayedGravity SUV are also in the works.
The Air Sapphire's twin-motor unit fits a megawatt of power into the same subframe space as the standard Air.
Antuan Goodwin/CNET
The Air Sapphire's rear axle now features a pair of 500-kilowatt electric motors, each with its own power unit and custom transaxle reduction gear set. The front wheels share the same single drive unit as the Air Dream and Grand Touring Performance models, making 670-horsepower. All in, Lucid states the Sapphire will make over 1,200 horsepower -- enough power to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds, to 100 in under 4 seconds and finish the quarter-mile in under 9 seconds. Top speed is stated at over 200 mph. Range estimates for the high-power model haven't yet been updated, but we expect to learn more closer to next year's launch.
Two motors on the rear axle allowed Lucid's engineers to take the Air's torque vectoring to the next level with fully independent positive and negative torque application per wheel. That means that the Sapphire can apply power to the outside wheel while slowing the inside wheel with regenerative braking mid-turn, adding yaw to help rotate the sedan more dynamically.
Speaking of brakes, the Air Sapphire's friction brakes see a substantial upgrade to help the luxury sedan cope with the demands of its over 5,200 pounds of mass at breakneck speeds. Up front, 16.5-inch carbon ceramic discs are gripped by 10-piston (yes, 10!) calipers while the rear axle features 11.8-inch carbon discs and four-pot calipers.
The stoppers can be peeped between the spokes of high-performance wheels with staggered sizing, 20 inches up front and larger, wider 21s at the rear. The wheels are designed to optimize brake cooling and come with a bit of an efficiency hit, but Lucid will ship the Air Sapphire with special carbon-fiber aero discs that can be fitted to the wheels with a simple center locking nut to optimize aerodynamic slipperiness on the road. In the same vein, rides on specially designed multicompound Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires that combine low rolling resistance rubber for the center treads to preserve straight line range and sticky Cup rubber on the shoulders to promote maximum cornering adhesion as the Air rolls into a turn.
The Air Sapphire's wider stance is accommodated by 0.5-inch wider front over-fenders and 0.9-inch wider rears. The static coil suspension sits lower, while the adaptive dampers and power steering system have been retuned for the higher handling limits and race track duty. Visually, the Sapphire further distinguishes itself with carbon fiber wing mirror caps, front chin spoiler and a rear ducktail spoiler -- the latter two bits being aerodynamically functional. Unique Sapphire Blue paint, California Bear and Sapphire brand iconography and Lucid's recently announced Stealth Look package are all also standard.
10-piston brake calipers grip 420mm carbon ceramic rotors on the front axle.
Antuan Goodwin/CNET
Inside, the Sapphire debuts Lucid's new sport seats with deeper hip and midsection bolstering and grippy Alcantara upholstery. Sapphire Blue is echoed in the seat and steering wheel stitching, the ambient lighting around the cabin and in a unique theme for Lucid's infotainment suite. Users will also find a new Sapphire drive mode, in addition to Smooth and Swift, that unlocks the maximum performance with sub-settings optimized for straight-line speed, road or track use. The system also features new lap timer and data logging functions.
Well-heeled EV enthusiasts looking for the highest-performing electric sedan that money can expect to drop $249,000 on the Lucid Air Sapphire when it goes into production in the first half of 2023. Orders open for the new line-topping model beginning at 9 a.m. PT on Aug. 23.
