The Morning After: A different 'House of Cards'


Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to Tuesday! Is the future of transportation a front-loading car that drives itself? Renault hopes so, and that's just the start of the (actual) excitement coming from Geneva's big auto show. Also: a different House of Cards and a Roland's new drum-beat machine that tries to capture the musical magic of machines past.

It's part ride service, part mass transportation and fully crazy.
 Renault's EZ-GO electric car is ridesharing for the masses

The Geneva Motor Show starts today and kicks off with a mass of crazy concepts and high-end vehicles not meant for the suburbs or the cities. At least, not this decade. Renault's driverless concept electric car, the EZ-GO, is a Level 4 autonomous urban EV with a top speed of just 30MPH. Six passengers enter through the massive front door and can see everything (and be seen) thanks to huge swathes of glass on the sides and roof. We took an early tour.

The EV racer will debut as a Gen 2 car for the 2018-19 season.
 Nissan's debut Formula E design is inspired by the Doppler effect

It's hard to believe that Nissan, which sold more EVs last year than Tesla and every other automaker, has yet to race in Formula E. However, Nissan announced late last year it would become the first Japanese automaker to join the electric-racing circuit for the 2018-19 season. Now, at the Geneva Motor Show, it has unveiled its season five Formula E car with a striking 'Doppler-effect' color scheme and all-new powertrain package.

Wait, what?
 MoviePass CEO: We watch how you drive from home to the movies

During a discussion last week, MoviePass CEO, Mitch Lowe, explained a few ways his company could actually make money from its service. Interestingly, that included the tidbit that his service can monetize knowing how its customers drive between home and the movies and where they go. The app's privacy policy doesn't mention tracking users before or after a showing, and so far the company hasn't refuted his claim, saying "We are exploring utilizing location-based marketing as a way to help enhance the overall experience by creating more opportunities for our subscribers to enjoy all the various elements of a good movie night."

Down with Default.
 The settings you should change immediately after buying a new TV

Snagged a brand new 4K TV with HDR? Here are some tips on how to make sure your picture is looking its best.

Cut out the middleman and give your money to Prime.
 Amazon might introduce its own branded checking accounts

According to The Wall Street Journal, the online retail giant is in talks with JPMorgan to build a product similar to a checking account for Amazon's customer base.

Check your email.
 Spotify cracks down on free users that steal Premium service

Until now, Spotify hasn't put much effort into policing the actions of those pirating its service. These users sign up for a free accounts, then download a modified Spotify installation file, which allows them access to the premium service without having to pay for it. But over the past few days, Spotify has sent emails to unpaid accounts taking advantage of the modified software.

An easier way to build more complex beats.
 Roland's TR-8S mashes all your favorite 80s drum machines together

Roland drum machines were once the epicenter of hip hop, house, techno, acid house and other music genres. The 808, 909, 707, and 606 helped create the beats of some of your favorite songs. But if you wanted to pick up any of these vintage drum machines today, you'd probably end up dropping thousands of dollars. Fortunately, Roland just made getting all those vintage drum sounds a lot easier and cheaper with its new TR-8S drum machine.

But wait, there's more...

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't Subscribe.

Craving even more? Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note.

via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2FYLAec"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more