DJI’s Mini 3 drone is cheaper, but more limited than the Pro model it’s based on

You’d think that after launching a ton of products in 2022, DJI would be finished for the year. However, that isn’t quite the case, as it just announced the DJI Mini 3 drone aimed at the consumer market. It’s a stripped down version of the Mini 3 Pro, …

Riot Games sues Chinese tech giant NetEase for allegedly copying ‘Valorant’

Riot Games has sued Chinese tech giant NetEase, calling its mobile game Hyper Front “a copy of substantial parts of Valorant,” Law360 has reported. On top of matching the format, NetEase also replicated parts of its character designs, game maps, weapon designs and more, Riot claims. It brought the case to the high court of England and Wales, but is also launching complaints in Germany, Brazil and Singapore, according to Polygon. 

Like Valorant, Hyper Front is a free-to-play first-person shooter that pits teams of five against each other in different modes. In its claim, Riot noted that Hyper Front began development shortly after it revealed an early of Valorant dubbed “Project A” in October of 2019. NetEase, meanwhile, showed off a beta version of Hyper Front under the code name “Project M.” 

The release of Hyper Front in Singapore and other countries prompted complaints from users that it was essentially a “copy” of Valorant. That led to NetEase making modifications to the games, but the level of infringement goes beyond that, Riot said. The modified version of Hyper Front is currently available on Android and iOS stores, boasting more than one million downloads and 48,000+ reviews on Google Play. 

NetEase is currently involved in a dispute with Korea’s PUBG corp. over two NetEase mobile games. Earlier this year, two California judges said NetEase faced an “uphill battle” in challenging a settlement agreement with PUBG. Meanwhile, Riot Games recently settled a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million. 

Reddit’s reveals r/AmItheAsshole was its most popular subreddit in 2022

Reddit has unveiled its end-of-year Recap for 2022 and detailed some key stats on the site and communities for the year. It now has over 100,000 active communities globally, and saw some 430 million posts, up 14 percent over last year. The site also saw some 2.5+ billion comments (up 7 percent year-over-year) and 24 billion upvotes.

Among all those communities, the number one most-viewed was r/amitheasshole (aka AITA). Meanwhile, r/worldnews climbed to number three, while r/ukraine had 1.8 billion views, up 76 percent from last year. In this year’s edition of r/place (effectively the world’s largest digital quilt blanket), redditors from 236 countries contributed 160+ million tiles, including art, memes and more.

Along with stats for the year, the company also announced that its Reddit Recap is back for individual users. It lets you see localized and translated stats for your year on the platform, like your most upvoted comment. At the end of the recap, you can see how you stack up against other users with the awarding of a “Rare,” “Epic” or “Legendary” superpower status. 

Reddit’s traffic may have benefited this year from a new Google feature that made it easier to search results from Reddit and other forums. Reddit itself also finally made comments searchable, letting you see results from replies to posts and not just the original posts. For more on Reddit Recap 2022, check r/recap.

NASA posts high-resolution images of Orion’s final lunar flyby

Orion just made its final pass around the moon on its way to Earth, and NASA has released some of the spacecraft’s best photos so far. Taken by a high-resolution camera (actually a heavily modified GoPro Hero 4) mounted on the tip of Orion’s solar arrays, they show the spacecraft rounding the Moon then getting a closeup shot of the far side. 

The photos Orion snapped on its first near pass to the Moon were rather grainy and blown out, likely because they were captured with Orion’s Optical Navigation Camera rather than the solar array-mounted GoPros. Other GoPro shots were a touch overexposed, but NASA appears to have nailed the settings with its latest series of shots. 

Space photos were obviously not the primary goal of the Artemis I mission, but they’re important for public relations, as NASA learned many moons ago. It was a bit surprising that NASA didn’t show some high-resolution closeups of the Moon’s surface when it passed by the first time, but better late than never.

Orion’s performance so far has been “outstanding,” program manager Howard Hu told reporters last week. It launched on November 15th as part of the Artemis 1 mission atop NASA’s mighty Space Launch System. Days ago, the craft completed a three and a half minute engine burn (the longest on the trip so far) to set it on course for a splashdown on December 11th.

The next mission, Artemis II, is scheduled in 2024 to carry astronauts on a similar path to Artemis I without landing on the moon. Then, humans will finally set foot on the lunar surface again with Artemis III, slated for launch in 2025. 

GM opens its first Level 2 community charging stations in two states

GM has installed its first Level 2 charging stations in Wisconsin and Detroit as part of a community charging initiative unveiled last year. A dealership in Marshfield, Wisconsin put up stations at locations including parks, a library and a sports complex, while another installed them at a healthcare/wellness center in Owosso, Michigan. The aim is to help dealers install up to 40,000 chargers in community locations (including underserved rural and urban areas) across the US and Canada. 

“Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a GM dealership. Our dealers are… well positioned to determine locations that expand access to EV charging, including at small businesses, entertainment venues, schools and other popular destinations,” said GM VP Hoss Hassani. 

GM says it will give dealers up to ten 19.2kW chargers that deliver “the most power available to a Level 2 charger.” Those can be placed at “key locations” in neighborhoods, such as apartments, colleges and businesses. Crucially, the units won’t be limited to GM drivers, so EVs from other brands can use them as well.

GM selected Canadian manufacturer FLO as the charging station provider, with manufacturing to take place at FLO’s Auburn Hills, Michigan facility. While not nearly as quick as fast chargers, the 19.2kW 80-amp stations could get you from a 20 to 80 percent charge in under three hours — not bad if you’re spending time at a library or park, for instance.

Earlier this year, GM also unveiled plans for a coast-to-coast fast-charging network with 2,000 350kW chargers across 500 Pilot and Flying J locations. Its Ultium Charge 360 program currently integrates 11 EV charging networks to give customers access to over 110,000 charge points across North America. Its current EV lineup includes the BrightDrop electric delivery vans, Cadillac Lyric and Celestiq, GMC Hummer and Sierra EVs, Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox EVs and the Bolt lineup. In an interesting twist, GM recently revealed that it has serviced over 11,000 Tesla EVs since last year.

Update: 12/7 2PM ET: This story has been updated after publishing to clarify details on charging rates and the number of charging points available.

Uber and Motional’s robotaxis arrive in Las Vegas

Uber has launched public robotaxi rides in Las Vegas using Motional’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 autonomous EVs with the aim of offering a full driverless service to the public in 2023. It will eventually expand to Los Angeles, where the two companies have been testing autonomous Uber Eats deliveries since May 2022. It’s all part of a 10-year agreement between Uber and Motional to offer autonomous ride-hailing and deliveries. 

The taxi rides will be monitored by safety drivers, with the goal of launching a fully driverless service to the public in 2023. “Today, Motional becomes the first AV company to conduct all-electric autonomous rides on the Uber network for public passengers,” said Motional VP Akshay Jaising. (Uber offered “autonomous” taxi rides using its own self-driving tech back in 2016, but riders were accompanied by engineers ready to take the wheel.) 

Lyft also partners with Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv. It beat Uber to the punch by launching Motional rides in Las Vegas in August this year with safety drivers on board. Lyft has also said it will ditch those drivers and offer true autonomous service by next year. 

Don’t be surprised if that timeline changes, though. Apart from Motional, only Alphabet division Waymo and GM’s Cruise are offering true driverless services at a reasonably large scale. The Waymo One service is operating in Phoenix and San Francisco, while Cruise rides are currently limited to San Francisco. Both operate only in specific areas of cities (which can be mapped out in great detail) and some vehicles still use safety riders.

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick once said that the his company had to be “tied for first, at least” in the race to offer true driverless rides. Since both Uber and Lyft rely on Motional for self-driving tech, that’s exactly what might happen.

Waze is getting its own dedicated Android Automotive app

Waze is France’s most popular navigation app, to the point that it was recently updated with three regional accents (Toulouse, Provençal and ch’ti). So it makes sense that Waze elected to partner with French automaker Renault to launch a new, dedicated…