Dell’s new sustainable Concept Luna laptop can be dismantled in seconds

Last year, Dell intrigued us with Concept Luna, its attempt at making a sustainable laptop with fewer screws, using components that are easier to upgrade and recycle. It felt like a breath of fresh air compared to ultraportables that trade repairability for thinness. This year, Dell is pushing the concept even further. Its latest Luna device can be fully disassembled in around 30 seconds using just a push-pin tool and a bit of elbow grease. There aren’t any cables or screws to worry about.

How can Dell achieve this sorcery? By developing a completely modular design, wherein every component can be snapped into place without much fuss. And it’s not just marketing hype: As you can see in the video above, it doesn’t take much effort for a Dell representative to deftly disassemble a Luna device. After unlocking the keyboard with a pin tool, he removed two speaker units, the battery, a CPU fan and a slim motherboard. The display was a cinch to remove as well, after unlocking the laptop’s center bezel.

When it’s all put together, the new Concept Luna looks like one of Dell’s 13-inch laptops (more a Latitude than a slim XPS, to be clear). You’d have no idea there was a genuine revolution going on under the hood. Dell’s sustainability angle is a lot more clear this time around. Whereas the previous concept still required a bit of technical maneuvering, it wouldn’t take much for a general user to get under the hood of a fully modular laptop like this. It’s about as hard as ejecting a SIM card.

Someone disassembling a Dell Concept Luna laptop.
Dell

The new Luna laptop also has room for a CPU fan, allowing it to house more powerful processors. Additionally, Dell worked with a micro-factory while developing Luna, allowing the company to automate the ordeal of assembling and tearing Luna devices apart. That process also involves testing individual components — after all, it’s easy to imagine some aspects of a computer getting far more use than others. If you primarily used your laptop on a desk with an external keyboard, its built-in keyboard probably has a lot of life left.

A robot disassembling a Dell Concept Luna laptop.
Dell

“By marrying Luna’s sustainable design with intelligent telemetry and robotic automation, we’ve created something with the potential to trigger a seismic shift in the industry and drive circularity at scale,” Glen Robson, CTO for Dell Technologies’ Client Solutions Group, said in a blog post. “A single sustainable device is one thing, but the real opportunity is the potential impact on millions of tech devices sold each year, and optimizing the materials in those devices for future reuse, refurbishment or recycling. “

While it’s unlikely we’ll see a Luna-like consumer laptop anytime soon, its mere existence could influence the way Dell designs future systems. The company is also pushing its sustainability initiatives in a variety of other ways, for example by dramatically reducing packaging waste, or exploring recycled materials for some PC cases. When it comes to true DIY repairability, Dell already has some competition from Framework (which just unveiled a DIY Chromebook). Still, it’s nice to see one of the world’s biggest PC makers taking sustainability seriously.

Dell Concept Luna
Brian Oh/Engadget

The Morning After: Super Nintendo World in the US opens on February 17th

If you envy Universal Studios Japan and its Mario-themed area, the US equivalent is almost here. Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World is less of a self-contained theme park and more of a new area at Universal Studios, and it will open on February 17th, 2023. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge will be the centerpiece attraction, an augmented reality-powered go-kart simulator inspired by Nintendo’s racing franchise. You wear an AR visor displaying a digital world with fantastical racetracks, Koopa Shells and familiar competitors, who you blast using your steering wheel trigger.

But, this will be the only ride inside the US’s Mushroom Kingdom tribute. The Japan equivalent has a second ride, and US work is already underway on a Donkey Kong-centric addition for 2024. That’s still enough reason to visit, right? The February opening should roughly coincide with the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

Tesla launches Steam game portal integration for the new Model S and X vehicles

It will give owners access to thousands of games.

TMA
Tesla

Tesla is officially rolling out Steam integration for the latest versions of its Model S and X cars as part of its holiday update. In its promo video of the feature, you’ll see Tesla’s infotainment system running Steam Beta and even graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077. By “new” Model S and X vehicles, Tesla likely means the “Plaid” versions, which started deliveries last year. Both models’ infotainment systems use AMD’s RDNA 2 GPUs, which are also the technology behind PlayStation 5, and AMD’s Ryzen chips.

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Twitter is shutting down the newsletter platform it bought last year

It bought Revue at the start of 2021.

One day after Jack Dorsey took to Revue to share his thoughts on the Twitter Files, Twitter announced it would shut down the newsletter platform early next year. “From January 18th, 2023, it will no longer be possible to access your Revue account,” Revue said on Wednesday. At the time, the company said the acquisition was a natural expansion of its platform. And for a while, it had a point, since paid newsletters were all the rage last year. At first, the company added Revue signup buttons to Twitter profiles. A month later, it rolled out a feature for users to sign up for Revue newsletters directly from tweets.

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YouTube users will get a 24-hour timeout if their toxic comments are removed

The video service will notify them first, too.

YouTube is rolling out updates today around toxic comments that violate community guidelines. Previously, it has used tools like popups to encourage “respectful” interactions, but it’s now taking a (slightly) more assertive approach. If YouTube detects and removes abusive comments, it will notify users that they’ve violated community guidelines. If the same person continues to post toxic comments, they’ll get a “timeout” and be unable to leave further comments for 24 hours.

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Eight charged in $114 million pump-and-dump stock scheme on Discord and Twitter

The fraud allegedly included a podcaster, too.

A federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged eight men with allegedly operating a stock pump-and-dump scheme on Discord and Twitter between January 2020 and April 2022. They reportedly used their social media presences (including a combined 1.5 million Twitter followers) to artificially inflate the value of stocks, only to sell their shares without disclosing their plans. They made a $114 million profit off the campaign, the Justice Department said. The nature of the manipulation isn’t surprising, but the scale is. It follows the meme stock saga on Reddit, which boosted stock prices, including GameStop, and showed how online communities can influence share prices in the right circumstances.

The group went beyond Twitter, supposedly using a Discord server (Atlas Trading) to share misinformation about stocks. One participant, Daniel Knight, also co-hosted a podcast that apparently played a role in the fraud.

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‘Resident Evil Village VR’ will be available on PSVR2 launch day

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was a key game for the PlayStation VR launch back in 2016, and the franchise is set to play a role for Sony’s upcoming VR headset as well. Resident Evil Village VR will arrive at the same time as PlayStation VR2 on February 22, 2023 as free DLC for the standard PS5 game, Capcom and Sony announced. That means anyone with the standard game (no Gold Edition required) will get some instant PSVR2 content for free.

Developer Capcom teased a PSVR2 edition of Resident Evil: Village earlier this summer (below), nothng at the time that it would feature the entire PS5 version of the game. “The VR Mode supports the entire campaign and lifts the award-winning experience to new heights,” it said in the latest press release. “A deeper and more captivating adventure awaits with PlayStation VR2… VR Mode utilizes the 4K HDR display, eye tracking, and 3D audio to make Resident Evil Village more realistic and intense than ever.”

At the same time, Capcom’s promising that the PSVR2 Sense controllers will allow players to interact with their surroundings in new ways. “With one controller in each hand, you can feel the vibration, recoil, and resistance as you interact with objects in the world and fire weapons,” according to Sony’s PR.

For instance, players can hold up their arms to guard against enemies that get too close, while weapons will feel “tangibly more realistic in VR mode,” Capcom said. You’ll also see new gameplay elements like dual wielding and natural motion controls for reloading firearms and fighting with knives. 

As mentioned, the Resident Evil Village VR DLC will arrive when the $550 PSVR2 launches on February 22, 2023. To play it, you’ll need the PS5 version of Resident Evil Village or Resident Evil Village Gold Edition to play. Sony said that up to 20 games will be available for PlayStation VR2 upon launch, including Horizon Call of the Mountain and Among Us VR. 

Amazon’s God of War series will tell the story of the 2018 Norse reboot

Earlier this year, Sony announced that God of War would be developed as an Amazon Video series, and since then, the latest installment Ragnarok has become a huge hit on PlayStation. Now, the series is officially a go and we’ve learned more about what will take place, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

The series will follow the main character Kratos, The God of War, through roughly the events of the 2018 reboot based on Norse mythology. In that, he has quit his violent past and exiled himself to the Norse Midgard realm. 

“When his beloved wife dies,” Amazon’s description reads, “Kratos sets off on a dangerous journey with his estranged son to spread her ashes from the highest peak — his wife’s final wish. [The quest] will test the bonds between father and son, and force Kratos to battle new gods and monsters for the fate of the world.” 

The series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios in association with PlayStation Productions. The showrunner will be The Wheel of Time‘s Rafe Judkins, aided by Oscar nominees Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man) who will take on writing and executive producing duties.

The original God of War series revolves around Greek mythology wrapped up in 2013 with God of War: Ascension (PS3). It rebooted with 2018’s Norse mythology-based God of War for PlayStation 4, which led to God of War Ragnarök, released last month to rave reviews.

Amazon is also producing a Fallout series for Prime that started production early this year and should be arriving soon. Other series based on high-profile games either released or coming soon include The Last of Us (HBO), Halo (Paramount) and Horizon Zero Dawn (Netflix). 

Oppo says its Find N2 is the ‘lightest horizontally folding phone’

Back in August, Xiaomi showed us how to make a thinner horizontal folding phone with its Mix Fold 2, but now it’s Oppo’s turn to demonstrate how to make them lighter. The new Find N2 shares a similar landscape screen design with its predecessor, yet it weighs as little as 233 grams. That’s 42 grams lighter than before, around 30 grams lighter than the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and even a few grams lighter than an iPhone 14 Pro Max. Oppo therefore claims the new device is the “industry’s lightest horizontally folding phone.” Both the green and white versions of the Find N2 weigh an extra 4 grams due to their glass back, but still come in lighter than the competition.

Oppo uses a smaller second-generation flexion hinge, as well as its carbon fiber underframe (instead of aluminum) for its flexible screen. According to TÜV Rheinland’s certification, the Find N2 can apparently withstand over 400,000 folds under normal conditions (doubling Find N’s record), and over 100,000 folds at 50°C (122°F ) or down to -20°C (-4°F). The same company also gave a green tick to the phone’s 1.2-meter drop test. The battery is about the same size as before, bumping slightly up to 4,520mAh, but now supports faster 67W SuperVOOC charging, which takes 10 minutes to go from zero to 37 percent, or 42 minutes for a full charge.

This Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1-powered foldable phone has a slightly larger 5.54-inch external display, and while its 7.1-inch flexible screen has kept the same 9:8.4 “golden” aspect ratio (1,792 x 1,920), it apparently has a less visible crease along with improved visibility. To make full use of this big landscape screen, the company is also releasing the Oppo Pen, which supports 4,096 levels of pressure and has a battery life of 11 hours. You can also use the pen’s button as a camera remote, which comes in handy when you prop up the camera for “FlexForm Capture.”

Speaking of, the Find N2 has a new set of cameras that have benefitted from some extra help from Hasselblad. You’ll find a 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera (24mm equivalent) with optical stabilization, a 48-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (14mm equivalent) and a 32-megapixel f/2.2 telephoto camera (47mm equivalent) on the back. There’s also a 32-megapixel f/2.4 front-facing camera tucked into the top-left corner of the foldable screen. With Oppo’s very own MariSilicon X imaging neural processor, the Find N2 can also capture 4K ultra night video and 4K ultra HDR video.

Oppo also unveiled the Find N2 Flip which, as you can tell from the name, is a direct competitor of Samsung’s pocket-sized Galaxy Z Flip 4. The 3.26-inch external display here is apparently the “largest cover screen in any flip” device, which is handy for taking selfies, checking calendars and previewing messages. This device also packs the “biggest” battery in this form factor — 4,300mAh as opposed to Samsung’s 3,700mAh, along with 44W fast charging support. Chief Product Officer Pete Lau added that the Find N2 Flip supports dual SIM dual 5G standby, which is apparently also a first for a small foldable phone, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor. Like the Find N2, the 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera and 32-megapixel f/2.4 front-facing camera all get the Hasselblad treatment.

The Find N2 comes in two price tiers: the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage model is asking for 7,999 yuan (around $1,150), and the more advanced 16GB RAM with 512GB storage version costs 8,999 yuan (around $1,290). As for the Find N2 Flip, it starts at 5,999 yuan ($860) with the 8GB RAM plus 256GB storage version, and it maxes out at 6,999 yuan ($1,000) with the 16GB RAM plus 512GB storage variant.

Both phones are available for pre-order in China today, ahead of the December 23rd launch for the Find N2 and then the December 30th launch for the Find N2 Flip. Oppo reps also told Engadget that the Flip will launch in international markets, but they are still evaluating whether to do the same with the bigger Find N2.

US Senate approves bill to ban TikTok on government devices

The No TikTok on Government Devices Act that was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) has just crossed a major milestone. Members of the US Senate have unanimously voted to approve the bill, which will ban the TikTok app on all government-owned phones and other devices. Its approval emphasizes authorities’ concerns that the app’s China-based parent company ByteDance could share information gathered from US users with the Chinese government. Just last month, FBI Director Chris Wray warned lawmakers that the Chinese government could use TikTok to launch “influence operations” or to “technically compromise” millions of devices.

While the bill aims to prohibit the installation of TikTok on government devices, it carves out exceptions for “law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, and security researchers,” according to Bloomberg. Hawley called the app a “Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party” and said it has no place on government devices until it completely cuts ties with China. Meanwhile, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter told Bloomberg that Hawley “has moved forward with… a proposal which does nothing to advance US national security interests.” Oberwetter added: “We hope that rather than continuing down that road, he will urge the administration to move forward on an agreement that would actually address his concerns.”

Just a few days ago, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) filed a separate bill that aims to ban TikTok in the US completely. Unlike Hawley’s bill, theirs also targets all social media companies in or influenced by China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela. Rubio criticized the administration for having “yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok.”

Individual states, including Maryland and South Dakota, have already prohibited the installation of TikTok on government devices. As for Hawley’s bill, the US House will still have to approve it before it can become a law. 

Twitter conveniently reveals a location sharing policy amid Elonjet controversy

In November, as an example of his commitment to free speech, Elon Musk promised that he wouldn’t ban an account that tracked his private jet despite claiming it was a “direct personal safety risk.” Today, that account was suspended. Then restored. Then suspended again. It’s not yet clear what the future holds for @ElonJet, but its fate is probably tied to a new set of rules from Twitter Safety about how it handles accounts sharing location information for other people.

According to a series of tweets outlining the new policy, sharing the live location of another person is now prohibited unless it is related to a “public engagement or event,” like a concert or a political event. “When someone shares an individual’s live location on Twitter, there is an increased risk of physical harm,” the announcement reads. “Moving forward, we’ll remove Tweets that share this information, and accounts dedicated to sharing someone else’s live location will be suspended.” The thread goes on to clarify that these rules only apply to the location of “someone else.” You can still Tweet your own whereabouts.

Historical location information is allowed, however, so long as “a reasonable time has elapsed, so that the individual is no longer at risk for physical harm.” That part of the policy could leave room for an account like @Elonjet — and while the account was briefly restored this afternoon, at the time of this writing it is once again suspended, as are the personal accounts of Jack Sweeney, the college student who runs @Elonjet. Musk has also said that “legal action” would be taken against Sweeney and “organizations who supported harm to my family” following a recent incident with a stalker and the billionaire’s son. 

UPDATE 12/14 5:08PM: Added a statement from Elon Musk that legal action would be taken against Sweeney.

Here’s everything Sam Bankman-Fried is accused of by the US government

On Monday evening, Bahamian authorities arrested FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried at the request of the US government. The following morning, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed formal civil and criminal charges against Bankman-Fried in “parallel actions.” It was a lot to take in all at once, so below Engadget has broken up current charges against SBF by agency, with some additional context provided.

Those indictments likely represent only the start of Bankman-Fried’s troubles. In addition to the charges it announced on Tuesday, the SEC said it was investigating Bankman-Fried for other securities violations. The agency also announced that it’s actively examining the actions of other FTX executives and employees. As more charges are unsealed, Engadget will continue to update this article.

Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused SBF of defrauding FTX investors and customers of more than $1.9 billion. Starting as early as May 2019 until as recently as this past November, “Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customers funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire,” the SEC said.

All the while, Bankman-Fried portrayed himself as a responsible business leader building a safe trading platform with “sophisticated, automated measures to protect customer assets.” In reality, the SEC says, “Bankman-Fried orchestrated a fraud to conceal the diversion of customer funds to his privately-held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.”

Bankman-Fried told investors and customers FTX’s sister company was just another platform on the exchange with no special privileges to speak of. “These statements were false and misleading,” according to the SEC. Alameda had access to a “virtually unlimited ‘line of credit” unknowingly funded by FTX customers. In May 2022, when Alameda’s lenders demanded the firm repay loans worth billions of dollars, Bankman-Fried allegedly directed FTX to divert even more money to the hedge fund.

The SEC seeks to bar Bankman-Friend from trading securities in the future. The agency also wants to seize his ill-gotten gains and bar him from acting as an officer or director at another company.

Current FTX CEO John Ray III testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday — SBF had said he would attend the hearing before his arrest. Ray spoke to some of the allegations detailed by the SEC. “This is really old-fashioned embezzlement,” he told the panel. “We’ve lost $8 billion. I don’t trust a single piece of paper in this organization.”

Department of Justice

In addition to civil charges, Bankman-Fried faces a criminal indictment from the Justice Department. On Tuesday, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York filed eight charges against the former executive, including multiple counts of wire fraud. The Justice Department alleges SBF conspired with other individuals to defraud investors by sharing misleading information about FTX and Alameda’s financial condition. Prosecutors further accused him of attempting to commit commodities and securities fraud. On top of that, Bankman-Fried allegedly broke federal election laws by donating more than is legally allowed and in the names of other people.

SBF spoke about his political donations in a recent interview with journalist Tiffany Fong. “I donated to both parties. I donated about the same amount to both parties,” he said. “All my Republican donations were dark. The reason was not for regulatory reasons, it’s because reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans.”

It’s worth emphasizing how serious the criminal charges against Bankman-Fried are. For context, a federal judge recently sentenced Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes to 11 years in prison for defrauding the company’s investors and patients. Meanwhile, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the startup’s former chief operating officer, was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in the scheme. Sam Bankman-Fried stands accused of defrauding investors of almost $2 billion, or about twice what investors lost to Theranos.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Rounding out the current charges against Bankman-Fried, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused the former executive of using Alameda Research to “surreptitiously” siphon customer funds. “At Bankman-Fried’s direction, FTX executives created features in the underlying code for FTX that allowed Alameda to maintain an essentially unlimited line of credit on FTX,” the regulator alleges. It adds that Alameda had other “unfair” advantages, including an exemption from the platform’s auto-liquidation risk management process.

As early as May 2019, SBF and “at least one” other Alameda executive directed the firm to use FTX customer funds to trade on competing platforms and buy “high-risk” digital assets. Additionally, the CFTC alleges that Bankman-Fried and his cohorts “took hundreds of millions of dollars in poorly-documented ‘loans’ from Alameda,” which they then used to purchase real estate and make political donations.

For his actions, the CFTC is seeking to ban Bankman-Fried from trading derivatives and impose civil penalties against him. It also wants to bar him from acting as a director or officer in the future.