It feels like we have been waiting an age for the Range Rover Electric. First announced back in December 2023, JLR’s luxury EV SUV was meant to hit the road in 2024, but extended development testing forced the carmaker to push its arrival back. Now it’s finally here—one of WIRED’s most anticipated rides—the first fully electric Range Rover.
The specs are as mighty as you would expect. Dual 260-kilowatt motors deliver “V8 levels of power” up to 542 horsepower and 850 newton-meters of torque (20 percent more than other motors of the same size, JLR claims). Inside, a double-stacked 118.5-kWh battery with 800-volt split-charging tech can recharge the cell from 10 to 80 percent in 22 minutes (or, if you prefer, 137 miles in 10 minutes). Max range is supposedly 372 miles (according to WLTP standards), and a claimed real-world distance of up to 333 miles.
Photograph: Courtesy of JLR
The Range Rover Electric will launch from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, which is rapid considering the car’s weight, though there’s no official figure.
All this comes at a price, naturally—one that’s high even for Range Rover. Available for order now, the UK entry-level Autobiography model is £154,070, or about $208,000, but this quickly climbs to £225,240 (north of $304,000) for the SV Black long-wheelbase model. It could go higher, too, as the “Ultra” models are listed as “price on application”—shorthand for “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” However, US customers can buy a lower SE-spec Range Rover Electric from $138,00—add $2,550 for delivery and destination.
Today in the U.S., it’s mostly crossover vehicles shaped like the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 you’ll find parked in driveways. The numbers back this up, too, with EPA production data for 2024 noting crossovers account for roughly half of every new vehicle built for the American market. Most of them are four wheel drive, part of a long climb that saw AWD officially overtake front wheel drive as the most common layout in 2017.
A lot of the climb comes from plain demand. AutoPacific, which surveyed more than 18,000 Americans planning to buy a new vehicle in 2025, found that for a majority of AWD fans, it wasn’t just an option — it was a necessity. 63% of people surveyed said they would straight up refuse a car without it.
That said, demand is only part of the equation, because a lot of it also has to do with regulation. The thing is, every carmaker has to hit an average fuel economy figure across its entire fleet that it sells in America. Under these same rules, no individual vehicle has to be efficient. What gets measured is the average across everything a company sells, and that average is tallied into two separate pools. One pool holds the cars. The other holds the trucks, though the problem is that the rules are less strict for them since they’re kind of ancient, written back when trucks truly were workhorses. Trucks just have a lower bar to clear, which is why automakers favor them.
Advertisement
Why automakers are incentivized to go with AWD
However, this doesn’t directly explain why most of these cars are AWD since those same cars can also be FWDs. The thing is, if a crossover is driven with two wheels, it gets filed with the cars – the same category as sedans. Give that same crossover four driven wheels and some extra ground clearance, and it gets filed with pickups instead, where, as already mentioned, the bar is lower. The automaker is able to clear the fuel economy rules much more easily.
Advertisement
To give a better idea about how irresistible flagging any car as a truck is to automakers, researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists worked some numbers out. It’s a known fact that driving all four wheels hurts fuel efficiency – for a small SUV, it raises the CO2 emissions by roughly 14.2 grams per mile. However, count that same SUV as a truck (by upgrading it to AWD), and it suddenly wins an additional allowance of 39.8 grams per mile. The automaker then doesn’t need to touch the engine to bring emissions down, and adding a driveshaft is simply a lot cheaper than shrinking a motor. This pattern was already well established by the middle of the last decade and it’s not gone away. In fact, by the 2024 model year, 77% of the lightest SUVs on sale qualified as trucks.
Advertisement
Shoppers love AWDs, too
Marekuliasz/Getty Images
Regulate all you want, but the demand won’t flow if it doesn’t come from the shoppers themselves. One of the reasons why buyers keep going for AWDs is because winters frighten them, and justifiably so, given the crash figures: Snow, sleet, ice, and slush account for 41% of weather-related crashes on American roads. Automakers have spent decades convincing consumers that four wheel driven cars are the solution, and according to Consumer Reports, it’s one big reason why crossovers have become so popular. Trouble is, AWD does nothing to shorten your stopping distance, making it one of the winter driving myths you need to stop believing. Winter tires are still more reliable than any layout, which is why an AWD car still needs proper snow tires.
At the same time, ticking the AWD box has gotten cheaper, too. The Union of Concerned Scientists tracked comparable trims over the years and found that four wheel drive averaged $1,700 as an extra in 2010. Five years later, it fell to $1,490.
Another factor leading to the rise of AWDs is the growth in EV sales over the years, a lot of which come fitted with AWDs. It’s easier for an electric car to gain AWD functionality versus a gas car, as the latter requires a driveshaft running the length of the floor and a transfer case to split the drive. Meanwhile, all an electric car needs is a second motor. Sure, cheaper electric cars still have one motor driving two wheels, but according to InsideEVs, 75% of the 300-odd electric configurations on sale drive all four wheels.
GoPro plans to expand into AI infrastructure through a $285 million merger with optical-photonics company Starman Optical, whose transceivers will give the action-camera maker a foothold in the fast-growing data center market. GoPro also plans to push into defense, robotics, aerospace, and government markets while continuing its existing camera business. Engadget reports: Starman’s optical transceivers are expected to fall under its umbrella, “extending the Company’s reach into the large and rapidly growing market for AI infrastructure in optical transceivers,” according to a press release. GoPro is also planning a push into the defense, government, robotics and aerospace sectors, bolstered by the combined company’s IP, optics and imaging capabilities.
[…] As Reuters notes, GoPro briefly reached a valuation of $4 billion on its first day as a publicly traded company in 2014. Its stock has struggled in recent years, but the share price received a boost on Monday when it was revealed that YouTuber and filmmaker Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) had become GoPro’s largest individual shareholder after acquiring an 8.5 percent stake. The move follows a similar pivot made by the struggling shoe retailer Allbirds in April when it announced a pivot to AI compute infrastructure, sending the stock soaring more than 700%.
Sony has announced three new speakers for its ULT Power Sound lineup, ranging from a $450 portable option to a $1,500 monster built for genuinely large gatherings.
All of them will be available to purchase starting this month via Sony’s official website, Amazon, and Best Buy.
SonySony
How do the three new speakers differ?
The new ULT Tower 5 is the entry point into the lineup. Priced at $450, it’s the most compact of the three, yet somehow, Sony manages to pack in up to 300 watts of output. With a 20-hour battery life and an IPX4 splash resistance rating, you won’t feel anxious about carrying it around as well.
Higher up the price ladder is the ULT Tower 7, which costs $650. For the additional $200 over the Tower 5, you get 360-degree sound that fills a room with up to 420 watts of power, enough to enjoy your favorite movies or web shows on a big screen. It carries the same IPX4 rating, but the battery life goes up to 30 hours.
If you ask me, the Tower 7 is the most balanced pick of the three for anyone hosting regularly (indoor or outdoor).
Advertisement
Sony’s most powerful ULT speaker yet, the ULT Tower Max tops the range at $1,500 and easily justifies that ask. With three dedicated woofers and four tweeters, the speaker pushes up to 2,150 watts of power, which is enough for bigger living rooms, halls, or even larger outdoor venues.
What else is new about the lineup?
Sony is upfront that every model has been tuned with input from hip-hop sound creators, including Grammy-nominated producer Dot Da Genius and drummer-producer Daru Jones. So, apart from power and room-filling sound, you should also expect deeper low end and clearer vocals.
To facilitate that, the company has included a new circular woofer, paired with bigger cabinets and a bass-boosting duct. Enhanced Sound Field Optimization reads both the room’s layout and its background noise, then automatically rebalances the entire frequency range.
Advertisement
Sony has also announced two new profile buttons. While ULT 1 and ULT 2 push varying bass intensity, the new additions FLAT and LIVE offer a truer, unprocessed sound and a spacious live-concert feel, respectively. Additional features include karaoke mic support, syncable lighting modes, and the ability to pair multiple ULT speakers together.
Like so many educators, I was balancing more than a typical routine. I was teaching full-time in a Title I high school while writing, speaking, advocating, mentoring and trying to create learning experiences that honored students who often navigate systems not designed with them in mind. I was often somewhere between grading essays, responding to emails, and figuring out why half the class couldn’t log into Microsoft Teams because the Wi-Fi was acting up again. I wasn’t looking for a tech revolution; if anything, I needed a lifeline. When I stumbled upon GenerationAI, I saw a path to reclaim some of that lost time.
In 2025, I applied to GenerationAI and was one of the fortunate educators chosen to participate in an AI-driven cohort of educators and communities of practice. During the program, we had to create a problem of practice and identify which AI tools could mitigate, alleviate, and elevate our content and student success. My problem of practice was how to leverage AI tools to advance writing skills among English learners (ELs) in the high school English classroom.
I’ll admit it: At first, I wasn’t fully convinced these tools would actually help me become a better teacher. Research on AI transformation in the classroom promised a total revolution in teaching and learning. However, the verbiage from the opening sessions at Google Headquarters in Chicago swung between salvation and complete catastrophe for me. Meanwhile, I thought, I am just trying to get my students through another Tuesday navigating Padlet and NoRedInk without disruption.
Still, I stayed curious and genuinely wanted to lean in to the opportunity. What did I have to lose? Experts leading the program kept reassuring me that the right exposure to AI could make marginalized communities more competitive against their privileged counterparts, and that was enough to draw me in.
Advertisement
With each session, my imagination grew about what AI could become, not only in my classroom, but across the landscape of education as we know it. Not only did we receive helpful AI resources and tools, but the program also provided opportunities for us to share what worked in the classroom and what needed to be revamped to support stronger student outcomes.
I often felt like I was running alongside a moving vehicle that would not stop for me. There was so much to learn, so many platforms to explore, and so many possibilities. There was also so little time.
Yet, somewhere between the overwhelm and the inspiration I gained from fellow educators in my cohort, something shifted within me.
I stopped believing I needed to master AI before I could use it well.
Advertisement
I stopped believing I needed to master AI before I could use it well. Instead, I started treating it like a thought partner. Not a replacement, not a shortcut, but a collaborator; something I so desperately needed with full rosters of ELs, IEPs, and 504s to manage.
Once the program ended, I began brainstorming lesson ideas when my own creativity felt out of reach. I was surprised by how AI helped elevate my big ideas. I gathered discussion questions before testing them in class. I redesigned assignments to make them more culturally responsive and more accessible for multilingual learners. When difficult conversations around immigration, ICE and identity became impossible to ignore, AI helped me think through instructional pathways that were academically rigorous while remaining deeply connected to my desire to create a safe space of belonging.
It helped me see possibilities I hadn’t considered before. AI didn’t diminish my role; it amplified it.
From Gatekeeper to Collaborator
One of the most transformative tools I encountered from the program was Class Companion. For my English learners, immediate writing feedback became a game changer. Instead of waiting several days for my comments on an essay, students could revise while their thinking was still fresh. They received another opportunity to practice, rethink, and improve without waiting for me to finish grading another stack of digital papers.
Advertisement
That mattered.
Not because technology became the teacher, but because it gave students another chance to become stronger writers and gave me space to provide the meaningful instruction they deserved. I no longer felt pressured to offer rushed or watered-down feedback simply because there were not enough hours in the day.
ChatGPT also proved useful for brainstorming and generating ideas for essay topics, project concepts, and research question frameworks for the students. It relieved a lot of unnecessary pressure for both of us, and we were productive and grateful.
The students were also pleasantly surprised that I welcomed AI the way I did. As educators, we often carry the impossible expectation that we have to know everything before we try it. But to be honest, classrooms have never worked that way, and they shouldn’t.
Advertisement
Teaching has always been an act of experimentation. Robert Marzano once said, “In effect, a good part of effective teaching is an art.” It’s an art form. We adjust. We pivot. We learn in real time alongside our students.
AI became another place for that real-time experimentation. I had to be willing to crash and burn in front of them while experimenting with Canva AI-generated images that didn’t work at all because of slow internet and our inability to guide the AI tool properly.
Yet, these experiments were vital in schools like mine. Schools where innovation isn’t limited by imagination, but by fair access. Schools where broken laptops join a list of devices needing repair. Schools where slow internet can derail an entire lesson, and I have receipts for this. Schools where conversations about equity cannot stop at access to premium platforms because some students are still waiting for access to functioning devices and suitable chargers.
Those realities never disappeared simply because AI entered the conversation. On the contrary, they became even more visible.
Advertisement
The Equity Gap in the Age of AI
I didn’t join GenerationAI to become an artificial intelligence expert. I joined because I was trying to persevere and find as many resources as possible to make magic in an environment challenged by barriers to access, resources, and injustice outside the classroom.
Looking back, I honestly wish I could have absorbed more from my GenerationAI cohort. The learning was incredibly rich, but almost too rich, given the barriers my students and I faced every day around time and access to functioning technology.
Still, I don’t see that as a failure. I didn’t leave as an AI expert. I left as a teacher who wasn’t afraid to experiment. That may be the most important lesson of all.
We don’t need educators who know every tool. We need educators who are willing to ask better questions, willing to take instructional risks, and willing to discover how technology can support, rather than replace, authentic teaching and sincere moments of connection.
Advertisement
AI never became the star of my classroom. My students remained at the center as mis estrellas – my stars.
AI never became the star of my classroom. My students remained at the center as mis estrellas – my stars.
Sometimes innovation isn’t about having all the answers. Sometimes it’s about having the courage to try something new. AI didn’t replace the heart of my teaching; it gave me more time to use it in the way I felt would resonate with both me and my students.
In a recent video [Sqwerks] does a deep-dive into the problem of disintegrating plastic enclosures of Nintendo DS consoles. These original NDS handheld consoles have a metallic-like coating that appears to interact with the ABS plastic, causing yellowing as well as extreme brittleness and correspondingly broken hinges. Unsurprisingly, this causes the shell to essentially disintegrate the moment you try to disassemble them for something like a screen replacement.
While somewhat the opposite of plasticizer migration into ABS from PVC insulation that we covered before, the underlying cause is probably similar, with the Transformers toy community having come to call it Gold Plastic Syndrome (GPS) based on the fact that it were mostly gold-colored parts on these plastic toys that seemed to be affected. Over time the additives used to add a cool metal sheen and swirls to the plastic appear to interact in a way that makes the ABS plastic very brittle.
Although the underlying cause of GPS doesn’t appear to be known yet, the Transformers community has documented this happening since the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, with even reports that some toys from the mid-2010s suffer from this. Whatever the underlying cause of GPS is, the result is always the same, with disintegrating brittle plastic and often a powdery residue.
Advertisement
In the case of NDS consoles, replacing the affected shell with a third-party replacement is still a viable option today, with [Sqwerks] recommending this solution. For other enclosures and toys where the plastic effectively is the toy, it might be that all we can do is watch them slowly disintegrate until we figure out how to revert GPS.
Firefox users on iPhone finally get something Android and desktop users have enjoyed for a while: a real way to block ads without hunting down a separate extension for Firefox. Mozilla officially launched Ad Blocker for Firefox on iOS today, after testing it over the past few weeks.
How the new ad blocker works on iOS
The feature relies on Apple’s WebKit Content Blocker technology paired with the EasyList filter, which is a community-maintained list that identifies known ad and tracker sources. That combination lets Firefox strip out most third-party ads and trackers before they even load, cutting down on clutter and saving you some bandwidth along the way. This is the latest move in Mozilla’s yearslong campaign against ad-based tracking.
However, you should also know what this feature can (and cannot) do. Ads served directly by the website itself will still show up, as will ads inside search results. Firefox’s own sponsored shortcuts on the new tab page are treated separately too, so don’t expect those to disappear.
How to turn on Firefox’s ad blocker on iOS?
Mozilla
You’ll need to turn this on yourself, since Mozilla is keeping it off by default. First, go to Settings, then Browsing, then Ad Blocker to enable it, or toggle it quickly from the site menu whenever you’re browsing.
The ad-blocker works alongside Firefox’s existing Enhanced Tracking Protection, giving iOS users two layers of privacy tools. Notably, Firefox is actually late to this particular party, since Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi already offer built-in ad blocking on their own iOS browsers.
Advertisement
Firefox 155 update: what else is new?
This rollout lands alongside Firefox 155, which brings a handful of other changes too. Smart Window, Mozilla’s AI-assisted browsing feature, is expanding to more users in the US, Canada, and France, picking up faster responses and smarter tab organization along the way.
Mozilla
Organize Tabs feature also got smarter. It now suggests better grouping for related tabs and gives each group a clear descriptive name. The update also adds a visible tracker count right in the address bar, plus a batch of smaller bug fixes across desktop and mobile.
In brief: A small team of engineers and scientists have announced what they are describing as humanity’s first mission to another star. It’s an ambitious mission, but one that’d barely put a dent in the budgets of major space players like NASA or SpaceX.
The Fermi Explorer Mission aims to launch in just three years and arrive at Alpha Centauri in roughly 80,000 years at a cost of less than $15 million – an absolute bargain, relatively speaking. The non-profit is co-founded by Philip Johnston, Ezra Feilden, and Adi Oltean, who recently brought startup Starcloud to life. An 81-page PDF is available to download, outlining the full mission plan and analysis.
The team expects its spacecraft to be the first to set sail but the last to actually arrive at its destination. Advances in technology should allow humanity to build spacecraft in the not-too-distant future that can travel through space at much faster speeds. Even with the head start, Fermi Explorer will lose the race by a wide margin.
Why bother with the mission at all if craft built just 50 years from now will get there first? Well, someone has to be first, and the mission could spark interest from other groups with deeper pockets and better technology. There’s also something to be said about the spirit of human exploration and our thirst for knowledge. A project like this certainly scratches those itches.
Advertisement
The non-profit is soliciting donations via a crowdfunding model, complete with typical reward tiers. A donation of $10 will get your name on a website as an official mission supporter, while a minimum contribution of $100 is needed for your name to be engraved on the craft. There’s also a merch store where you can purchase branded swag to support the effort.
The next step in humanity’s exploration of space involves returning humans to the Moon and eventually, sending them to Mars. A crewed mission to our nearby satellite is targeted for 2028; no date is yet set for our first trip to the Red Planet.
Roku has launched its first-ever OLED TVs, the Roku Pro Series OLED and Roku Pro Series LX OLED, replacing its older LCD-based Pro lineup entirely. For a brand known mostly for budget friendly streaming hardware, jumping straight into OLED territory is a bold move, especially with pricing this aggressive.
The Roku Pro Series OLED undercuts Samsung and LG
The base model starts at just $999 for the 55-inch size, a number worth pausing on. Samsung’s entry-level S85 OLED currently lists for $1,499, while LG’s B6E OLED runs $1,299. Roku is undercutting both by a real margin.
Roku Pro Series OLED features a 4K, 120Hz panel with Dolby Vision, Roku’s Smart Picture Max for automatic picture tuning, and gaming perks like FreeSync Premium and variable refresh rate. It’s also available now in both 55 and 65 inch sizes, exclusively through Amazon.
The Roku Pro Series OLED TVRoku
The Pro Series LX OLED is the pricier, sharper option
Roku’s step-up model adds a brighter panel, a wider color range, a faster 144Hz refresh rate, and an anti-reflective filter that cuts down on glare. It’s not yet confirmed which exact type of OLED panel this model uses, though it’s likely a brightness-optimized variant similar to what LG uses in its C Series. The LX OLED is available for preorder now, officially launching in October for $1,299.
What’s new, and what’s missing, in Roku’s OLED TVs
Both new TVs share Roku’s signature simplicity. You get an adjustable tool-free stand, velcro cable straps, and a push to talk voice remote with backlit buttons that pairs directly with Bluetooth headphones.
Advertisement
The Roku Pro Series OLED and Pro Series LX OLED featuring a metal bezel with a thin profileRoku
There’s also a tradeoff here. Roku’s ultra-thin metal bezel design meant sacrificing the Soundstage audio port that shipped on the older Pro TV. Roku’s VP of retail strategy, Chris Larson, confirmed the feature would have made the new design too thick to pull off.
For years, Roku has built its reputation on simple software and affordable streaming devices. Now it is bringing that same strategy to OLED TVs. Whether it can challenge LG and Samsung on picture quality remains to be seen, but it has already made the premium TV market far more competitive.
I never thought I’d type this sentence, but there’s a toothbrush that costs as much as a mid-range Android smartphone and has Wi-Fi connectivity and a built-in camera.
Dyson just unveiled the CameraJet, a toothbrush that packs an actual camera and an AI detection system. It is built specifically to find and flush out the gaps between your teeth that regular brushes miss.
So how does this camera toothbrush actually work?
Like its other products, Dyson has made this one a high-tech engineering showcase. The company has devised something called Gap Optical Targeting. It uses a tiny 100,000-pixel camera paired with an AI system that hunts for gaps between your teeth.
The moment it spots one, it fires a cone-shaped jet of mouthrinse into it, which spreads wider on contact and sweeps plaque off in one motion. At the same time, the spray is gentle enough so that it doesn’t irritate your gums or damage enamel.
Advertisement
Instead of the typical straw-in-a-cup water tank that ends up sputtering air bubbles when tilted, the CameraJet features a diaphragm pump and pressure chamber that keep the 12.5 ml tank. The unique design helps it eject mouthrinse with a steady pace, no matter how you’re holding the brush.
What will it actually cost you?
The charging dock also refills in three seconds at the push of a button. You also get a travel case. Speaking of the brush itself, it uses two bristle types: firmer ones on the inside to lift stains and softer ones on the outside to protect your gumline.
Each head also carries an RFID chip to track your usage. The device connects over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to the MyDyson app, where you can also watch a live camera feed so you can actually watch your own teeth the way a dentist would. It also maps which spots you’re covering well and the ones you’re missing.
Advertisement
If you didn’t already see this coming, the Dyson CameraJet starts from $499. That’s how much the Google Pixel 10a costs in the US. In the box, you get the electronic brush, the dock, two brush heads, and a charging cable. It’s available today in Ceramic Ultra Blue or Ceramic Pink, through Dyson Demo Stores or directly at the official website.
A wholesome story has gone viral on Facebook after California Highway Patrol – Auburn shared a heartwarming image of a man being reunited with a vehicle stolen from him more than 30 years ago. According to the CHP, a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS was reported stolen in San Mateo County in 1993. However, during a VIN inspection of a ’71 Chevelle SS 33 years later, officers realized they were looking at the exact car that had been stolen all those years ago.
After working with the San Mateo Police Department, they confirmed that it was indeed the same Chevelle SS. The CHP then returned the classic muscle car to its original owner. “After more than three decades,” the CHP wrote on Facebook, “this classic is finally back where it belongs.”
Advertisement
The 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS appeared quite clean and well cared for in the image released by the CHP, leaving some to wonder whether the then-owner wasn’t aware that their Chevelle had been stolen. They had clearly put a lot of money and time into the car, which is easily worth $30,000 to $70,000 depending on the mileage and condition, and even more for the Chevelle SS, some of which have sold for six-figure sums. The Chevelle SS is one of the most iconic Chevy models ever made due to its aggressive looks and powerful engine options, with the ’71 model maxing out at 365 hp from the 454 V8.
Advertisement
How to protect your classic car from getting stolen
Rattankun Thongbun/Getty Images
This is not the first time a classic car has been reunited with its owner many years after being stolen. In mid-2026, a Vietnam Vet’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro was returned to his son nearly 20 years after going missing. Unfortunately, classic cars are considered pretty easy to steal due to their simplicity — no alarms, no dashcams, no modern door features. You really only need a screwdriver, a bent coat hanger, and the ability to hotwire a car.
However, there are some ways to protect your classic car from getting stolen. First, always lock the doors and take the keys — even if you live in a relatively quiet area. If you can, park the car indoors, such as in a temperature-controlled garage, and not out in the street. If you have to do the latter, make sure it’s in a visible and well-lit area to deter would-be thieves.
You can also install anti-theft devices like a battery cut-off switch, an alarm, and a tracker. Finally, be aware of the warning signs that thieves are targeting your classic car, like scratches near your door lock or strange activity around your home.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login