Peacemaker season 2 sees the return of an antihero who famously claimed to “cherish peace with all my heart. I don’t care how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it”. The return of John Cena’s fan-favorite DC character has certainly raised eyebrows because, well, the second season of The Suicide Squad movie’s spin-off series isn’t set in the now-defunct DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Instead, it’s part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Cinematic Universe (DCU).

Confused? So are we. Nonetheless, we’ve done our best to explain how Peacemaker‘s sophomore season will fit into – not to mention impact – the DCU Chapter One line-up. You’ll also learn more about its potential release date, confirmed cast, likely story details, and more in this guide, too. So, stick on the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’, grab your own Eagly (that’s Peacemaker’s bald eagle, for anyone not paying attention), and evoke your inner patriot as we break down everything worth knowing about Peacemaker season 2. Full spoilers follow for season 1, too!

Peacemaker season 2 release date prediction

Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.

Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.

How to play Strands

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strand answers

Today’s spanagram

We’ll start by giving you the spangram, which might help you figure out the theme and solve the rest of the puzzle on your own:

Today’s Strands answers

• VEST
• SCARF
• FLEECE
• SWEATER
• FLANNEL
• CARDIGAN

Popular social media platform TikTok’s owner ByteDance has debuted its first set of earbuds. Called the Ola Friend, the brand’s first buds have been introduced in its home market of China. The Ola Friend buds are linked to the company’s self-developed chatbot called Doubao. Notably, ByteDance’s chatbot is currently one of the most popular GenAI applications in the Chinese market with more than 47 million monthly active users.

TikTok owner ByteDance’s first earbuds are designed to serve as an audio assistant

Notably, TikTok owner ByteDance’s OIa Friend buds are designed to work as an audio assistant for the wearer. The wearable allows people to chat directly with the brand’s GenAI chatbot without having to pick up their phones. The chatbot works as an assistant when the user is traveling, practicing English, listening to music, or looking for company, said ByteDance.

Furthermore, users can install the ByteDance chatbot on their smartphone and connect to the earbuds. Then they can activate it using the voice prompt word “Doubao Doubao”. The prompt word is derived from the brand’s GenAI service that was launched last year. Notably, the service is powered by the company’s large lange model – the tech behind GenAI apps – that’s also dubbed Doubao.

Priced at around $170, the Ola Friend will be available only in China for now

ByteDance’s Ola Friend wireless earbuds feature a distinctive design and weigh 6.6 grams each. The wearable is priced at 1,199 Yuan, which is roughly $170 when converted. The earbuds are available to order on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall marketplace. In addition, consumers can also order them from JD.com and ByteDance’s own Douyin platform, which is the Chinese sibling of TikTok.

They will start shipping in the country from October 17. The audio accessory is offered in four color variants including Purple, Silver, Black, and White. ByteDance will only sell the earbuds in the Chinese market as its chatbot Doubao is only available there, which is the highlight of the accessory. The debut of the earbuds follows ByteDance completing its acquisition of Oladance, a maker of audio accessories.

At Tesla’s We, Robot event at Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio in California, the company finally unveiled its robotaxi. The car is expected to go into production before 2027, but even Musk caveated that, saying he was “highly optimistic with timeframes.”

The Cybercab doesn’t have a steering wheel and, according to Elon Musk (so pinch of salt!), could be very cheap to run. The Tesla boss said the operating cost of the robotaxi would be 20 cents a mile, 30 to 40 cents with taxes. He also confirmed people can buy one and that Tesla expects to sell the Cybercab for below $30,000. He still, predictably, said something weird. Musk said he envisions a future where people own several robotaxis and manage a fleet like shepherds. Huh?

The technology is a little different to most of its robotaxi competitors. Tesla has long dropped radars and sensors that other robotaxis, like Waymo’s, use extensively, instead going for cameras and AI object detection. There’s also no charging port, using inductive charging instead, so a completely different infrastructure is needed to keep these vehicles on the roads.

Not one to waste a big event, Musk also briefly introduced the Robovan — an autonomous van that can carry up to 20 people and transport goods, and he marched out a line of Optimus robots, which ended up serving drinks to attendees during the event.

— Mat Smith

Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest stories you might have missed

Mubi plans to release it in early 2025.

Mubi has secured the rights to Grand Theft Hamlet. In this documentary, two out-of-work actors attempt to stage an entire production of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet within the game world of Grand Theft Auto Online during the Covid-19 pandemic. The movie comprises more than 300 hours of GTA footage.

Continue reading.

Its Arrow Lake processors are finally here.

Despite competition everywhere, Intel has broadly maintained its lead on gaming performance. The company’s most recent Core 5/7/9 often outperformed their AMD counterparts. However, that has come at the cost of power efficiency. Until now. According to Intel, the goal was to reduce power consumption by 40 percent and internal package temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Celsius with its 15th-gen chips. When the high-spec Intel Core Ultra 9 285K arrives on October 24, it will cost $589, the 14-core Ultra 5 245KF will be $294 and the 20-core Ultra 7 265K will go on for $394.

Continue reading.

We tested 14 USB phone chargers on five devices.

With many devices no longer including a charger in the box, especially the latest smartphones, a fast charger is no longer just a nice-to-have item — it’s arguably a must-have.

We’ve pulled together and tested the best chargers in three power output ranges. We have graphs, we have alternative options, we even tease more powerful chargers coming in the near future. In short, we’ve pulled together everything you need, besides buying one and shipping it to you ourselves.

Continue reading.

There have been plenty of rumors swirling regarding a new iPad Mini for more than a year now, but most indicators point toward a processor bump and little else. We haven’t heard much about a new entry-level iPad, though, which makes it a great time to pick up either the ninth- or 10th-gen model — both of which are still on sale for their best price to date in the wake of Amazon’s October Prime Day sale.

Right now, you can grab Apple’s last-gen iPad at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage starting at $199 ($130 off). The 10th-gen model, meanwhile, is available from the same three retailers — Amazon, Best Buy, and Target — in the same configuration starting at $299 ($50 off). You can also pick up either with 256GB of storage for $349.99 ($130 off) and $449 ($50 off), respectively.

Both entry-level tablets are well-suited for streaming, browsing the web, and shooting off emails, though the newer model sports a slightly larger 10.9-inch screen and a faster processor in the form of Apple’s A14 Bionic. It also features a USB-C port instead of Apple’s Lightning connector (phew) and cribs some of the modern design language from the pricier iPad Air, resulting in smaller bezels and Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the power button.

I’d argue the 10th-gen model iPad is the better buy given its newer specs and current asking price; however, the ninth-gen model is still great for kids and anyone who wants a basic tablet at an affordable price. Hell, it even offers a 3.5mm headphone jack — a welcome rarity in 2024.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.