In a new media briefing today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave its latest update on the COVID-19 pandemic, including the current state of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the United States, the vaccination program, and the ways in which the two intersect. As expected, the update also includes the CDC's latest information about its face mask guidance.
After a week with the Karma GS-6, the surprise wasn't that nobody knew what the plug-in hybrid was, it was just how much I liked it. While the design may be ten years old now, rarity on the roads - and a convoluted back story - means plenty of head-scratching when you try to explain just what this swooping sedan is. Then factor in the fairly unusual plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and the dramatic drop in price earlier this year.
It's probably fair to say that Toyota put hybrids on the map. The Prius defined the category, came to resemble every stereotype of a "green" car (and, for that matter, of your next Uber or Lyft), and for many has been a first taste of electrification. What's odd, then, is that it's taken until now - and the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime - for the automaker to get around to making a compelling plug-in hybrid.
Sometimes, expectations weigh heavy on you. Big names, promising big things, and with big implications: the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS is a prime example. After spending two full days driving the German automaker's attempt to redefine luxury through Zurich, Switzerland, it almost comes as a relief to report that the EQS surpasses all my expectations of Mercedes-Benz. To risk a cliche, it's the S-Class of electric luxury, redefining what a modern-day high-end sedan embodies through form and function.
Cadillac may have launched Super Cruise, but it'll be GMC which launches the hands-free driver assistance tech into the heart of the mass market when it arrives on the new 2022 Sierra pickup. Not only will it feature the same on-demand lane change feature but, as I found behind the wheel of a prototype 2022 Sierra this week, a new automatic lane change option that promises to make highway driving even more relaxing.
Of all the things I expected from the 2021 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge - an SUV with a near half-million-dollar price tag - a reminder of the value of simplicity was not among them. Launched in 2018, the Cullinan is as luxurious, as excessive, and as attention-grabbing as you'd think, particularly in Black Badge form. Look beyond the glitter, though, and there's something more important there too.
GMC is on a roll right now, and Denali is a big reason for that. The luxury sub-brand - success elevating it from being anything so pedestrian as a mere trim - has helped make SUVs like the 2021 GMC Yukon XL Denali so popular, dealers can't even get them in through the door before they're already sold.
Apple is readying a shake-up in its most affordable iPhone models, fresh leaks suggest, with a new iPhone SE 5G and the demise of the iPhone mini said to be on the cards. Not only will the iPhone 13 line-up - expected later in 2021 - consist of only 5G models, but the new budget iPhone SE will also embrace 5G technology.
For a while it seemed like IKEA and Sonos' Symfonisk collaboration had stalled, but the new Symfonisk Picture Frame is a reminder that, much like artwork, unusual tech can take time to create. Packaging a connected Sonos speaker into a piece of wall art, it bypasses the traditional aesthetic associated with home audio for something that - depending on your decor - will either be more or less surreptitious than anything else from Sonos' line-up.
The Hubble Space Telescope has successfully been switched to its backup hardware, with NASA's potentially risky fix for the ailing instrument seemingly working as planned. Hubble - which has been in operation for 31 years, giving scientists an unprecedented glimpse of distant galaxies - unexpectedly shut down in June, with the payload computer responsible for managing the telescope switching into its protective safe mode.
It's still a few months away, but rumors and leaks about the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 XL are starting to accumulate. The details we've heard and seen so far paint a picture of a unique phone, both inside and especially outside. It's definitely a head-turner, for better or worse, and something that Android users will probably be talking about for quite a while. And perhaps rightly so, because the Pixel 6, specifically Pixel 6 XL, could very well be the standard flagship smartphone that Android users deserve.
NASA will begin repairs on Hubble today, after the US space agency developed a new fix for the ailing space telescope. Scientific work with Hubble came to an abrupt halt midway through June, when the payload computer - responsible for managing the high-power telescope itself - unexpectedly shut down.