The Techee

The American automaker General Motors (GM) is surely stepping up its electric vehicle game on the backs of its plan to spend $27 billion on electric and autonomous vehicle development from 2020 through 2025. It's just unveiled two new additions to its growing electric car lineup, a usual hatchback and a new compact SUV from its popular Chevy Bolt brand. The new electric vehicles from GM are 2022 models, meaning they'll go into production later this year. With the lineup, GM dropped a surprise with a new Chevy Bolt electric utility vehicle (EUV), essentially a compact SUV. It's the first compact SUV to come from the Chevy Bolt brand and represents GM's bigger rush into the electric vehicle market, with plans to launch 30 new EVs by 2025. GM 2022 redesigned Bolt EV (left) and Bolt EUV (right). Chevy Bolt EUV The 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV is notably the first vehicle from the Chevrolet brand to feature GM's 'Super Cruise' driver assistance system. It's similar

Samsung has unveiled the latest addition to its Galaxy smartphone lineup: the S21 series consisting of the basic S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra. Respectively, they're priced at $799, $999, and $1,199.  The S21 series will become available to purchase on the 29th of January. S21 Features and Specs of the basic S21 include; A 6.2-inch edge-to-edge display 5G connectivity 10MP front camera and 64MP triple rear cameras 8GB RAM with 128GB / 256GB internal storage 4000mAh battery Fast charging Support for 8K video footage 5nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor S21+ The Galaxy S21+ is a step-up from the basic S21, with features including: A 6.7-inch edge-to-edge display 5G connectivity 10MP front camera and 64MP triple rear cameras 8GB RAM with 128GB / 256GB internal storage 4800mAh battery Fast charging Support for 8K video footage 5nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor S21 Ultra The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the most premium version of the S21 series, costing $1,199. Its features include: A 6.8-inch edge-to-edge d

Microsoft has unveiled the latest addition to its lineup of Surface Pro tablets; the Surface Pro 7+ . The new tablet is targeted at business and education customers and will be available in select markets later this month.  The Surface Pro 7+ features 11th Gen Intel Core Processors for high performance and has a battery life of up to 15 hours, Microsoft says.  Targeted at business and education customers and particularly in a time that's accelerated the need for remote work, the Surface Pro 7+ features front and rear-facing cameras with 1080p full HD video as well as Dolby Atmos speakers and dual far-field Studio Microphones for good audio. Other features of the Surface Pro 7+ include; Having both USB-A and USB-C ports Wi-Fi or LTE Advanced configuration Adaptability to dock into external displays 128GB SSD Lightweight, 23% lighter than its predecessor The Surface Pro 7+ tablet comes in four main options: Intel Core i3/8GB RAM/128 GB storage/WiFi, costing $900 Intel Core i5/8GB RAM

The tech giant Apple has introduced yet another gadget, this time new wireless headphones named "AirPods Max" which it touts as bringing "the magic of AirPods to an over-ear design with high-fidelity sound". The new AirPods Max is one of the few headphones released under the Apple brand and is priced at $549. The AirPods Max packs features including noise cancellation; a "Transparency Mode" that lets users simultaneously listen to music while hearing the environment around them; voice commands via Siri; and the ability to sense and pause music once the headphones are removed or when the user simply lifts one ear cup. The AirPods Max is fitted with the powerful Apple-designed H1 chip. It provides battery life of up to 20 hours after a full charge, Apple says.  The AirPods Max have been made available for sale already, starting at $549. It's more than double the cost of AirPods Pro ($249) and nearly four-times the cost of the basic AirPods ($159).  The r

The Finnish virtual reality startup Varjo has announced the launch of two new headsets, one a virtual reality headset named VR-3 , and the other an extended reality (a compromise between virtual and augmented reality) headset named XR-3 .  The new headsets are professional-grade and PC-tethered, made for use in industrial settings just like Varjo's previous headsets. The VR-3 and XR-3 headsets both have features including a 115° field of view, integrated eye and hand tracking, a refresh rate of 90 Hz, a 3-point precision fit headband, and 40% lighter weight compared to its predecessor. The XR-3 notably features Lidar sensors that makes it function as both a virtual and augmented reality headset, hence the XR name. The VR-3 and XR-3 headsets both have sharp screens, each using two panels for each eye: a small 1920 x 1920 display for center vision and a 2880 x 2720 for the rest of the screen. Notably, those are some of the sharpest screens that can be found in current VR and AR heads

  Photo credit: Ford American automaker Ford has unveiled a new all-electric version of its popular Transit cargo van, this time the E-Transit van that's priced at $45,000 and is set for release in late 2021. The E-Transit van will deliver an estimated range of 126 miles, according to Ford, and feature fast-charging that can deliver 45 miles of range in as low as 15 minutes. To keep intact the cargo capacity for the electric version of the Transit van, Ford has intuitively placed its battery underneath the vehicle's body, giving way for 487.3 cubic feet of internal cargo space. The automaker says it's targeting a maximum payload of up to 4,290 pounds for the E-Transit van, which is differentiated by three roof height and three body length versions that customers can pick from. Photo credit: Ford The unveiling of a new electric van falls under Ford's commitment to invest $11.5 billion in electrification through the year 2022. Before now, the company had unveiled electr

  Photo credit: BMW Automaker BMW has unveiled the BMW iX , an electric SUV that'll go into production in the second half of next year and come up for sale in early 2022. BMW says the new SUV will have a driving range of over 300 miles (480 km) and will be able to accelerate from o to 100km/h in under 5 seconds. Like many other electric vehicles, the BMW iX will feature fast-charging technology, whereas BMW says its battery should be able to go from 10% to 80% in under 40 minutes of charging. Photo credit: BMW The BMW iX feels similar to other BMW SUVs, with a length and width that's similar to the BMW X5, a height that's very close to the BMW X6, and wheels that are very similar to that of the BMW X7.  Inside, the BMW iX gives the usual luxurious ambience that's found in other BMW vehicles. It's spacious and features displays and controls that are stripped down to the essentials. The iX is the first true long-range electric vehicle to be produced by BMW given the a

  Photo credit: Apple Apple has unveiled three new additions to its lineup of Mac computers, a new MacBook Air , MacBook Pro , and Mac Mini. The three new additions are notable for featuring the Apple M1 chip, which is the first chip built by Apple specifically for the Mac and is the company's most powerful chip ever. Thanks to the M1, the new Mac Mini packs very high performance in a compact design. Per Apple, the new Mac mini performs up to 3x faster and delivers graphics up to 6x faster than its predecessor. Apple says it runs machine learning workloads up to 15x faster than previous Mac Minis, giving way for applications that make use of machine learning to run much faster.  Per Apple, the new Mac Mini performs better than its predecessor in these ways; Compile code in Xcode up to 3x faster.  Play a graphics-intensive game with up to 4x higher frame rates.  Render a complex timeline in Final Cut Pro up to 6x faster.  Take music production to new levels by using up to 3x as many

  Photo credit: Apple On Wednesday, Apple unveiled its most powerful chip ever, the M1 chip that's designed specifically for the Mac. Packing 16 billion transistors, it's the first processor that Apple has built specifically for its Mac lineup of computers. As such, Apple has unveiled three new additions to the Mac lineup that feature the M1 chip; a new MacBook Air , a new Mac Mini, and a new MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro is the most powerful ever thanks to the M1 chip. Per Apple's words, it's up to 2.8x faster and delivers graphics of up to 5x faster than its predecessor. It does well in battery life, with up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and 20 hours of video playback after a full-charge, per Apple. Per Apple, the new MacBook Pro performs better than the previous generation in these ways; Build code in Xcode up to 2.8x faster. Render a complex 3D title in Final Cut Pro up to 5.9x faster.  Fluidly design intricate game scenes in Unity Editor up to 3.5x faste

  Photo credit: Apple Just a short while after debuting the iPhone 12 , Apple is back yet again with the debut of a new MacBook Air, this time a new MacBook Air that features the newly-unveiled Apple M1 chip. The M1 is the most powerful chip that Apple has ever created and is designed specifically for the Mac. It's made up of an astounding 16 billion transistors, the highest number of transistors Apple has ever put into a chip. The new MacBook Air does well in battery life, with up to 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless web browsing after a full charge, per Apple's statement. It features Apple's latest image signal processor on the M1 chip that caters to high-quality camera footage. Compared to its predecessor, the new MacBook Air performs up to 3.5x faster thanks to an 8-core CPU and delivers graphics up to 5x faster thanks to an 8-core GPU. On the new MacBook Air, machine learning workloads are up to 9x faster compared to its predecessor, giving way for a

  Photo credit: DJI Drone maker DJI has debuted the successor to the popular Mavic Mini drone, this time unveiling a drone with a maximum transmission range of 10km, a 150% increase compared to its predecessor, and up to 31 minutes of flight time, with the ability to withstand wind speeds of up to 24mph. The new Mini 2 as it's named features the iconic folding design that makes moving around with the drone fairly easy. The new Mini 2 is capable of recording 12-megapixel images and a maximum video resolution of 4K/30fps @100 Mbps. It's able to fly backward and upward and track subjects via its camera. Now, with the Mini 2, a cell phone can be connected directly to the drone without the need for a remote controller.   Photo credit: DJI  Like other DJI drones, the Mini 2 packs safety features such as geo-fencing to keep drones away from sensitive areas like airports and a 'Return to Home' option that can be activated to take the drone back to the originating position of

Photo credit: Apple Apple is working on two new AirPods models; a third-generation entry-level version and the second version of the AirPods Pro earbuds, according to a report [paywalled] by Bloomberg . The entry-level AirPods as it name suggests is one that'll likely be cheaper compared to other AirPods but will assumedly not have higher-end features like others. Apple is working to make a new AirPods Pro that'll be more compact by getting rid of the short stem that currently sticks out of the bottom, Bloomberg reports. The design in testing is said to be that of a round shape that'll better stick to users' ears without the need of a supporting handle, a design that's currently adopted by the competing Samsung Galaxy Buds. Apple is said to be considering launching the new AirPods in the first half of next year. Apple has seen huge success from the AirPods since it launched the product in 2016. Although the company doesn't disclose revenue figures solely for th

Photo credit: GM American automaker General Motors (GM) has unveiled an all-electric make of its popular Hummer brand of rugged trucks, this time named the GMC Hummer EV . The new truck is the first fully electric addition to the GMC brand of vehicles and is one that'll be powered by the new 'Ultium' batteries made by General Motors and draw its power from the new 'Ultium Drive' electric motors. The new Hummer EV will provide an estimated 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of torque for driving. Among its notable features include an underbody armor consisting of sturdy steel plates that are strategically placed around the vehicle's battery pack; new front and rear underbody cameras that'll help drivers to navigate obstacles both on and off-road; a 4 wheel steer system; and an 800-volt DC public fast-charging system. Photo credit: GM Photo credit: GM The GMC Hummer EV will have a range of 350 miles on a full charge. Production of the new vehicle is scheduled

  Beats Flex Photo credit: Beats Electronics Beats Electronics, the consumer audio products manufacturer owned by Apple, has debuted what counts as its cheapest-ever product, a $50 wireless headphones that's touted as "Apple tech meets Beats sound". The new low-priced wireless headphones is one that packs a 12-hour battery life, an upgraded microphone for enhanced sound, and USB-C charging compatibility in a simplistic design. As expected, the $50 Beats Flex headphones features Bluetooth connectivity to cater to wireless use. Along with a strong 12-hour battery life for the Beats Flex comes fast charging, in this case Apple's dubbed 'Fast Fuel' charging where a 10-minute charge gives 1.5 hours of playback.  Kit with Class 1 Bluetooth technology (66–98 ft), the Beats Flex offers an extended wireless range and fewer dropouts when connected to external devices. Like similar wireless headphones, it can be operated with on-device controls, compatible with both the

Photo credit: Apple Apple has as usual unveiled a new smartphone for this year, being the awaited iPhone 12 series which include the iPhone 12 itself, the iPhone 12 mini , the iPhone 12 Pro , and iPhone 12 Pro Max variants, all of which are compatible with the 5G cellular standard. The basic iPhone 12 packs features including an edge-to-edge display, the A14 Bionic chip which is Apple's most powerful mobile chip so far, a dual-camera system, and MagSafe  magnetic wireless charging. MagSafe refers to a brand of magnetically attached power connectors originally introduced by Apple for its MacBook laptops in 2006 but discontinued in July last year. Now, Apple has revived the magnetic charging technology this time for the iPhone 12. MagSafe. Photo credit: Apple The iPhone 12 is compatible with 5G cellular networks, at a time when it's being adopted gradually across the globe. With 5G comes desirable traits such as faster downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more

Photo credit: Apple Tech giant Apple has unveiled a smaller version of its popular HomePod smart speaker, this one dubbed the HomePod mini  which stands at just 3.3-inches tall and will retail for $100, compared to $300+ for the original HomePod. Just like the original HomePod, the mini version delivers rich sound, smart home controls, and integration with the Siri virtual assistant. It's designed to work with services like Apple Music, podcasts, and radio stations and in the coming months will get integration to popular music services including Pandora and Amazon Music. HomePod mini smart speakers are able to work in sync with each other, an example being multiple HomePod minis placed in a large room and playing the same thing.  The HomePod mini integrates easily with Apple devices such as the iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV. It packs an intercom system that enables different HomePod minis within the same vicinity to communicate with each other.  Apple touts the HomePod mini as being ma

  Photo credit: Bose Audio hardware maker Bose has debuted the Sleepbuds II , the second iteration of the company's earbuds which are specifically tailored for sleep activity. The new Sleepbuds II packs improvements on its predecessor, with better noise masking, new content categories, a new enclosure, and a new acoustic and electronics design. The new Sleepbuds will retail for $250, with availability beginning on the 6th of October. Bose's Sleepbuds aren't usual earbuds as they don't play music or allow users to take calls. They simply play various tracks of soothing white noise to block out unpleasant sounds and distractions to cater to better sleep activity. The Sleepbuds can also be used to set alarms that won't disturb one's sleeping partner. They come out of the box with over 35 free sleep tracks, and with more available for purchase. Bose says its effectiveness was proven by a joint study with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the UC

Photo credit: Oculus Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus has debuted the Quest 2 , the successor to the Oculus Quest virtual reality headset that was released in May of last year. The new Quest 2 is an all-in-one VR headset that features the highest resolution display ever seen in an Oculus headset. It weighs less than the previous Oculus Quest and also costs less, starting at $299 compared to the previous Quest which retailed for $399 but nevertheless widely sold out across stores . The Quest 2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform processor and packs 6GB of internal memory. Other of its notable features include an 1832 x 1920 pixels display and gameplay support at refresh rates of 90 Hz.  Just like the previous Quest, the new Quest 2 is an all-in-one virtual reality headset that doesn't require connection to an external computer or tracking sensors for use and is built for fit and comfort. The new Quest 2 and the previous Quest share the same game and conten

Photo credit: Apple Apple has unveiled a new iPad Air that's the most powerful ever, with features including an all-screen design with a 10.9-inch display, a 12MP rear camera, and a Touch ID sensor. The new iPad Air is fitted with the new  A14 Bionic chip, a 6-core chip that'll also be present on the next generation of Apple iPhones. The A14 Bionic chip caters to faster performance such as a 40% boost in CPU performance and a 30% boost in graphics compared to the A13 chip.  The new iPad Air includes a new 12MP rear camera as well as a 7MP front-facing camera. It comes with a USB-C port that caters to data transfer at rates of up to 5GB-per-second. Another of its key features is the new iPadOS 14.  In line with Apple's goal to become carbon neutral by 2030, the company made the new iPad Air using what it says is a 100% recycled aluminum enclosure and 100% recycled tin for the solder on the iPad's main logic board. The speakers of the new iPad also uses magnets made from

Photo credit: Apple Apple has announced the Apple Watch SE , a cheaper variant of its popular lineup of premium smartwatches. The new Watch SE, taking the 'SE' name that's usually given to more affordable options of Apple's majorly premium products, packs similar features present in normal Apple smartwatches, including the same accelerometer, gyroscope, and always-on altimeter as the also newly unveiled Apple Watch Series 6 , as well as safety capabilities including fall detection, Emergency SOS, and international emergency calling.  The Apple Watch SE features Retina display, with thin borders and curved corners that's 30% larger than that of the Apple Watch Series 3. It comes with a dual-core processor that caters to fast performance, for comparison up to two times faster than the Apple Watch Series 3. Other of its features include standard ones like Bluetooth connectivity, Apple Siri, and the presence of a speaker and microphone. The basic (GPS) version of the Ap