Tag Archives: Details

US

New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters

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“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy.

McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump’s supporters and begged Trump to call them off.

Trump’s comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the then-President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, “Who the f–k do you think you are talking to?” according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call.

The newly revealed details of the call, described to CNN by multiple Republicans briefed on it, provide critical insight into the President’s state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol. The existence of the call and some of its details were first reported by Punchbowl News and discussed publicly by McCarthy.

The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty.

“He is not a blameless observer, he was rooting for them,” a Republican member of Congress said. “On January 13, Kevin McCarthy said on the floor of the House that the President bears responsibility and he does.”

Speaking to the President from inside the besieged Capitol, McCarthy pressed Trump to call off his supporters and engaged in a heated disagreement about who comprised the crowd. Trump’s comment about the would-be insurrectionists caring more about the election results than McCarthy did was first mentioned by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican from Washington state, in a town hall earlier this week, and was confirmed to CNN by Herrera Beutler and other Republicans briefed on the conversation.

“You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at,” Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans who voted last month to impeach Trump, told CNN. “That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn’t care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.”

“We should never stand for that, for any reason, under any party flag,” she added, voicing her extreme frustration: “I’m trying really hard not to say the F-word.”

“I think it speaks to the former President’s mindset,” said Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican who also voted to impeach Trump last month. “He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal vice president or the Congress under attack by the mob he inspired. In fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country.”

As senators prepare to determine Trump’s fate, multiple Republicans thought the details of the call were important to the proceedings because they believe it paints a damning portrait of Trump’s lack of action during the attack. At least one of the sources who spoke to CNN took detailed notes of McCarthy’s recounting of the call.

Trump and McCarthy did not respond to requests for comment.

It took Trump several hours after the attack began to eventually encourage his supporters to “go home in peace” — a tweet that came at the urging of his top aides.

At Trump’s impeachment trial Friday, his lawyers argued that Trump did in fact try to calm the rioters with a series of tweets while the attack unfolded. But his lawyers cherry-picked his tweets, focusing on his request for supporters to “remain peaceful” without mentioning that he also attacked then-Vice President Mike Pence and waited hours to explicitly urge rioters to leave the Capitol.

A source close to Pence said Trump’s legal team was not telling the truth when attorney Michael van der Veen said at the trial that “at no point” did the then-President know his vice president was in danger.

Asked whether van der Veen was lying, the source said, “Yes.” Former Pence aides are still fuming over Trump’s actions on January 6, insisting he never checked on the vice president as Pence was being rushed from danger by his US Secret Service detail.

It’s unclear to what extent these new details were known by the House Democratic impeachment managers or whether the team considered calling McCarthy as a witness. The managers have preserved the option to call witnesses in the ongoing impeachment trial, although that option remains unlikely as the trial winds down.

The House Republican leader had been forthcoming with his conference about details of his conversations with Trump on and after January 6.

Trump himself has not taken any responsibility in public.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’S Jim Acosta and Gloria Borger contributed to this report.

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US

All the new details of the Capitol siege from Trump’s impeachment trial

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New evidence was introduced at the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Wednesday — never-before-seen video and audio recordings of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to bring the violence they say the former president incited to horrifying life.

The disturbing security and police body camera video and radio transmissions showed that the violence that led to the deaths of five people and injured over 100 police officers could have been much worse.

Here’s a look at some of the new evidence the Democratic House managers introduced.

Security camera video

Included in the new security camera video was a clip that showed dozens of rioters entering through broken windows and overwhelming the lone Capitol Police officer who tried to fend them off.

Other security video showed rioters attacking a group of Washington police officers guarding the building with a hockey stick, a Trump flag and other items. The House managers then played harrowing video of the same assault from one of the officers’ body cameras, showing the rioters punching, kicking and swinging objects at police. Another video showed Vice President Mike Pence being rushed to safety.

Another showed staffers for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., scrambling into a conference room, where they barricaded themselves behind two doors minutes before the mob entered the hallway looking for their boss.

A person broke through one of the doors, but rioters were unable to get through the second.

One of the House managers, Delegate Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, then played audio of a frightened Pelosi staffer calling Capitol Police for help. “They’re pounding on doors trying to find her,” the staffer whispered so he wouldn’t be heard by the mob outside the door.

House member’s personal video

Members of the House were also frightened. Another of the House managers, Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., played video taken during the attack by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., in which members were being advised to remove the pins identifying them as members of Congress so they wouldn’t be targeted.

Senators’ near-misses

Swalwell also played security video of senators experiencing near-misses with the mob.

The closest call appeared to involve Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who was shown going down a hallway with his security detail, only to quickly turn around and begin running in the opposite direction.

Swalwell played video showing a number of senators leaving the Senate chamber and, later, running through a hallway to safety. Swalwell said the senators were “58 steps” from where the mob was amassing at the time.

The video of Schumer echoed an earlier security camera clip of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman rushing down a hallway and signaling to Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, that he needed to turn around and go down a different path. Romney quickly turned around and began to hurry away.

“I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction,” Romney told reporters.

Police radio transmissions

Several radio transmissions played at the trial showed that officers were badly outnumbered by protesters.

“We need some reinforcements up here now. They’re starting to pull the gates down. They’re throwing metal poles at us,” a Washington police officer said in one radio call.

“Multiple Capitol injuries! Multiple Capitol injuries!” an officer can be heard yelling in another.

“This is now effectively a riot,” an officer said in another call at 1:49 p.m. ET.

Dareh Gregorian

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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World

Uttarakhand glacier disaster: Details emerge of terrifying moments before avalanche struck as search for survivors continues

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Rana was lucky. He saw the disaster unfold from above in the village of Raini, where he was building a new railroad for the Hyderabad-based Rithwik Railway Company. But several of his co-workers below were unable to see the danger down the road.

Those from the higher vantage point screamed to warn them.

“The five or six people who heard them ran. Some people were saved,” Rana said.

The rest are among the nearly 200 people still missing after part of a glacier collapsed on Sunday in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, causing a massive avalanche that tore through a mountain gorge and crashed through a dam.

Authorities were able to save a handful of individuals immediately after the disaster, and another 126 people from the nearby Niti Valley were rescued by helicopter.

Three days after the tragedy, the search for survivors continues. So far, the bodies of 32 people have been found — and as the clock keeps ticking, hope is dimming for those still unaccounted for.

A handful of villages in the remote region, where roads are few and far between, are now cut off from the outside world, including Rana’s home of Pan, where his wife is stuck.

It’s not exactly clear what caused the piece of the glacier to fall off, triggering the avalanche. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament a landslide triggered a “snow avalanche” that spread across 14 square kilometers (5 square miles), causing flash floods.

Manish Mehta, a senior scientist at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, who is inspecting the site with four colleagues, said preliminary evidence shows a “huge rock slide” near the glacier may be to blame for triggering the avalanche. The scale of the ensuing flash flood was unprecedented, he added, and could affect “more than 100 square kilometers (38 square miles).”

Dr. Dan Shugar, a professor with the University of Calgary’s Department of Geoscience, said in a tweet Tuesday that analysis “suggested a landslide that took out part of a hanging glacier.”

“The glacier that we think collapsed is a very steep, hanging glacier. It is not a typical valley glacier, with low gradient/slope, that sometimes have lakes at the terminus,” Shugar said, adding that the landslide likely contained both bedrock and glacier ice. “It descended a steep slope and likely disintegrated when it hit the valley floor.”

Authorities described Sunday’s landslide as a freak event, yet the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region is prone to flash floods and landslides. Himalayan glaciers are also vulnerable to rising global temperatures because of man-made climate change.

As the ice melts, glaciers become unstable and start to retreat. A 2019 study found Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast as last century, losing almost half a meter (1.6 feet) of ice each year.

Others have pointed to construction along the state’s rivers, which in recent years have seen an increasing number of hydroelectric dams, projects and infrastructure connecting them, such as roads and new developments.

Dozens of workers building a series of underground tunnels for a new power plant near the dam were trapped by the avalanche Sunday, including Virendra Kumar Gautam. That day, at about 11 a.m., he and his team heard shouts from outside the tunnel, telling them to evacuate.

He ordered his team to move. After traveling about 50 meters (164 feet), Gautam recalled, “suddenly a flood entered, glacier and water entered in full force.”

Gautam and the others climbed emergency ladders built into the walls. Their section of the tunnel was only about 4.5 meters (14.5 feet) tall, but water quickly reached about 3.5 meters high (11.5 feet).

“I kept helping people climb up and telling them that they would survive and shouldn’t worry, everything will be fine,” he said.

Gautam was right. The water level suddenly reduced, he said, becoming shallow enough for the group to pass and climb about 350 meters (1,150 feet) up the emergency ladders to the surface.

Gautam said it took his team about 90 minutes, but eventually they made it to safety.

Others were not so lucky, however. There are still people trapped in the tunnels, and authorities say those inside may not have survived unless the debris somehow blocked the water and left enough air in the tunnels for the men to breathe.

Vidhyadhar Maletha, an employee at Prithak company overseeing rescue efforts, said the four side tunnels and the main tunnel have all been filled with debris.

He said they have cleaned out about 90 meters (295 feet) of debris, and the height of the tunnel has dropped by 25 to 30 meters (82 to 98 feet). But mud and boulders are still blocking the way.

“There is too much debris,” Maletha said.

CNN’s Helen Regan, Esha Mitra, Manveena Suri, Swati Gupta, Radina Gigova and Vedika Sud contributed to this report

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Technology

OnePlus 9 series battery details revealed, will have charger in box

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  • The OnePlus 9 series will reportedly offer 4,500mAh batteries.
  • It’s believed that the phones will include a charger in the box too.

The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro are expected to launch in the coming weeks, and we’ve already seen a few leaks emerge to paint a better picture of these upcoming flagships.

Now, reliable tipster Max Jambor has revealed on Twitter that both phones will be equipped with a 4,500mAh battery. Jambor also confirmed that there would be a charger in the box.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a 4,500mAh battery for a OnePlus 9 device either, as 91mobiles claimed back in December that the vanilla model would get a 4,500mAh pack. The outlet added at the time that the vanilla variant would receive 30W wireless charging and 65W wired charging as well.

Nevertheless, we’re also glad to hear that an in-box charger is apparently on the cards, especially if the phones support 65W charging speeds. Samsung is the first high-profile Android player to follow Apple’s lead by ditching the in-box charger, but Xiaomi has bucked the trend by including a 55W charger in the box. So here’s hoping OnePlus and other OEMs keep this accessory too.



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Technology

Breath of the Wild 2 Details Reportedly Revealed

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Update: It’s been determined that the pamphlet in question was referring to original game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, not the sequel that’s currently in the works. The pamphlet also came from GamesRadar and was not an official pamphlet from Nintendo as initially believed. Original story below:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 details have been revealed by Nintendo, but it looks like the details may have been accidentally shared ahead of schedule. Since Nintendo and Eiji Aonuma announced and revealed the game back at E3 2019, we’ve seen nothing of the sequel, and have heard virtually nothing about the game either. According to a recent leak, the Switch and Switch Lite game may be releasing sooner than we think, and if this is the case, we should start to see and hear more about the game soon. That said, right now, it’s still crickets, which makes this new information all the more notable.

The new details come the way of a new and official Nintendo marketing pamphlet which is out and about in the wild. And according to the pamphlet, the underground location, the Zonai Cave, that Link and Zelda are in the game’s reveal trailer is indeed underneath Hyrule Castle, which fans theorized, but up until now, hadn’t been confirmed.

“Finally, Link and Zelda return in the eagerly awaited successor to unforgettable action-adventure The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with series producer Eiji Aonuma promising a darker adventure this time,” reads the pamphlet. “Deep within the caverns beneath Hyrule Castle, a new and powerful threat awakens. Can our courageous heroes save the kingdom again?”

Unfortunately, this is where the details end. Further, while word of a “dark adventure” and “a new and powerful threat awakens” may be new to some, we actually already knew about all of this. That said, while the new details are scarce, it’s good to have confirmation the location in the trailer was indeed underneath Hyrule Castle.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is in development for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and possibly the rumored Super Switch. At the moment of publishing, there’s been no word of a release date or even a release window, but rumors and leaks suggest it’s releasing sometime this year, or at least that’s the plan.

For more coverage on the game and all things Nintendo — including all of the latest on the Switch and Switch Lite — click here or check out some of the relevant links below:

H/T, Reddit.

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Technology

Amazon Game Studios Report Details Struggles, ‘Bro Culture,’ Mismanagement, and Cancelled Projects

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A new extensive report from Bloomberg has detailed some of the dysfunction and struggles at Amazon Game Studios, which included cancelled projects, a troublesome game engine, mismanagement, and a “bro culture” that allegedly does not give women the same opportunities as men.The report begins by discussing how Mike Frazzini was brought in to start Amazon Game Studios eight years ago without ever making a game. Since then, Frazzini and Amazon Game Studios have released only two games, and have seen multiple cancelled projects that were attempting to recreate the financial magic of games like Fortnite and League of Legends.

The Grand Tour Game was the first Amazon Game Studios console release, and within a year it was removed from storefronts. Crucible was the next game released from the studio, and not only did it return to closed beta after its official launch, it was shut down in November 2020.

Two other projects, which were known as Intensity and Nova, never saw the light of day after the teams tried and failed to create games inspired by Fortnite and League of Legends, respectively.All of these cancelled and unsuccessful projects at Amazon Game Studios have done so despite Amazon spending nearly $500 million a year operating the game division. It’s also important to note that the amount doesn’t include Twitch or Amazon Luna – the latter of which is under different management.

Frazzini is an “Amazon lifer” who started his career in the books section of Amazon.com where he “endeared himself to Jeff Bezos as a manager there.” He began his role as head of the games division by bringing in some of the best game development talent in the world, including Portal’s Kim Swift, Far Cry 2’s Clint Hawking, Madden’s Richard Hilleman, and Everquest’s John Smedley. Today, only Smedley remains.

According to numerous current and former employees of Frazzini’s game studios, he continuously ignored much of the advice given by these experienced developers, and despite frequently telling the staff that every Amazon game should be a “billion-dollar franchise,” he would then understaff projects.

Furthermore, instead of using industry-leading game engines like Unreal Engine or Unity, the studio opted to license technology from Crytek to create a homemade engine known as Lumberyard.While Lumberyard was meant to integrate with Amazon Web Services and could have been a cheaper alternative than paying for the other engines, it ended up being known as a “boogeyman around the office.” Many cited that it was “painfully slow,” and developers would play Halo or watch Amazon Prime Video as they waited for Lumberyard to process art or compile code. One former employee even went so far as to say, “Lumberyard is killing this company.”

Another big issue with working at Amazon Game Studios is said to be linked to the “bro culture” that has been cultivated there, in which women were often not given the same opportunities as men. Beyond that, “four female game developers said that their worst experiences of sexism in the industry were at Amazon.”

There were stories of them being ignored and undermined by male executives, in some cases being driven out of the company. One source said that not only did a male on the senior leadership team impede her career growth after she disagreed with him, he would then go on to create new management positions above her and hired men to take those positions.

Amazon’s game problems also extend to how they incentivize their employees. While most studios pay bonuses based on the critical and commercial response of a game, Amazon’s stock plan only rewards employees for how long they have been at the company. This has led to some employees choosing to “prioritize job preservation over anything else, say three former employees.”

New World Screenshots: November 2020

Amazon Game Studio’s next project is the MMO New World. Originally planned for a 2020 release, it was pushed back to Spring 2021 to improve the quality of the game. Bloomberg’s report explains that the project was originally going to be a survival game where players would take on the role of colonists in a fictional version of 1600s America.

The problem, however, was that the enemies players originally were going to face “looked a lot like indigenous people.” When developers pointed out to Frazzini’s deputy, Patrick Gilmore, that the setting and villains could be considered racist, he “expressed disbelief.”

Amazon did eventually hire a tribal consultant who did find that the portrayal was offensive, and the Native American imagery has since been removed.

Our latest preview of New World’s high-level PvE zone show a game that may not be for everybody, but one that shows promise and a big improvement, in both PvE content and general polish, from the previous build.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.



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Entertainment

The Weeknd Super Bowl Halftime Show: Details, Length

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Not a deluxe version, as previously reported.
Photo: AMA2020/Getty Images via Getty Images

Update, 3:15 p.m.: According to a correction from Billboard, the Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime show will actually be the same length as normal. “As in previous years, it will be roughly 12–13 minutes long,” according to the magazine. A Pepsi rep also confirmed to Vulture that the show will be the usual length of 12 to 13 minutes. But surely the Weeknd can still fit multiple red suits into that amount of time.

Original story: If you, somehow, haven’t gotten your fill of the Weeknd’s red suit, his Super Bowl halftime show will change that. According to a Billboard cover story, the Weeknd’s performance will be twice as long as a typical halftime show, clocking in at 24 minutes. That’s a mini-concert! A whole episode of a comedy series! Longer than the Weeknd’s entire My Dear Melancholy EP! The move comes after Pepsi, which sponsors the halftime show, cut down on its commercials during the game to make room for a longer performance. It also comes in the middle of a pandemic when you have nothing else you could be doing, so of course you’ll watch the whole thing. The Weeknd’s performance will take place in person at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium, which will feature a 22,000-person live audience. “We’ve been really focusing on dialing in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl,” Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, told Billboard. No word yet on what guests could fill the show’s extra time — Ariana? Lana?? Beyoncé?!? — but the magazine did add that Tesfaye boosted the show’s usual production budget with $7 million of his own money. Guess those red suits don’t come cheap.

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Health

Oregon stops sharing details of each COVID-19 death; reports 20 new fatalities, 731 cases

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The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday disclosed 731 new coronavirus cases and 20 more deaths as state officials announced they would stop providing detailed death summaries.

State officials throughout the pandemic divulged basic biographical information for each COVID-19 fatality, including a person’s age, county, location of death, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death and general presence of underlying health conditions.

But without warning the agency announced that would end, effective Wednesday, because it had become too onerous for state epidemiologists who have been providing that information on a daily basis for 10 months.

The abrupt change comes as Gov. Kate Brown faces criticism for her decision to prioritize vaccinating teachers before seniors, who account for the vast majority of deaths in Oregon. Ending detailed death descriptions will make it difficult to know with precision how many elderly Oregonians test positive for coronavirus and subsequently die during the period when Brown allowed teachers to receive vaccines ahead of seniors.

The state on Wednesday instead unveiled a new data dashboard that includes summary details about the underlying health conditions of those who have died with COVID-19. That’s something the agency previously declined to disclose when requested five months ago by The Oregonian/OregonLive, saying the data wasn’t useful and created confusion when it had been previously released.

Robb Cowie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, said the decision to stop reporting detailed death information is “a capacity issue” for state officials and insisted the newly created data page, with a “composite picture, is ultimately more telling.”

On its last day of detailed reporting, Oregon disclosed the death of a 27-year-old woman from Hood River County with no underlying health conditions who died Jan. 23 at Oregon Health & Science University.

That level of detail will be whitewashed going forward. The death would be listed online as someone age 20 to 29, with no way to know the person’s county, gender, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death, if the person died at home or in a hospital, or if the person had underlying health conditions.

Oregon will disclose deaths only in aggregate by age range, by county and by gender.

“Every death from COVID-19 represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best — families, friends and loved ones,” Patrick Allen, the Oregon Health Authority director, said in a statement. “That is why we have listed each case.”

Now the state will disclose aggregate fatality data plus a snapshot of underlying health conditions and symptoms among those who died, including the number of people who died in and outside of congregate care settings by date.

“This dashboard offers the public a clearer picture of the collective toll the virus has taken,” Allen said. “But it will never detract from the importance of each Oregonian who is no longer with us.”

It’s unclear how many states, if any, have provided detailed summaries about each death throughout the pandemic. Cowie said sharing that level of detail on a daily basis is time consuming and essentially required dedicating a full-time position to dig through an online database collecting the information for publication.

Amid record deaths in December and into January, state officials faced challenges providing timely information. They sometimes delayed releasing full summaries of the deaths until late at night as daily fatality counts reached the dozens.

Officials had been considering a change for months, when deaths were still in the hundreds, but opted to announce it in advance of the 2,000-fatality milestone.

State officials began providing detailed information with the first death March 14. Facing concerns about inadequate transparency on other coronavirus data, Gov. Kate Brown later that month said she instructed the health authority to “share all COVID-19 information with the public that does not compromise patient privacy.”

Asked for comment Wednesday about the health authority’s decision to stop sharing detailed death summaries, Brown’s office did not respond.

Where the new cases are by county: Baker (4), Benton (8), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (7), Deschutes (24), Douglas (9), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (35), Jefferson (7), Josephine (16), Klamath (13), Lake (2), Lane (52), Lincoln (3), Linn (21), Malheur (17), Marion (115), Morrow (5), Multnomah (118), Polk (21), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wasco (2), Washington (106) and Yamhill (18).

The prevalence of infections: The state reported 806 new positive tests out of 17,604 tests performed, equaling a 4.6% positivity rate.

Who got infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (36); 10-19 (82); 20-29 (153); 30-39 (101); 40-49 (125); 50-59 (90); 60-69 (61); 70-79 (37); 80 and older (24).

Who’s in the hospital: The state reported 302 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections in the hospital Wednesday, six fewer than Tuesday. Of those, 74 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, four more than Tuesday.

Vaccines: Oregon reported 340,369 doses of vaccine have been administered, or about 57% of the doses received. Oregon reported 14,896 newly administered doses, which includes 10,943 on Tuesday and the remainder from previous days.

Since it began: Oregon has reported 140,063 confirmed or presumed infections and 1,924 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 3,122,704 lab reports from tests.

— Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

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Technology

Samsung Display details new energy-efficient OLED used in the Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Samsung Display revealed more details on the new generation of power-efficient OLED panels, which is currently adorning the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Not only is it more efficient but brighter too.

The OLED is cutting the power draw by 16% while increasing brightness too. The results from our Galaxy S21 Ultra testing proves that the display can get really bright and the battery runtimes seem to confirm Samsung’s claims that the panel is more efficient as well.

We all know that OLEDs use organic light-emitting diodes and Samsung has come up with a new material that increases the moving speed of the electrons bumping up the brightness.

It’s implicit that Samsung will be making this new generation of OLEDs for other manufacturers as well but it’s unclear when the new tech will hit the market in a consumer-ready product. As for now, the only way to experience the new tech is to get a Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Source (in Chinese)

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Technology

Wahoo Starts Shipping KICKR 2020 Direct Connect Cable: Hands-on Details

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Last summer when Wahoo announced the KICKR V5/2020, one of the new features was a new port on the side of the trainer that would allow you to plug it into your home (or office) network, as a means to bypass any wireless connectivity issues you might have. While most of us use wireless connections just fine, some of us aren’t as lucky – especially if living in a crowded RF space like a large apartment building. Similarly, this could be appealing for certain esports events as well.

Anyway, the KICKR V5/2020 didn’t actually have an ethernet port on the side, but rather something akin to a telephone port. That would in turn require you to buy an adapter (aka, a dongle), and plug it in. Then you’d plug the cable into that. After which, apps would be updated to see this new connectivity type (in addition to the usual ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart connections).

Long story short – as of this morning you can now buy that $99 dongle.

Now I had planned for a full in-depth review to be released today…but…umm…things have not been going smoothly. However, in this rare scenario I don’t think it’s a representation of the product per se, but rather, the timing. Simply put – the 3rd party apps aren’t all ready yet and the final firmware just arrived in the last couple days for them to make it ready. If this were a week from now, it’d likely be a different story. But as of this very second when the embargo lifts, the apps are a motley but trying crew that looks like they just finished a hard night at out the bars. All the bars….all the drinks…all night.

So, I’ll circle back next week or so with the final review and all the app players. That review will look vaguely like this post but with a whole lot more detail on some of the nuances, and how each app has implemented it. Also, it has arguably the best intro to a video I’ve ever shot.

The Quick Details:

Above is the box you’ll receive the Direct Connect cable in, it’s roughly akin to every other Wahoo Fitness box. Inside you’ll find the dongle and an quick release extension cable for said dongle. And yes, I’m going to keep saying dongle. Because…I’m a 5 year old boy.

The extension cable is actually there in case you trip over the ethernet cable, since it’ll dethatch cleanly rather than ripping apart your dongle or KICKR port. It works the same way as their power cable. If there were one redeemable aspect for not having a native ethernet port, the quick-release safety cable would be it.

In any event, you’ll take the quick release cable, and the dongle, and stick all the pieces together attached to your KICKR V5/2020.

Oh, and then stick an Ethernet cable into it:

After that, plug the other end of the ethernet cable into your router/hub/switch (technically you can plug it straight into the ethernet port of a computer if you wanted to):

Remember, the goal here is getting the KICKR data stream onto your home network. The app device that you’re using could be wired (like a computer) or wireless (like a phone). While it may seem counterintuitive to then go back to a wireless tablet or phone, the reality is that for most people, it’s not WiFi dropouts that are the issue – but dropouts with ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart (due to WiFi or other interference). Still, in my case I used both a wired Apple TV (for fun), a Mac (WiFi), and an iOS device (WiFi) to demonstrate all the variants.

If you were to crack open the Wahoo Fitness app (the one where you can pair sensors and such), you’ll see the KICKR status of the Direct Connect connection (shown below ‘KICKR CLIMB’). It’ll show ‘disconnected’ for the TCP connection status when an app isn’t actively using it. It allows one concurrent app via ethernet at a time.

 

Now, crack open our favorite trainer app of choice to get pairing. Officially, Wahoo says the following in their press release today:

“As of today, Wahoo’s SUF Training System, TrainerRoad, FulGaz, and RGT Cycling are compatible. Other platforms are expected to become compatible in the coming months, including Zwift.”

Officially, here’s the actual real-world status of all the apps as of the moment this goes live:

FulGaz: In beta builds, but not fully working yet in my testing
RGT: Fully functional in public production version
The Sufferfest: Supposed to be working in production, but not for me or others
TrainerRoad: In certain beta builds, but not fully working yet in my testing. Targeting early February for release.
Zwift: According to Zwift’s product & PR team, actual official target is “later this year”

I haven’t checked with all the other trainer apps out there yet, but will add them to the list if they shoot over their ETA’s.

And since Zwift is obviously the elephant in the room here (and arguably the platform that needs it the most), here’s the full quote from Zwift on that one, based on my question on when exactly it’ll be compatible with Zwift:

“The initial work has begun and Zwift will offer support to the Wahoo Direct Connect Adaptor across all platforms once all QA testing has been completed later this year.

 

Hard deadline in-game is not in sight at this moment, but we’ll communicate it as soon as we get further along in the testing process.”

Got all that? Good, now, we’ll pick the one app that works for me today: RGT. For that you’ll use your mobile companion app to search for devices on the network. A few seconds later you’ll see the Wahoo KICKR trainer enumerate as both Direct Connect trainer as well as a Bluetooth Trainer (this was on iOS). It has a special icon that looks like a broom. I know…I know…it’s supposed to look like a Wahoo dongle.

In this case, the Direct Connect connection will take care of power and cadence, as well as trainer control. However, the ANT+ & Bluetooth connections are still available for you to connect to, such as with a watch or bike computer. On the KICKR itself, you’ll see both lights on the back illuminate and stay steady-on, indicating a Direct Connect connection:

After that, you simply ride as normal. There is no difference here, nor an notable change. It doesn’t transmit data any faster or slower, or more frequently. It’s identical.

And over on FulGaz (on Apple TV) it’s similar too – you’ll see the ‘Network’ option listed there for each connection

With that, that’s all there is to it. The goal for Wahoo (and the apps I talked to), is that it’s completely transparent to you. You just plug the cable into your network, and then your device/app finds the trainer and you’re done.

And, if you ask me a week or two from now – I’m sure it’ll work exactly like that. Unfortunately, as of today it’s not fully baked yet. Thus, I’ll circle back in another week or two once these apps have had a few mins to make it all work, and dive into more of the nuanced details (like side by side comparisons of the data streams). All the geeky goodness you’ve come to expect.

Wrap-Up:

As I said earlier, I’ll circle back with the full app testing results (including which I’ve got some other testing underway that is either hilarious or sketchy…probably both), once I get the last of the non-Zwift apps compatible. Given Zwift won’t be here till ‘later this year’, I’m not going to wait for them. Some random day in 2021 when they do release an update to make it compatible, then I’ll circle back and update this post with how it works in Zwift.

Ultimately though, I suspect the Wahoo Direct Connect adapter (aka, dongle) will be a short-lived product. Not because anything is wrong with it, but because I see zero chance it’s anything other than a one-hit wonder. Meaning, I’d be blown away surprised (and disappointed) if the next KICKR or KICKR Bike simply doesn’t have this built internally to it. After all, the reason this wasn’t in the KICKR V5/2020 natively was just the timing complexities. And while I don’t know when Wahoo plans to release a new KICKR, they historically are pretty darn consistent for the end of every August (except the year they released a smart bike instead). Meaning that this product has a practical peak-sales timeframe of 8 months. Of which, Zwift may not be compatible at all during that timeframe.

Of course, people will have KICKR V5 trainers for years, and boatloads of them have been sold in the last 6-7 months. So the dongle will invariably be bought for years by those people.

Now – while the dongle itself will probably peak-out, I’d expect the underlying Direct Connect technology to become a standard option on Wahoo trainers/bikes – and probably standard across the industry (in some manner). Esports requirements will likely drive some of that, even if the feature is rarely used by most regular consumers. Thus even if the adapter hardware may be a bit of a flame, the development effort that went into it won’t be a waste – it’ll likely be integrated into future Wahoo products natively.

In any case, more in my final review.

With that – thanks for reading!

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