Archives for May 4, 2019

A 36 percent storage capacity increase could boost the range to 183 miles.

Hyundai is refreshing its Ioniq line-up with the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric models all getting design tweaks and new features. The EV in particular will get a larger, 38.3 kWh battery pack that has 36 percent more storage capacity than its predecessor.

Under the WLTP standard, Hyundai’s target range for the EV is 294 kilometers (183 miles). Elektrek suggests the EPA-rated range will be closer to 165 miles on a single charge if the updates apply to the US models — the news emerged via Hyundai’s European wing.

Nevertheless, that’s a significant bump from the current EPA range of 124 miles. With a 100 kW fast charging station, Hyundai says the battery can reach 80 percent charge in 54 minutes. The EV’s motor is getting a boost too, as it’ll have 134 horsepower, up from the current 118 horsepower.

Through the Blue Link app, you’ll be able to control the AC and remotely start and stop the EV, and check the battery levels for the plug-in hybrid and electric models. You’ll have the option to control and schedule charging through the app too.

All Ioniqs will come with the Hyundai SmartSense drive assistance and safety system. They also include Hyundai’s eCall service, which automatically connects to emergency services if the airbags are deployed or you press a call button on the rear-view mirror. It will send details about the incident to emergency services for you. In addition, owners will get free access for five years to Hyundai’s Live Services, which offers sat-nav, along with local charging station, weather, traffic and parking details.

The three models will have a new front bumper design while the LED head and taillights have been overhauled to make them more visible at night. Hyundai has also refreshed the interiors with more trim and seat fabric options. Heating, ventilation and AC have touch controls, and the console display (which is standard on the electric model) has new mood lighting.

The cars offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while you’ll be able to customize widgets on the optional Audio Video Navigation infotainment system, which offers voice recognition in six languages. The Multi-Bluetooth function will let you connect two phones at the same time to play music from them through your car’s audio system.

The latest EV includes one-pedal driving capability, which will let you stop the car by “simply holding onto the left paddle shift lever with often no need to engage the braking pedal,” Hyundai said. The latest hybrid and plug-in models will be available (at least in Europe) in July, and the electric version will arrive there in September.

It’s not just you.

Many Firefox users around the world are browsing without their usual set of extensions after they suddenly stopped working earlier this evening. The event occurred as the clock rolled over on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, aka GMT or Greenwich Mean Time), and impacted users quickly narrowed it down to “expiration of intermediate signing cert” — as it’s described on Mozilla’s bug tracker.

This same problem almost happened three years ago, but “armagadd-on” 2.0 has torn things up once again. In a statement provided to Engadget, Product Lead Kev Needham said:

We’re sorry that there is currently an issue where existing and new add-ons are failing to run or be installed on Firefox. We know what the issue is and are working hard to restore add-on functionality to Firefox as soon as possible. We’ll continue to provide updates via our Twitter channels. Please bear with us while we get the problem fixed.

For now, there is at least one workaround, but it only applies if you’re using the Firefox Developer or Nightly build. If you look under “about:config” (if you don’t know what this is, you probably shouldn’t try it) and set the “xpinstall.signatures.required” value to False, then your extensions will start working again.

Update: If you’re on another version of Firefox, there is a way to temporarily fix it, but you’ll have to repeat it every time you reopen the browser. It involves enabling add-on debugging and manually loading each extension’s .xpi file.

They point you to Google Express, where you’ll be able to buy the goods.

Google is looking at more options to boost its bottom line, and one of them seems to be shopping links tucked under YouTube videos. The company is running a test where it displays recommended products along with prices on its video-sharing platform, according to The Information.

It seems some test ads have popped up under Nike videos. Clicking on them would take you to the Google Express marketplace to complete the purchase. More and more retailers are joining Express, according to the report, while earlier this year Google started testing shoppable ads in image searches. The company is said to be banking on these features to boost its shopping business.

Parent company Alphabet reported this week that revenue for physical products such as Pixel phones and Home smart speakers year-over-year, highlighting that there’s an opportunity for growth. Meanwhile, Amazon’s ad business is growing, which might be prompting Google to focus on other revenue streams since ads are a key source of its income.

Google takes a cut from goods sold through Express, though revenue pales next to Amazon’s retail income. Express is said to have pulled in a little under $1 billion is 2018, while Amazon’s retail arm generated around $141 billion in North America last year.

Google is set to hold an event later this month called Google Marketing Live (at which it has revealed ad products in the past), while the I/O developer conference takes place next week, so we might have official word about the YouTube product ads soon.

YouTube has tried some similar sales initiatives in the past. Last year, it let creators add links to their merchandise below their videos, so perhaps that was a precursor to this latest move. However, Google has to tread carefully on the e-commerce front. EU antitrust authorities fined it $2.7 billion in 2017 for favoring its products in search results.

The SupportAssist tool has been patched — make sure you have the latest version.

In another example of a problem that is sadly familiar, Bill Demirkapi found a vulnerability in the support software that Dell installs on most of its new PCs. His method tricks the SupportAssist software — intended as a way to easily update drivers, adjust settings and clean out unused files — into allowing an attacker to remotely install malware. It’s worth noting however, that it would require an attacker being on the same local network as their victim and have the victim view a website controlled by the attacker.

The write up of the issue explains how it works and his process for finding the flaw after replacing his old MacBook Pro with a Dell G3 gaming laptop. It also details his timeline from finding the issue in October until Dell was able to address it earlier this year. At this point, owners of Dell PCs running Windows should check to see if they have SupportAssist installed, and if so, make sure it has been updated to version 3.2.0.90 or higher (the current latest version is 3.2.1).