The Morning After: Mars Opportunity rover, R.I.P.
And Nintendo's big news.
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
Some sad news as NASA declares that its Mars Opportunity rover is no more. Happy news though: Nintendo dropped a ton of games news late yesterday, including a battle royale Tetris (stay with me) and the return of a legendary Zelda game, A Link To The Past. Meanwhile, Tesla's Dog Mode and Sentry updates are on their way to customers' EVs.
NASA's Mars Opportunity rover is dead
NASA's Opportunity has effectively been declared dead after the agency's last attempt to contact the storm-struck rover was met with silence. Officials held a press conference at 2PM ET to discuss the outcome, and as expected NASA confirmed that it is saying goodbye to Opportunity. The machine doesn't stand a chance if it doesn't have power -- Martian winter is coming, and Opportunity sadly needs working heaters to survive the chilly conditions.
Nintendo attempts the battle-royale genre with... 'Tetris'
Forget Apex Legends, there's another new free-to-play battle royale game now: Tetris 99. This version of the classic puzzle game is launching today on Nintendo Switch with 99 players trying to outlast each other. Players can attack each other with "garbage" that pushes you closer to the top of the screen and out of the game. It's available to download and play, free, for Nintendo Online subscribers.
'Super Mario Maker 2' hits the Switch this June
No, no, no, Nintendo wasn't done yet. Finally, Super Mario Maker is coming to Nintendo Switch! A bonafide sequel, Super Mario Maker 2 has some assets from that other superb Wii U game, Super Mario 3D World. We don't know much yet, but the best news? You'll only have to wait a few months to play it: Super Mario Maker 2 will land in June 2019.
Take a peek at Honda's Urban EV dashboard
As the spiritual (and technological) successor to the venerated Civic hatchback, the Urban EV will reportedly sport a suite of high-tech toys, features and functionality when it goes on sale in the near future (only in Europe, unfortunately). Honda's been dribbling details about the vehicle for more than a year now and -- just in time for Geneva -- has revealed what its dash and instrument cluster will look like.
Tesla pushes Sentry Mode, Dog Mode updates to its EVs
A software update rolling out to Tesla EVs with recent AutoPilot hardware uses all of those cameras to keep an eye on the car even when you're not around. Activate Sentry Mode and not only will it create a recording of incidents, it will also ping you via the Tesla app. Dog Mode is a friendlier update that keeps the climate comfortable while you run into a store for a few minutes and displays the temperature on your Tesla's interior display to keep Good Samaritans from breaking a window.
'Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening' gets a second life on Switch
The company shared precious few details, but a brief gameplay demonstration showed that this remake would preserve the top-down perspective of the Game Boy original.
Google may be planning its first smartwatch, budget phones for 2019
Sources claim to have details of Google's roadmap for this year, which includes lower-cost Pixel phones. The scoop doesn't include many details but suggests the budget Pixel line will sit below the $749 price of the iPhone XR. Earlier rumors pointed to mid- and large-sized devices with 1080p LCDs, Snapdragon 670 processors, 32GB of storage, a 12-megapixel rear camera and a lone front shooter. There's also word of Google making a smartwatch -- the first time the company would release its own wristwear rather than collaborating with a partner like LG. There are even fewer details here, but this could explain why Google bought some of Fossil's smartwatch tech.
But wait, there's more...
'Astral Chain' brings Platinum-flavored action to Switch this August
Amazon and Google ask for non-stop data from smart-home devices
Apple's streaming video service might finally arrive in April
The 'Breaking Bad' movie could debut on Netflix before it hits AMC
Gigabyte Aero 15 Y9 review: RTX 2080 performance, at a price
Waymo's self-driving cars needed a lot less human intervention in 2018
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