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Apple Vision Pro 2 – the rumoured successor to the Cupertino-based tech giant's first-ever mixed-reality headset – may not see the light of day at all, according to a report. This development is reportedly due to poor sales of the AR/VR headset which costs $3,499 (roughly Rs. 2,90,000) for the base 256GB storage model. However, Apple may still have plans for a cheaper device albeit with fewer features, it is suggested. No Apple Vision Pro 2 Citing industry sources involved in the supply chain of its components, The Information reported that the Apple Vision Pro 2 development may have been suspended. This is reportedly due to poor sales of the headset being flagged by analysts. First announced during WWDC 2023, the Vision Pro was initially available only in the US. However, its availability was expanded to several other regions over the last few months, with Apple announcing the sale of the headset in eight new regions, including Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and the UK. Apple calls the device its “spatial computer” which enables users to experience apps in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) environments. While the Vision Pro 2 may not happen, Apple still reportedly has plans for a new headset. The report suggests that a cheaper version of the Vision Pro may launch before the end of 2025. This model is speculated to come at a lower price tag with fewer features. To achieve this, Apple is said to have diverted resources from the development of the Vision Pro 2 to another team which may be working to bring down the cost of the Vision Pro's components. Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.gadgets360.com/wearables/news/apple-vision-pro-2-launch-delayed-cheaper-headset-2025-5923045#pfrom=topstory

A new line of PCs specially made to run artificial intelligence programs hit stores on Tuesday as tech companies push toward wider adoption of ChatGPT-style AI. Microsoft in May announced the new AI-powered personal computers, or "AI PCs," which will use the company's software under the Copilot Plus brand. The idea is to allow users to access AI capabilities on their devices without relying on the cloud, which requires more energy, takes more time, and makes the AI experience clunkier. The PCs feature a neural processing unit (NPU) chip that helps deliver crisper photo editing, live transcription, translation, and "Recall" –- a capability for the computer to keep track of everything being done on the device. However, Microsoft removed Recall last minute over privacy concerns and said it would only make it available as a test feature. For now, the devices built by hardware makers like HP and ASUS run exclusively on a new line of processors called Snapdragon X Elite and Plus, built by the California-based chip giant Qualcomm. "We are redefining what a laptop actually does for the end user," Qualcomm's senior vice president Durga Malladi told AFP at the Collision tech conference in Toronto. "We believe this is the rebirth of the PC." At the May launch, Microsoft predicted over 50 million AI PCs would be sold in 12 months, given the appetite for ChatGPT's powers. Such a result would give a much needed boost to PC sales, which declined for two years from the halcyon days of the coronavirus pandemic before returning to growth in the first quarter of 2024. Best Buy, the US retail giant, said it had trained tens of thousands of staff to sell and maintain the new line of AI PCs. Some industry experts are more hesitant about their promise, predicting the actual benefit of upgrading to an AI laptop isn't compelling enough yet and will need more time. "AI's evolutionary features aren't revolutionary enough to disrupt traditional buying patterns," said analysts from Forrester. "For most information workers, there aren't enough game-changing applications for day-to-day work to drive rapid AI PC adoption." Microsoft has aggressively pushed out generative AI products since ChatGPT's release in late 2022, with new AI features available across products including Teams, Outlook and Windows. Feeling the pressure, Google quickly followed suit while Apple entered the game earlier this month, announcing its own on-device AI capabilities rolling out to premium iPhones in the coming months and year. The latest MacBooks and iPads already have the capability to run high-performing AI features, but Apple has been slower to highlight those powers. "I guess we missed the boat to name it an AI PC," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, joked recently about the latest generation of MacBook. https://techxplore.com/news/2024-06-ai-mainstream-pcs.html

Intel continues to investigate reports of instability on its 13th and 14th Generation desktop CPUs (K/KF/KS). While it has yet to identify the root cause of the problem, Intel has offered guidance on helping prevent the instability. Intel has also uncovered one power-related bug, and says that it’s working with vendors to distribute a patch for it. Along with its motherboard partners, Intel has been diving deep into reports of its 13th Raptor Lake and 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors suffering from instability under load. Previously, reports surfaced that Intel had uncovered what was causing the stability issues. Several publications reported that Intel would soon send a firmware patch to resolve the issue. Still, Intel told Tom’s Hardware that it had “not confirmed root cause and is continuing, with its partners, to investigate user reports regarding instability issues on unlocked Intel Core 13th and 14th generation (K/KF/KS) desktop processors.” One contributing factor, it says, is elevated voltage input to the processor allowing the CPU to run at turbo frequencies - even when it’s too hot to do so safely. Intel says these conditions occur because of previously applied BIOS settings, but its analysis did reveal one bug. The bug is within its Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (eTVB) algorithm and can impact operating conditions for the affected CPUs. This algorithm should automatically increase the CPU clock frequency, but only when operating below a certain temperature. To address the eTVB bug, Intel has released a patch to motherboard manufacturers. Patches should roll out in the form of BIOS updates before July 19, 2024. In the meantime, Intel has provided a table of recommended power delivery settings for its 13th and 14th Gen desktop CPUs. This isn’t the first time Intel has suggested BIOS settings tweaks to help stave off instability. Asus released a new BIOS in April to follow Intel’s guidelines on power delivery. Then in May, Intel reportedly insisted motherboard partners implement its “Intel Default (Baseline) Profile” to establish correct power settings for the 13th and 14th Gen CPUs. Intel also warns that users who still want to overclock or use higher power delivery settings than it recommends can “do so at their own risk as overclocking may void warranty or affect system health.” https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intel-offers-new-guidance-on-13th-and-14th-gen-cpu-instability-but-no-definitive-fix-yet

Assassin's Creed Shadows on iPadOS 18 Assassin’s Creed isn't quite an annual franchise these days, but Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is coming sooner than you think. The game launches on Nov. 15 for Mac, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Surprisingly, the game is also making the leap to iPad. Yes, the massive open-world game, which isn't even coming to last-gen consoles, will run on the newest iPads. We don't know the exact spec requirements. However, the relatively modest Assassin's Creed Mirage required an M1 chip to run on iOS devices. So, presumably, Assassin's Creed Shadows will only run on iPads new enough to have that beefy silicon. However, you may need the cutting-edge M4 chip for graphical enhancements like ray tracing support. Assassin's Creed Shadows and other AAA games slated for (or already available on) Apple's mobile devices—Death's Stranding, Resident Evil 4 Remake—will tap Game Mode, a new iPadOS18 (and iOS18) feature. Game Mode reduces background activity to deliver increased performance and better battery life. It also reduces Bluetooth latency for wireless controllers and headphones. In short, Game Mode transforms your iPad into a dedicated gaming device, so you can take Naoe and Yasuke on the go. A Nimble Ninja and Historical Samurai At WWDC, Ubisoft’s Vice President & Executive Producer of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Marc-Alexis Cote, didn't explicitly state that the showcased footage represented the iPad version (he spent most of his time discussing the Mac version). Hopefully, Assassin's Creed Shadows' iPad gameplay will closely match its console, Mac, and PC counterparts. Naoe represents classic series action, or the recent throwback, Assassin’s Creed Mirage. She's a stealthy warrior who stays out of sight and takes out targets without making a sound. With Naoe, you scramble across rooftops, toss shuriken, and mani[CENSORED]te the surroundings to make hapless guards more vulnerable. If Naoe is quiet, then Yasuke is loud. Inspired by an actual historical figure, Yasuke was an African who became a retainer for Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period. His heavier combat recalls modern Assassin’s Creed games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The gameplay consists of tense, elegant sword duels, and you can lop off dishonorable heads like in a Shogun episode. Certain situations let you choose which character to play, depending on which approach you prefer. We love seeing Yasuke here. The idea of a real-life Black samurai is incredibly cool and has already inspired characters in anime and other games. Netflix's Yasuke anime, starring Lakeith Stanfield, is one of our favorite examples of a streaming service celebrating Black art. Plus, making Yasuke a main, playable character is a smart way to separate Assassin’s Creed Shadows from the dozens of other traditional samurai games, including Ghost of Tsushima, Nioh, Rise of the Ronin, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Whether it's on the Nintendo Switch or handheld gaming PCs, we adore playing epic adventures on portable devices. So Assassin's Creed Shadows on iPad sounds like a terrific move by Ubisoft. Here's hoping the final game lives up to the promise. https://me.pcmag.com/en/mobile-games/24099/assassins-creed-shadows-stealths-onto-ipads-courtesy-of-ipados-18-game-mode

In the midst of all the firefights and major orders, one of the most notable battles Helldivers 2 players went up against was with the game itself. It came in the form of a review bombing campaign in retaliation for Sony removing Helldivers 2 from sale in 177 countries and territories that don't have access to PSN. After reaching some serious lows on its Steam page with over 211,000 negative recent reviews, bringing Helldivers 2 down to "Mixed" status, developer Arrowhead tried its hardest to claw back some of the love: "We are talking solutions with Sony, especially in non-PSN countries," now-former Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt tweeted. "Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community - but I don't have the final say." This statement actually only made things worse for a time, as many players were frustrated at the apparent deflection of blame. Things only really began to look better for Arrowhead after Pilestedt shared a community post pitching a cape with the review bomb design on it. What started off as a funny 'what if' snowballed into a sizable community effort as most players changed their focus from PSN to this stylish cape. We've known that the cape has been in the works for some time now: Pilestedt even shared a small teaser on Twitter. You can only see a small section of the cape, but I'd recognise those scathing red lines (which represent a drop to negative reviews) anywhere. Despite knowing of its existence, players haven't been able to get their hands on it. They still can't, but that may be changing soon. Pilestedt has since taken to Twitter again to confirm that the cape is "done on our end, but we want to find the right time to release it." I'm not sure what Arrowhead is waiting for, maybe it'll release the cape as a reward for a future major order, or maybe it's waiting for any further problems that land the company in hot water. One player suggested in the replies that "releasing it at the same time as relisting the game in other regions would be a good move." While Sony hasn't budged an inch on its stance on PSN accounts for other games like God of War Ragnarök's PC release, we did finally see the company blink and retract its stance for Helldivers 2 players, making this idea possible. This news also comes in the wake of a moral conundrum that Helldivers 2 players had to face up against—save a hospital full of sick children or get a sweet new weapon. After the surprise reveal that players actually banded together to save the children, Pilestedt also announced that he would be donating $4,311 to the charity Save the Children, as another kind of reward for a job well done. https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/its-done-on-our-end-helldivers-2s-infamous-review-bomb-cape-is-ready-but-arrowhead-is-looking-for-the-right-time-to-release-it/

Nickname : RAIDEN Age: 19 Link of Reviews you have posted recently: u can find it in vgr section & How much you rate VGame Reviewers Team 1-10: 5 Why do you want be part of the Reviewer's team: I was here before and i wanna back , like everyone says i wanna help this section to be better :V Any suggest you want to make for your Request: No , thx

Xiaomi 14 Cinematic Vision (long for Civi) is the company's first smartphone, co-engineered with a Leica tagline at a price point that was tough to imagine at this price earlier. Gadgets 360 was the first publication that reported about the launch of Civi in India last month. But before diving into 14 Civi, let's talk about Xiaomi's tryst in the premium smartphone segment. The first attempt to crack the premium segment in India was led by the Xiaomi 12 Pro in 2022, followed by the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the first in the company's line-up to come with the Leica collaboration. But both these smartphones were priced above Rs. 60,000 in India. If you look at the company's current line-up, there's a huge gap between the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ and Xiaomi 14. And that's where the Xiaomi 14 Civi launch makes all the more sense. Before diving into our first impressions, let's talk about the prices. Xiaomi 14 Civi price in India is set at Rs. 47,999 for the 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. The 8GB RAM + 256GB storage is priced at Rs 42,999. The smartphone goes on sale in India starting June 20, 2024, at 12:00 PM IST and will be available across Mi.com, Flipkart and select offline retailers across India. Xiaomi 14 Civi: The package Looking at Xiaomi's 14 Civi spec sheet hints that the company tried its best to put in everything a smartphone enthusiast can think of at this price point. Right from the top-of-the-line chipset, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor and the Leica Vario Summilux camera setup feature a 50-megapixel primary camera accompanied by a 50-megapixel telephoto camera and 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. Of course, thanks to being co-engineered with Leica, the 14 Civi gets all the bells and whistles one expects in the camera division, including two photographic styles - Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant looks and much more. The Xiaomi 14 Civi is also the only smartphone currently in the Indian market to offer dual selfie cameras - a dual 32-megapixel setup at the front. At 7.4mm thickness and 177 grams weight, the Xiaomi 14 Civi is among the slimmest and most lightweight smartphones at this price point. To add some context, the Pixel 8a is 8.9mm thick and weighs 188 grams. On the other hand, iQOO 12 is 8.1mm thick and weighs 198.5 grams. The OnePlus 12R, priced under Rs. 50,000, is 8.8mm thick and weighs 207 grams. Coming to the display, the 14 Civi at 6.55-inch sits perfectly between Xiaomi 14's 6.36-inch and 14 Ultra's 6.73-inch displays. It gets a 120Hz refresh rate, 3000nits peak brightness, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+. The 14 Civi packs a 4700mAh battery with a 67W fast charging adapter in the box. Xiaomi 14 Civi: Initial thoughts While the Xiaomi 14 Civi appears to tick many right boxes on paper, the real test is yet to come. We will thoroughly test this device and provide you with a review in the coming days. Stay tuned for our verdict, where we'll delve deeper into the performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and more. Advertisement With metal frames, the 14 Civi feels solid in the hands, and thanks to its dimensions, it is comfortable to use with just one hand. It comes in Cruise Blue, Matcha Green and Classic Matte Edition, which we got for our review. It's worth mentioning that Xiaomi's attention to detail for each colourway is fantastic. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/xiaomi-14-civi-first-impressions-5871547#pfrom=indepth

As per the headline, there's some added goodness for legacy titles, including Crysis (2007) and Crysis 2 (2011). The latest Intel Game On driver release boosts the original Crysis performance at 1080p with Very High settings by up to 10% on a discrete Arc GPU. Crysis 2 also gets up to a 6% increase in 1080p performance - this time on a Core Ultra chip with Arc graphics. With that, the answer to the question of whether Intel Arc GPUs can run Crysis is now "better than before." Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/video_cards/index.html Compact builds are becoming increasingly po[CENSORED]r each year. Small form factor (SFF) cases can lead to a smaller desk footprint or a rig that can sit snugly underneath a TV. The big concern, at least when trying to assemble an SFF build that is powerful enough to play the latest PC games, is whether or not the hardware will fit. Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/video_cards/index.html Noticing the trend, NVIDIA announced, as part of its Computex 2024 announcements, a new 'SFF Ready' label that denotes which GeForce RTX 4070 through to GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GPUs can fit in smaller SFF cases. It all boils down to GPUs and SFF cases meeting specific dimension criteria (NVIDIA told us that pretty much all GeForce RTX 4060s are SFF Ready), and you can see all of the GeForce RTX cards (and compatible cases) here. With that, ASUS is introducing a new line of budget-friendly GeForce RTX GPUs that are SFF Ready and called ASUS Prime. So far, the company has announced three models: the Prime GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, Prime GeForce RTX 4070, and Prime GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/video_cards/index.html https://www.tweaktown.com/news/video_cards/index.html

Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a leading candidate to be Donald Trump’s vice president, liked tweets in 2016 and 2017 that harshly criticized Trump and his policies — including one speculating that Vance could serve in former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s administration. Other tweets liked by Vance said Trump committed “serial sexual assault,” called him “one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs,” and, in a since-removed set of tweets, harshly criticized Trump’s response to the deadly 2017 White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia – something Vance now defends Trump over. Vance’s past anti-Trump stances have been well-documented, but these new examples, unearthed by an extensive review of Vance’s past social media activity, demonstrate they were more widespread and scathing than previously known. Their discovery also comes as Vance has solidified his standing in Trump’s inner circle as a frequent defender of the former president and is among a handful of people under consideration to be Trump’s vice-presidential pick. As CNN’s KFile previously reported, Vance deleted past anti-Trump tweets ahead of his announcement in July 2021 that he would run for the open Ohio Senate seat. Vance once privately wondered whether Trump was ‘America’s Hitler’ in February 2016, and a few months later wrote in The Atlantic that Trump was “cultural heroin.” Vance also said he even contemplated voting for Clinton, but ultimately said he would vote for independent candidate Evan McMullin for president in 2016. Once regarded as a “Trump whisperer” for his understanding of the aggrieved White working class and a self-described “Never Trump” Republican, Vance shot to fame over his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” published in June 2016. Vance was a frequent guest on cable news programs and later became a CNN contributor in 2017. His subsequent transition from vocal Trump critic to staunch supporter has been widely scrutinized. Vance has become a key surrogate for the former president and routinely defends Trump on television, including during his hush money trial in New York last month. Vance also helped orchestrate Trump’s June 6 fundraiser in San Francisco with tech industry donors. Trump is expected to meet with congressional Republicans in Washington, DC, on Thursday. In a statement to CNN, Vance cited Trump’s “many successes in office” and claimed that realizing the “corporate media and Deep State’s” coordinated efforts to undermine Trump changed his perspective. “I’m proud to be one of his strongest supporters in the Senate today and I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure President Trump wins in November - the survival of America depends on it.” Prior to the publication of this story, Vance’s communications director sent along two supportive statements from Donald Trump Jr. and Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign. Trump Jr. criticized news outlets for repeatedly covering Vance’s past anti-Trump comments writing, “We’re 100% confident that JD is America First to the core” and “no one in the Senate has been a stronger supporter of my father.” Trump Jr. added they were “long past all of this,” saying they had “discussed it with him at length.” Miller wrote, “It’s important to keep in mind that politics is ultimately politics,” and likened Vance’s past criticism to criticism by Kamala Harris of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential primary over his past opposition to desegregation busing in the 1970s. In an interview published Thursday, Vance told New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about his political conversion to a pro-Trump Republican. “Like a lot of other elite conservatives and elite liberals, I allowed myself to focus so much on the stylistic element of Trump that I completely ignored the way in which he substantively was offering something very different on foreign policy, on trade, on immigration,” Vance said. Anti-Trump social media activity from 2016 CNN reviewed Vance’s past likes on Twitter, the platform now known as X, before X changed its policy to make users’ likes private and hidden from others. A majority of the newly uncovered social media activity dates from the last five months of the 2016 presidential campaign. They include Vance liking a number of anti-Trump posts on Twitter, including those criticizing Trump’s immigration policies, acknowledging antisemitism from Trump supporters, questioning the integrity of voting for Trump over Clinton and even raising concerns over Trump having access to the country’s nuclear codes as president. In February 2016, Vance liked a tweet featuring a photo of Trump, two women and O.J. Simpson with the caption, “Here is an old picture of one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs. Also in picture: OJ Simpson.” Vance also liked tweets from August 2016 that praised his book and envisioned a role for him in a potential Clinton administration and another tweet suggesting he could provide Clinton with the “seeds to a plan to defeat Trump.” But Vance soon began liking several tweets with the hashtag #NeverHillary through October 2016. While promoting his memoir and appearing on news programs in 2016, Vance liked a series of tweets calling then-candidate Trump a “monster” and a “nemesis of the GOP.” He also liked a tweet acknowledging “threats and derogatory terms Trump supporters hurl at Jews.” He even liked a tweet from CNN anchor Jake Tapper criticizing Trump’s tweet about a woman’s appearance amidst then-first lady Melania Trump’s campaign against cyberbullying. He also liked a tweet that read, “Does any dad (or future dad) want to look his daughter in the eye and explain why he voted for Trump instead of 1st woman president?” Among the harshest tweets Vance liked was one that called out Trump after the “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced, capturing previously unaired lewd and sexually aggressive remarks by the presidential nominee. “Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault,” the tweet read. Other tweets Vance engaged with criticized signature Trump policies, including Trump’s hardline position on immigration and the tax cuts from 2017. In August 2017, Vance criticized Trump’s response to the White supremacist violence in Charlottesville earlier that year, linking in a since-deleted tweet to a TV segment that called Trump a “coward” for his response, and then liked a tweet indicating he did not consistently support the GOP or Trump. “There is no moral equivalence between the anti-racist protestors in Charlottesville and the killer (and his ilk),” Vance wrote, while also criticizing left-wing violence. “You may not like @JDVance1’s view - but it’s hard to pin him down as consistently supporting views of either Trump or GOP,” read the tweet Vance liked. Pro-Trump pivot Despite his earlier harsh criticism of Trump, by 2021, Vance dismissed left-wing condemnation of Trump’s comments — where Trump equated White nationalist protestors and counter-protestors as “fine people on both sides”— as “the ridiculous race hoax in Charlottesville.” Ahead of his Senate campaign that year, Vance apologized for previously calling Trump “reprehensible,” in tweets first uncovered by CNN’s KFile. “Like a lot of people, I criticized Trump back in 2016,” Vance told CNN in 2021. “I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said, adding he thought Trump was a good president. In a previously unreported blog post Vance wrote in April 2010 under his previous legal name, J.D. Hamel, he wrote in support of legal immigration, advocating to “massively increase” the number of migrants allowed into the country. “Border security is a good start, but if we plan to control the border, then we must also plan to massively increase the number of legal migrants allowed into the country,” Vance wrote. “The day that America no longer welcomes decent, hardworking foreign nationals is the day that our nation loses something very central to its character and its economic diversity.” Vance told CNN, “It was a stupid opinion from 15 years ago when I was in my twenties. All anyone needs to do is check my voting record as a Senator to see that I have consistently opposed increased immigration levels into America.” Vance said in September 2016 that Trump’s immigration policies were overly simplistic. “At the heart of Trump’s immigration message is that if we had less immigration, we would have much better jobs,” he said. “I think it’s a lot more complicated than that. My own sense is that Trump definitely simplifies these problems. I don’t think if you build a great Mexican wall, all of a sudden, all of these steel mill jobs are going to come back to southern Ohio, but it at least gives people something to latch onto.” Three months ago, Vance reiterated his support for Trump’s immigration policies. In an interview on Fox Business Vance said, “If we don’t get control of the southern border – tens of millions of illegal aliens are now in our country, tons of fentanyl killing over 100,000 people – we don’t have a country anymore if we don’t get control of that border.” This story has been updated with more information. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/13/politics/kfile-jd-vance-harsh-twitter-likes-trump-vice-president/index.html

As much as enthusiasts would love a new MR2 and/or a Celica, Toyota can't justify spending the R&D money on what would ultimately be a niche product. It partnered with Subaru for the GR86/BRZ and with BMW for the Supra/Z4 to share development costs and make bean counters happy. The Japanese brand is determined to pump out more sports cars but admits it can't ride solo on this endeavor. Speaking with Australian media, Gazoo Racing President Tomoya Takahashi said new fun cars are on the radar. However, Toyota has crunched the numbers and the math doesn't work out in its favor. The GR boss told Cars Guide that "the sports car market is shrinking in the future. We cannot maintain sports cars as one brand, Toyota. Collaboration between brands will increase in the future." It hasn't made up its mind with which other automakers it’ll join forces. This tells us a new sports car is unlikely to be launched in the coming years. However, that's not necessarily true since the Toyota GR GT3 race car prototype spotted late last month at Spa-Francorchamps will spawn a road-going Lexus version. It could go by the "LFR" name and pack a V-8 engine, supposedly with a pair of turbochargers thrown in for good measure. Expect to see it as early as next year. Takahashi went on to say the mission is "not for one manufacturer to survive, but to protect car enthusiasts." That's why "we need to collaborate sometimes" to spread out costs and make a sports car project financially feasible. In October 2023, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda hinted at a Celica reboot. However, even if it's happening, the absence of spy shots suggests a market launch is several years away. Before launching another low-slung and fairly impractical car, GR might do the exact opposite. Last month, Takahashi argued that a performance SUV is needed in the lineup for families who want more space. Whatever the case may be, GR's top brass said the goal is to roll out fun cars instead of just fast cars. It looks as though an all-Toyota sports car is out of the question, save for the GR GT3/LFR. It’ll be interesting to see whether the world’s largest automaker will join forces with Mazda since the two are already collaborating on trying to save internal combustion engines. Toyota also has a five-percent share in Mazda, so a joint effort wouldn’t be such a surprise. With the MX-5 likely to be electrified for its next generation to meet stricter emissions regulations, Toyota's hybrid know-how might come in handy. Lest we forget Mazda built a Miata-based 124 Spider for Fiat, so the Zoom-Zoom company could be interested in sharing costs once again. That would make sense considering Mazda is a small company, especially when compared to an automotive juggernaut such as Toyota. Of course, this is all speculation on our part, but we're glad Toyota isn't giving up on making sports cars. The GR Yaris hot hatch just went through a mid-cycle update and the Supra is about to spawn a hotter GRMN derivative with extra BMW power. https://www.motor1.com/news/723505/toyota-more-fun-cars-planned/

Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 °F (204 °C). According to Chef Ollie George Cigliano,"leftover [crispy] fries freeze beautifully and bake off well in the oven," so this method works well for baking fries from scratch or from reheating previously fried and frozen french fries. Place a rimmed baking sheet into the middle of the oven. Then, turn the oven on so it preheats and the sheet gets really hot.[1] When you place the french fries on the hot sheet, they'll immediately begin to crisp up. Peel 2 1⁄2 pounds (1.1 kg) of russet potatoes if you want crispy fries. Rinse about 5 large starchy potatoes and peel them. Although you can leave the peels on, the fries will be slightly chewier than if you'd peel them.[2] Don't peel the potatoes in advance or they'll begin to brown. Cut the potatoes into 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) sticks. Place the peeled potatoes on a cutting board and cut them lengthwise into 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) thick slices. Lay the slices flat and cut them lengthwise again into 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) thick sticks.[3] If you prefer even crunchier french fries, you can cut them into 1⁄4 inch (0.64 cm) thick sticks. Since they're smaller, reduce the cooking time by 5 to 8 minutes. Toss the french fries with olive oil and salt. Get out a large bowl and put the french fries into it. Drizzle 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of olive oil over them and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon (5.5 g) of sea salt. Use your hands or large spoons to toss the fries so they're coated in the oil and salt.[4] The oil prevents the fries from sticking to the sheet. It also helps them become crunchy as they bake. Arrange the fries on the hot sheet. Put on oven mitts to remove the hot baking sheet from the oven. Then, spread the seasoned french fries on the sheet so they're in a single layer. If you forgot to preheat the sheet, you can still spread the fries on a cold baking sheet. https://www.wikihow.com/Make-French-Fries

The French would dearly love to know who is the real Jordan Bardella. The question was interesting when Mr Bardella was merely president of the country’s biggest party, the far-right National Rally (RN). Now that he is being openly spoken of as the country’s next prime minister, it has become a matter of urgency. In two weeks the country goes to the polls in a snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron following his humiliation by the RN at the European elections last Sunday. If the RN has pulled off another big win after the second round of voting on July 7, then Macron will have no choice but to offer it a chance to govern. And if that happens, Mr Bardella – who shares the party leadership with Marine Le Pen – is expected to be named as prime minister. The French all know the basics about Mr Bardella, and his lightning rise from jobless school-leaver in the northern Paris suburbs to Le Pen protégé and president of the party. They know that he is ridiculously young, just 28, but that this seems to matter less nowadays, when experience no longer counts for much. The current president is just 46, and the prime minister 35. They know he is perpetually neat, that he speaks well, is ultra-presentable. But what he thinks, where he stands ideologically, what kind of person he is – these are unknowns. The French have the distinct feeling that the man they see is a package. Nicely-wrapped, but the contents are a mystery. The official version of Mr Bardella – the one on the label – is a young man who grew up in a deprived estate in Seine-Saint-Denis and after living with the scourge of drugs, poverty, lawlessness and uncontrolled immigration came to believe that only the hard-right had the answer. This is “le story-telling”, a French borrowing from the world of marketing. As he himself has said: “I am in politics because of everything I lived through there. To stop that becoming the norm for the whole of France. Because what happens there is not normal.” The truth is more nuanced. Mr Bardella was indeed brought up by his single mother, Luisa, in the Cité Gabriel-Péri in the town of Saint-Denis, so his experience is real enough. Both his parents are of Italian origin, and his father had an Algerian grandmother. But Mr Bardella’s father, Olivier, who moved out when Jordan was very young, ran a drinks distribution business, and was relatively well off. He lived in the commuter town of Montmorency. And Mr Bardella did not go to the nearest state school, but to a semi-private Catholic establishment po[CENSORED]r with the middle-classes. “The young Bardella had a foot on either side of the tracks,” said Pierre-Stéphane Fort, the author of a critical biography of the RN president. For a recent profile in Le Monde newspaper, the authors went back to Saint-Denis to find friends and acquaintances of the young Mr Bardella. They found he had left little trace. Friends – of mixed racial backgrounds -- remembered that he was a fan of video games, and set up a YouTube channel to discuss the latest releases. They recalled that he had given literacy classes to immigrants after hours at his lycée when he was 16. But they did not remember any particular interest in far-right politics. “My theory is that he looked around the political world and spotted the place where there was the best chance of climbing the ladder,” Chantal Chatelain, a teacher at his lycée, told Le Monde. Mr Bardella joined the party at 17, and his rise was meteoric. It happened because he became part of Ms Le Pen’s outer circle. Much at the top of the RN operates around personal relationships and clan loyalties, as it did when Ms Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, was at the helm of the party that was then known as the Front National (FN). Mr Bardella became the boyfriend of the daughter of an old FN hand, Frederick Chatillon. Within days of being introduced to Le Pen in 2017, she had named him the party spokesman. In 2019 she asked him to head the party’s candidate list at the European elections, which the RN won. He became an MEP. Then in 2022, she made him party president. According to Pascal Humeau, a media trainer who worked with Mr Bardella for four years, Ms Le Pen spotted straightaway how the young man – with his perfect tale of banlieue hardship – would be of service to the party. She called him her “lion cub.” But Mr Humeau is far from complimentary about Mr Bardella himself. The two parted ways after a row over money, so his testimony needs to be treated with caution. But today he describes the RN leader as a product of pure PR. “He was an empty shell. In terms of content there wasn’t much there,” Mr Humeau said. “He didn’t read much. He wasn’t curious. He just absorbed the elements of language given him by Marine.” Mr Humeau said he worked for months on getting Mr Bardella to shed his stiff bearing, and to smile more naturally. “I had to humanise the cyborg. My job was to get people who would otherwise hate him to say, ‘huh! for a fascist he’s nice!’” The biographer Pierre-Stephane Fort is another critic of Mr Bardella who says there is little substance behind the personable image. “He is a chameleon. He adapts perfectly to the environment around him,” he said. “And he is a chronic opportunist. There is no ideology there. He’s pure strategy. He senses where the wind is blowing, and gets in there early.” Indeed, identifying Mr Bardella with any of the RN’s different courants or political clans is impossible. At different times he has been with the “social” wing, with its focus on the poor and building social housing, and the “identity” wing with its focus on race and preserving French culture. But mainly he goes where Ms Le Pen goes. Like her, and the party as a whole, he has a general standpoint built around a tough response to crime and immigration, and has spoken of France being “submerged by migrants”. But on specifics, the answers are left deliberately hazy. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvvlp096eko