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At CES 2017, Faraday Future introduced its futuristic luxury EV, the FF 91. Seven years later, following repeated delays, bankruptcy, lawsuits and other controversies, the company has sold 15 or 16 FF 91s. Now the company is detailing its latest strategy shift, with a plan to sell cheap EVs under its new low-cost FX brand. FX CEO Max Ma came to CES, along with two prototype vehicles, to pitch the plan that he described as a fresh start for the embattled company. As you might expect with Faraday, the exact details are somewhat hazy, but it involves sourcing parts from Chinese car-makers and bringing them to the US to produce mass volume mainstream vehicles with some of the premium touches Faraday is known for. We want to take that $300,000-car expertise from a technology and features and performance [standpoint] into a $30,000, $40,000 car to try to upgrade the overall user experience, Ma said during a briefing with Engadget. The first FX vehicle, the flagship product of the brands lineup, will be a minivan (or, as Ma referred to it, an AI MPV") called the "Super One." Faraday showed off two prototype minivans to demonstrate the concept. We were not permitted to take photos but the vehicles in the photo at the top of this post are the ones I saw. One was meant to show the kind of premium in-cabin experience Faraday is envisioning for the low-cost car. It had two rows of white leather captain seats. The second-row seats had reclining footrests, heated seats and built-in massagers. There was also a small fridge underneath the center console for keeping drinks cold. The vehicle was missing its door handles and several other pieces. Obviously, well have door handles, a Faraday rep assured us. The second minivan was even less finished. The entire interior, including the dashboard and instrument cluster, was covered in black fabric held together with binder clips. But a Faraday rep took me and other reporters for a ride in it, driving in small, slow circles around a Las Vegas parking lot. Later, Faraday offered to let me take the minivan for a spin and I apparently the first lady to pilot the vehicle also drove it in slow circles around the parking lot. Im not sure what I was supposed to get out of it, though, it felt like driving a minivan. There are two other vehicles planned for the initial FX lineup, the FX 5 and FX 6, which were previously announced by the company. Faraday is aiming for a $20,000 - $30,000 price for the FX 5 and $30,000 - $50,000 for the FX 6. There aren't many other details yet about either, though Faraday shared a teaser image of an FX 6 prototype, which it described as an "extra-large luxury AIEV." Faraday Future Faraday claims it will start producing one of its planned vehicles later this year, with the first "pre-production" model rolling off the production line by the end of 2025, according to a timeline shared by Ma. Thats a lofty promise considering the companys past history of mismanagement and delays. Faraday Future CEO Matthias Aydt also acknowledged that the company has yet to finalize its partnerships with the companies that will supply its parts. He also didnt address how tariffs may affect those plans. Ma said he understood the skepticism. Basically, this is a kind of fresh start. We really want to demonstrate that through our dedication of hard work, we can achieve what we promised.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/faraday-future-pitches-a-fresh-start-with-a-minivan-prototype-at-ces-2025-010050459.html?src=rss
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The following article discusses adult themes. There was a legend in my high school about turning your PlayStation 2 into an ersatz vibrator by creating a custom skate park in Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. Build a circular grind rail, turn off the ability to fall, jump on it and your DualShock would launch into a never ending frenzy of haptic feedback. Its an idea the team at Motorbunny is taking to its logical conclusion, adding a wireless controller for its eponymous ride on sex toy that can connect to a DualSense controller. Its pitch is that youll be able to combine getting your game on with getting off. And yes, I am ashamed for writing that sentence. The company was at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, showing off PlayMate, its wireless dongle that can control the beefy saddle-style toy. In its demo, the PlayMate was plugged into the USB-C port on the back of a DualSense controlling a PS5 playing Rocket League. Except theres no way to pull the haptics data from the DualSense, or any other gaming handset, for that matter. Instead, it has a built-in gyroscope that will track how aggressively you pitch and tilt your controller, and uses that information to control the Motorbunny. This isnt as good as the Tony Hawk plan from 2001, but will at least enable some folks to merge both of their hobbies at the same time. PlayMate is one of a suite of products the company is releasing, including a series of less expensive vibes under the Fluffer label. This is a sub-brand designed to tie in the worlds of gaming and sex, with the app even having some arcade games that you can use to control your toys. In one demo, there was a Flappy Bird clone that would increase the intensity of the vibration the longer you were able to keep the bird in the air. Sadly the company wasnt ready to share details of pricing and availability just yet, but said a whole host of products would be hitting the market in the following months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/motorbunnys-playmate-lets-your-console-kinda-control-your-vibe-233001475.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Meta is continuing to overhaul its moderation and content rules. Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted today that Instagram and Threads will start including political content in recommendations. It's a reversal from the policy the two platforms adopted last year, which made political content something users had to choose if they wanted to see. Now, Mosseri said that there will be three levels of political content that Instagram and Threads users can pick to see: less, standard (which will be the default) and more. "Its proven impractical to draw a red line around what is and is not political content," Mosseri wrote. The change will begin rolling out this week in the US and in the rest of the world over the coming weeks. This announcement is the latest in a series of shifts Meta is making that seem like efforts to curry favor with President-elect Donald Trump. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would eliminate third-party fact-checkers in favor of a Community Notes model for Facebook, Instagram and Threads, mimicking the approach taken at X (formerly Twitter). Nick Clegg stepped down as Meta's president of global affairs to be replaced by Joel Kaplan, who is well-connected to Republicans in Washington DC. Yesterday, Instagram was also discovered to have blocked several LGBTQ hashtags and treated them as "sexually suggestive material" for months. The company said this was an error. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-and-instagram-will-recommend-political-content-after-all-232343107.html?src=rss
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