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Kia has unveiled its new entry level electric vehicle, the EV2. The boxy model strongly resembles the company's Soul (Kia did make an electric Soul at one point) and has very similar dimensions, though it's slightly shorter in height and length. It's not exactly a range monster and will charge a bit slower than the competition. The EV2 launched at the Brussels Motor Show and the company said it has no plans for US availability at this point. The EV2 uses Kia/Hyundai's E-GMP platform and slots into the bottom of its EV lineup as an "entry point to electric mobility," according to the automaker. Though nearly the same size, it certainly looks nicer than the dowdy Soul and has more room inside. Competition-wise, it's going up against Volvo's EX30 and may cost about the same, though Kia has yet to divulge pricing. Kia The EV2 will be offered with two battery options: a 42kWh battery with 197 miles of WLTP range (likely around 170 miles by EPA standards) and 61kWh with 278 miles of WLPT range (around 240 EPA miles). That's not a lot, especially compared to the 261 mile EPA max range of the EX30 so Kia's pricing for the EV2 will be key. As for charging speeds, Kia says the EV2 will charge from 10 to 80 percent in about 30 minutes a bit slower than the 69 kWh EX30. Like other Kia vehicles, the EV2 supports vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-load (V2L/V2G) charging. Kia calls the vehicle's interior a "Picnic Box" as a way to describe the small but useful space. Kia says its "comparable to larger vehicles" in terms of space, with generous rear legroom and rear cargo capacity up to 403 liters. It will come in four- and five-seat versions. Kia As for tech inside, it offers a generous screen setup, with a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, 12.3-inch infotainment screen and a 5-inch climate display. Ambient lighting in the cabin syncs up with specific vehicle functions. At the same time, it offers a fully array of manual controls climate, volume control and more. It comes with multiple USB-C ports (three up front) that support up to 100W charging. The company has yet to reveal performance figures other than range. Production is set to start in Q1, so deliveries should commence in Europe and other regions later in the year. It doesn't look like the EV2 will arrive stateside any time soon, though, as the company said it "has not announced plans for the US market." This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/kias-budget-ev2-arrives-with-up-to-240-miles-of-range-130038144.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Probably my favorite thing about the Lego Smart Play system unveiled this week at CES is that it was designed for kids, first and foremost. In the past 10 years or so, Lego has increasingly courted an older audience with more expensive and elaborate sets. But when it was time to bring more advanced technology to Lego, the idea right from the beginning was more social and interactive play. If you havent heard about Smart Play yet, its a way for Lego to make its sets more interactive. A Smart Brick filled with sensors makes it so sets can respond to each other, know when theyre moving, play sounds and know when the corresponding Smart Minifigures are near them. Tiny Smart Tags, meanwhile, help the Smart Brick know the context of how its being used whether its in a helicopter, car or duck for example. Tom Donaldson, senior VP and Head of Creative Play Lab at the LEGO Group, told Engadget that the company worked on Smart Play for about eight years before introducing it this week, and that social play was the starting point. We started really looking at consumer needs, and this idea that kids really like social play, said Donaldson Kids really like the sort of things that change when they come back to them, and the kids really like agency. They want to be able to change things. Lego's Tom Donaldson demoing Smart Play at CES.LEGOBut a big part of the creation process was making the Smart Brick as flexible and powerful as possible and then seeing what scenarios could take advantage of it. We wanted to build a really powerful platform, he said. What we shouldn't do is say, this is what we think we're gonna need. We needed to say, let's create something that has a lot of capabilities that we can then figure out how to use.One of the conflicts with the tech-packed Smart Play system, though, might be the cost. Obviously, Lego has been successful at most ventures it has undertaken in recent years, but the pricing of Smart Play sets could make adoption a bit challenging. The biggest Smart Play set, Star Wars Throne Room Duel & A-Wing, for example, has almost 1,000 pieces and costs $160. Thats quite a bit more than comparably sized sets. The dual factors of the Star Wars license and Smart Play tech certainly impacted the cost. Lego Smart Play Star Wars setLEGOThe set includes two Smart Bricks, five Smart Tags and three Smart Minifigures, the most smart gear included in any of the initial three Star Wars Smart Play sets. Will parents shell out for the more advanced capabilities that Smart Play offers, or will they stick with standard sets? For now, Lego is betting the extremely broad appeal of Star Wars will help these new Smart Play sets find an audience. About three years ago, Lego got its team focused on the Star Wars franchise involved, as well as Lucasfilm, to figure out how to roll Smart Play out to the world. Very early on, we all decided that starting with the original trilogy would be great, said Derek Stothard, Disneys Director of Global Licensing These are such well-known scenes and characters, and they cross generations, so parents can introduce them to their kids. All that works really well together. Unsurprisingly, Lego is being coy about where things go beyond the initial three Star Wars sets, but its clear that after eight years of development, theyll want to bring it to as many product lines as possible. We're announcing a platform that you can see has tremendous growth [potential], Donaldson said. We made the analogy with the minifigure as something that youll see across the entire [Lego] system, maybe not in every single SKU but itll reappear in many different places. But ultimately we're a company that really focuses on giving kids what they want, what they love, and we'll have to see how it lives in a market.That last point about how it lives in the market is a good one, particularly given the pricing. We probably wont know for sure until Lego moves beyond the safe confines of Star Wars and really shows us what Smart Play can do across more varied scenarios. And going to non-licensed sets might be where Smart Play really takes off its easy to imagine a cheaper Smart Play add-on kit that can bring sets to life at a lower cost. But the idea of transforming anything kids create into something more interactive has a ton of potential if Lego can broaden its appeal beyond Star Wars fans. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/lego-is-trying-to-make-tech-invisible-with-smart-play-130000979.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
There are no recruitment ads for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) running on Spotify at the moment, the streaming service has told Variety. A spokesperson has confirmed the news after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, but they also clarified that the ads stopped running in late 2025. The advertisements mentioned were part of a US government recruitment campaign that ran across all major media and platforms, they explained. Spotify caught flak back in October for playing ICE ads, asking people to join the mission to protect America, in between songs for users on the ad-supported plan. The advertisements even promised $50,000 signing bonuses for new recruits. Campaigns were launched to urge users to cancel their subscriptions and to boycott the service, and even music labels called on the company to stop serving ICE advertisements. Spotify said back then that the ads dont violate its policies and that users can simply mark them with a thumbs up or down to let the platform know their preferences. The company reportedly received $74,000 from Homeland Security for the ICE ads, but thats a tiny amount compared to what other companies received. According to a report by Rolling Stone, Google and YouTube were paid $3 million for Spanish-language ads that called for self-deportation, while Meta received $2.8 million. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/spotify-is-no-longer-running-ads-for-ice-130000672.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
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