The Morning After: Blue Origin’s crew makes it to space

Blue Origin made it beyond the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Jeff Bezos’ space company has successfully completed its first crewed spaceflight, taking the boss himself, his brother, aviation pioneer Wally Funk and (son of) paying customer 18-year-old Oliver Daemen.

After reaching 62 miles above Earth, the capsule made what seemed to be a perfect landing in the desert. The entire mission took just over 10 minutes, according to Blue Origin.

The future of billionaire-backed space travel is on the horizon. Bezos said yesterday that Blue Origin is approaching $100 million in future flight sales, already. He also had plenty of thoughts during that very short trip, some of which seemed at odds with some of his business decisions of the past.

— Mat Smith

Check out our updated buyer’s guide.

We get it: Being a student is hard, but just because you’re holed up in a dorm room doesn’t mean you should settle for crappy AV gear. Our updated Student Buyer’s Guide has everything you could possibly need to stop mindlessly watching Netflix on your laptop. We’ve found bargainous deals for TVs, audio gear and the best dongles, all the better to get your classmates to want to come hang out at your kickin’ joint. Continue Reading.

Expect two handsets, a new smartwatch and some new earbuds.

As day follows night, Samsung announces another product launch — its fifth by our count since the start of the year. This summer showcase, scheduled for August 11th, will be an online-only shindig to announce the company’s super-premium devices. This slot was ordinarily when the new Note would take its bow, but since that series has been retired (for now), it looks like foldables will take center stage. It’s likely we’ll see new entries in the Flip and Fold lines, as well as the first watch borne of Samsung and Google’s new WearOS push. Continue Reading.

‘Neko Atsume’ and ‘Jetpack Joyride’ are also coming soon.

The latest wave of titles coming to Apple’s gaming service include Tetris Beat, an Arcade original that blends the classic puzzler with rhythm game elements. The more you keep to the rhythm, the larger your combos get. The soundtrack includes well-known names like Alison Wonderland and Hannah Diamond.

Monster Hunter Stories, originally a 3DS game that swapped hacking and slashing for roleplaying, will join soon, too. In that game, you’ll battle alongside monsters you befriend during your adventure. Continue Reading.

The design is based on another classic: Casio’s F-100 digital watch.

Casio has unveiled a new Pac-Man edition digital watch, made in collaboration with Bandai Namco. The A100WEPC Pac-Man edition has a design based on the Casio’s F-100 digital watch from 1978. One of the most advanced watches you could buy at the time, it had a stopwatch, digital alarm and calendar features. It was also the first watch with a resin case. Oh, and Ripley wore one in Alien. It will go on sale in Japan this August for ¥12,100, or about $110. Continue Reading.

‘Lanebreak’ puts you in control of a tire on an obstacle course.

Lanebreak is a rhythm-based game coming to Peloton’s stationary bikes. It has a simple setup: Players control a rolling tire on a track by pedaling, switching lanes with the resistance knob to avoid multiple obstacles. This being Peloton, the entire game is synchronized to a music soundtrack. For now, Lanebreak is still in early access mode with a full launch planned for this winter. Continue Reading.

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