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The Morning After: Wednesday December 14, 2016

The macOS fix for short battery estimates, AirPods go on sale and "Funky Fantasy IV"

richard lawler
Senior News Editor
Updated ·2 min read
0

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

We're halfway through the week, and you're right -- something is missing on your Mac. Also, Apple's AirPods are on sale and it's time to meet Waymo.

Feature removals will continue until morale improvesLatest macOS update removes "battery time remaining" estimate

macOS Sierra 10.12.2 has at least one undocumented change that you probably will notice. Besides an array of bugfixes and tweaks, it removes the "battery time remaining" estimate from the menu bar. According to Apple, rapidly changing power states make it too inaccurate, especially on new Intel Skylake-equipped Macbook Pros. The solution? Yank it.

If you're reading this it's too lateApple AirPods finally go on sale

Apple's wireless earbuds are finally available, but that doesn't mean you'll get a pair anytime soon. Estimated shipping time from Apple's website quickly stretched beyond four weeks, however, and the company says they will be available in stores soon.

Somebody set us up the bomb"Funky Fantasy IV" tries game localization via Google Translate

The effort put into localizing foreign games can have a huge impact on the experience. Most games get at least a decent translation effort, but one gamer went out of his way to show what happens if you just rely on Google Translate. Thanks to his custom software and a stream recording, you can experience "Final Fantasy IV" in a way its creators never intended.

Another Alphabet entryNow Google's self-driving car project is a solo company

As Google reshuffles its moonshot efforts, the company is spinning out its self-driving cars. Now that project is a company called Waymo, with former Hyundai exec John Krafcik serving as its CEO. Its mission: turning self-driving tech into a practical business. To do that, Waymo is looking at ridesharing, trucking and regular passenger vehicles.

ThreeChevrolet delivers the first Bolt EVs to customers

GM made its year-end deadline of shipping production versions of its sub-$40k electric car, but only just barely. Three Bolt EVs have reached new owners in California, and more are on the way. It's a small start, but a meaningful one while we keep waiting for Tesla and the Model 3.

But wait, there's more...