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Tesla's new Roadster, and more in the week that was
Has Tesla succeeded in creating a vehicle that reacts faster than its driver? A recently-surfaced dashcam video appears to show Tesla's autopilot mode predicting an accident moments before it actually happens. It currently takes hours to charge an electric car - but Elon Musk just hinted that Tesla's next-gen superchargers will be able to juice up an eve in mere seconds. Musk also confirmed plans for a new Tesla Roadster, which is expected to debut in 2019. Uber recently launched a fleet of self-driving cars in California, but the state promptly shut the experiment down. Uber won't have to look far for a new testing grounds, though - Nevada is welcoming the company's self-driving taxis.
Soylent relaunches its troubled powder, adds new drink flavors
Soylent had a pretty terrible 2016. After recalling its meal bars after reports of vomiting and diarrhea from its users, the company also had to withdraw its debut product: the powder used to make meal-substitute shakes. While Soylent relaunched the powder for sale online last week, the bars are still MIA. However, if you like your meals shapeless and mono-colored, the company has doubled down on its pre-made 'drink in a bottle' beverages, adding two new flavors. These drinks apparently didn't contain the algal flour that's suspected of causing all that tummy trouble.
Soylent partner cuts supply after shouldering blame for recall
Soylent supplier TerraVia really, really doesn't appreciate being blamed for making people sick. The nutrition company has suspended its ingredient supply out of a "high level of concern" that Soylent is perpetuating a "pattern of behavior" that hurts TerraVia's bottom line. Supposedly, Soylent didn't do enough research into gastrointestinal problems before blaming TerraVia's algal flour and removing it for the recently released Powder 1.7 meal. The food alternative firm didn't offer any evidence, TerraVia says, citing an industry expert who doubts that the flour (or any one ingredient) is the obvious cause.
Alexa orders delivery from Pizza Hut on Amazon devices
Pizza Hut recently debuted a chatbot to help you with a delivery order, but the restaurant chain is putting Amazon's virtual assistant to work for the same task. Alexa's newest skill includes the ability to order your pizza via voice integration on the Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV and Fire tablets. While the menu options for placing an order from scratch are a bit limited, Alexa can access your favorite items and past orders as well.
Candy Mechanics turns heads into 3D chocolate lollipops
The holidays are a time to forget about your fitness goals and indulge. And what better to stuff your face with than, well, your face? Candy Mechanics is in the business of personalised chocolate, but the company's latest service takes that idea one step further: chocolate people. Or rather, chocolate heads, known as Lolpops. All you need is a smartphone or tablet to film a 30-second, close-up video of someone's mug from all angles (Candy Mechanics' website talks you through the process). Upload that video, and fancy Autodesk software builds a 3D model from the footage that's then used to create chocolate heads on sticks.
This tiny digestive tracker can tell what food gives you gas
One of my favorite things to eat is cheese and egg on a bagel. But while it's delicious, let's just say that afterward we don't get along so well. Is it the egg? The cheese? I could go to the doctor and find out which and why, but the testing process is long and expensive and still might not turn up an answer. So I just end up avoiding something I love. I'm not alone: Many people end up feeling sick after eating common foods without knowing why, and often restrict their diet out of fear. FoodMarble's AIRE digestive tracker, available for pre-order starting today, gives users the power to face those fears: It's a portable diagnostic device with an app that is easy to use, affordable and doesn't require you to give up entire days to doctor's visits.
Just Eat starts delivering takeaways by autonomous robot
Just Eat has today laid claim to delivering the first takeaway meal by autonomous robot. The online ordering company has been working with Starship Technologies since July, testing the latter's "last-mile" delivery robots in Greenwich, London. But these tamperproof, pavement-pounding boxes on wheels are now in active service in the area, after the first, apparently unknowing customer successfully received their falafel and lamb cutlets from a local Turkish eatery. While customers are not be able to actively choose robot as their preferred delivery option yet, Just Eat says Greenwich "will increasingly be serviced by the technology," ahead of plans to expand the rollout (no pun intended) to more parts of London next year.
Yelp wants you to add a 'Yelfie' to your restaurant reviews
After letting its users virtually queue up for restaurants with a previous update, now Yelp wants them to put a face to the person behind each star-rating. With the service's amateur reviews shaping restaurant scenes around the globe, the influential platform's latest update allows its users to attach a selfie, or "Yelfie," as the site is unfortunately calling them, to their reviews.
Engadget giveaway: Win a Foodsniffer to check the status of your leftovers!
Many lucky people across the US today will be presented with more food than they can handle, and that means... leftovers. Whether you're an overstocked host or a guest who's lucky enough to get the tupperware treatment filled with extra uncooked ingredients, there's a chance those extra eats will drag on for days, or even weeks. As time marches on, it helps to have a second opinion on the actual freshness of those vittles. That's where Foodsniffer can help out. It's an app-connected handheld sensor that scans raw food for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are emitted from decomposing beef, poultry and fish. It can verify if food is still fresh, on its way out or definitively spoiled. Foodsniffer has provided us with three units for a trio of lucky readers this week, saving them from potential stomach trouble over dubious leftover consumption. All you need to do is head to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning! Winners: Congratulations to Dennis E. of Irvine, CA; Sidharth P. of Jersey City, NJ and Jorgen K. of Winnipeg, CA!
Walmart tries using blockchain to take unsafe food off shelves
It's scary when stores have to pull unsafe food. It can take days to pinpoint the batch or supplier that caused the problem, which could lead to people getting sick... or at best, force the store to yank more products than necessary. Walmart believes technology could offer a better way. It's trying out blockchain's distributed ledger as a means of identifying the sources of poisonous food. Digital receipts for the food identify everyone in the supply chain, ranging from the original location through to the inspectors and shipping companies. If everything passing through a specific warehouse is making people ill, Walmart can identify that troublesome food and yank it within minutes -- and there's no easy way for unscrupulous suppliers to alter the info.
Amazon Echo now talks you through 60,000 recipes
Believe it or not, there hasn't really been a comprehensive recipe skill for Amazon Echo speakers. Campbell's skill is focused on the soup brand, IFTTT integration is imperfect and Jamie Oliver's skill won't read cooking instructions aloud. Allrecipes might just save the day, though. It just launched an Alexa skill that guides you through cooking 60,000 meals -- and importantly, helps you find something to cook in the first place. You can ask what's possible with the ingredients you have on hand, find a quick-to-make dish or check on measurements.
Coke made a selfie bottle because the world surely needed one
Coca-Cola Israel has developed a gizmo that makes selfie sticks look tame and normal in comparison. The company attached a camera-equipped base to a 500 ml Coke to create what it calls the "world's first selfie bottle." It automatically takes photos when it detects a 70-degree tilt, and you can transfer photos through its USB port.
Domino's starts delivering pizza by drone, but only in New Zealand
If you measure the future in terms how pizza is delivered, the future is now: Domino's now delivers via autonomous drone. Today, the pizza chain officially launched its drone delivery service in New Zealand. The pizzaria chain has been working with Flirtey on the program for awhile now, but has only just started offering it to a select group of customers.
Soylent blames product recalls on algae
It's been a tough few weeks for Soylent. After recalling its new food bars for giving customers vomiting and diarrhea, the startup ended up pulling its famous meal-substitute powder from shelves as well. The company said a handful of powder customers were reporting similar gastrointestinal issues to those causes by the bars. The problem was affecting less than 0.1 percent of all customers, but the complaints were obviously severe enough to halt all sales of two of the company's four product lines. At the time, Soylent noted that its tests came back negative for food pathogens, toxins or outside contamination, and also said that it only affected the most recent iteration of its powder. "This possible connection allows us to narrow the field considerably given there are only a few ingredients that are specific to only our bars and Powder 1.6," it said. Well, the culprit has been found: algae.
Hydroponic gardens could end Arctic food shortages
You don't have a wide variety of food choices if you live in remote parts of the Arctic. Some consumables can take so long to arrive that they're already past their "best before" dates, and that's assuming they arrive in the first place -- shortages are considerably more common. However, Alaskan companies Native Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp and Vertical Harvest Hydroponics could make fresh greens a mainstay even in more inaccessible regions. They've developed indoor hydroponic gardens that grow vegetables like kale and lettuce in shipping containers filled with LED lights. As you don't need soil or a warm climate, you can provide tasty veggies just about anywhere you have reliable power.
Uber gets slapped with lawsuit over missing food delivery tips
A courier in New York who used to deliver food for Uber has filed a lawsuit against the company over unpaid tips, according to Buzzfeed News. In the lawsuit, he said that tips from customers never made it to him and other delivery personnel for UberRush and UberEats. Both services deliver food to your doorstep from nearby restaurants, but they still have their differences. Rush mainly operates through GrubHub's delivery service whose rates typically include online gratuity, none of which (the plaintiff said) made it to couriers' pockets.
Vinfusion wine robot blends a glass based on your taste
Take it from a former wine seller when I say that wine snobs are the worst, constantly trying to prove the the extent of their oenophilia. For everyone else, it's nothing but a wave of unnecessary intimidation thanks to the complexity and variety of wines and the potential risk of embarrassment. Cambridge Consultants feels that technology should be able to get us past that moment of panic that comes when you're asked to choose a wine. The company has created Vinfusion, a device that enables people to blend a glass of wine that's been customized to their specific requirements. Cheers!
Alton Brown's internet cooking show will be a 'Good Eats' sequel
Do you miss Alton Brown's classic cooking show Good Eats? You're about to get more of it... and then some. In a live chat with fans, Brown has revealed that his previously hinted-at internet cooking show will be a spiritual sequel to Good Eats, but without the corporate limits that kept him from cooking certain meals or exploring techniques while on TV. He may cook rabbit, for example, or work with sous vides -- those just weren't options on the Food Network, Brown says.
Terahertz scans could save male chicks from an untimely end
Chicken hatcheries often grind up male chicks as soon as they break out of their shells -- they don't produce enough meat as adults, so they're considered useless compared to the egg-laying females. It's not exactly compassionate, and it wastes money as hatcheries incubate eggs they'll never use. However, technology might just have a way to prevent such a horrifying fate. Vital Farms and Novatrans are partnering on TeraEgg, a technology that uses terahertz spectroscopy to identify the sex of a chicken well before it hatches. The technique traps and analyzes the gas emanating from the pores of eggs, identifying the sex (or infertility) within seconds. You can use it as soon as 2 days after the hen lays her eggs, or early enough that you can sell the male eggs as food.
Soylent stops powder sales after making some people sick
Crafting a powder-based drink that can replace your entire diet, it turns out, is pretty darn difficult. Following a total recall of its food bars, Soylent has slammed the brakes on its flagship powder product too. The company says "a handful" of customers, or less than 0.1 percent, have experienced "stomach-related symptoms" similar to the ones reported by its snack bar users. (Those, if you need a reminder, include vomiting, diarrhoea and severe stomach pain.) Soylent is still looking for the root of the problem. Its previous powder formula, 1.5, appeared to be fine, so the company is narrowing its search to the ingredients specific to 1.6 and the bars.
