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The Weekly Authority: 👀 Android 14 preview lands, Bard AI fail

Plus, everything from the OnePlus event, the world's fastest shoes, and a Grammy whoops in this week's newsletter.
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Published onFebruary 11, 2023

Android 14 logo stock photo 12
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 231st edition is here with Google’s Android 14 developer preview and features, Bard AI errors, everything you missed at the OnePlus event, a Grammy whoops, and more…

🕵️‍♀️ The time has finally come for my Murder Mystery weekend away. The question is, whodunnit? More on that next week, if I survive the night…

Popular news this week

Android 14 UpsideDownCake
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

OnePlus:

Space:

Movies/TV

Gaming: 

Reviews

oneplus 11 hero
Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Features

Android 14 logo resize
Google

Weekly Wonder

Love the health benefits of walking but find yourself wishing you could get to where you need to be faster? Then you might want to pick up a pair of the world’s fastest shoes…

  • We touched on Moonwalkers back in a November edition of the Weekly Authority, when the Kickstarter for the shoes was still headed toward its goal.
  • Today we’ve got a lot more info on the speedy shoes for you…
  • Shift Robotics, based out of Pittsburgh, has invented a pair of speed-boosting shoes that let you walk up to 250% faster — and you won’t expend any extra energy.
  • Created by mechanical engineer Xunjie Zhang after he almost had an accident while commuting to work on his scooter, “Moonwalkers” are a sort of cross between shoes and motorized roller skates.
  • The shoes strap onto the bottom of whatever regular shoes you’re wearing and each shoe weighs 4.2 pounds, with a range of about six miles.
  • To activate the shoes, you just lift one of your heels and then twist it in, before setting it back down. To deactivate them (for example, if you’re climbing stairs), just lift the same heel and set it back down.
  • Each shoe has eight motorized wheels, but they’re not freerolling, so you just walk faster to accelerate and slower to decelerate.
  • At top speeds, it should take you around three feet to come to a halt, or about the same distance as when you stop jogging.
  • Sensors in each shoe collect data on your gait, and that data’s used by machine learning algorithms to control the speed at which the wheels rotate.

Just how fast are Moonwalkers?

The average person walks at around two to four miles per hour.

  • At three miles per hour, it’ll take you 20 minutes to walk one mile.
  • With Moonwalkers, you can increase your speed to seven miles per hour.
  • That means it’ll take you just 8.5 minutes to walk a mile.
  • You won’t work up a sweat, though, as it feels sort of like being on a moving sidewalk at an airport.

What about rough terrain?

The shoes are designed to handle uneven and rough terrain, too.

  • Moonwalkers can handle heavily cracked sidewalks, and uneven terrain, such as brick, cobblestone streets, and even gravel.
  • The shoes take around 1.5 hours to recharge via USB-C.
  • They best fit women with shoe sizes between 10.5 to 13.5 and men’s sizes 9 to 12, but the shoes have been beta tested with smaller and larger feet without any issues.
  • There’s also a recommend user weight limit of 220 pounds, but if you’re heavier than this, you can still use them but you may experience a shorter range and slower speeds.
  • Now, for the price. Shift is selling its Moonwalkers for $1,399 to US customers only right now, with deliveries starting in the summer.
  • Right now, you can reserve a pair with a $50 refundable deposit, and you won’t need to pay the balance until a delivery date has been announced.
  • You might want to leave your fitness tracker at home, though, as you’re not going to get accurate readings when wearing your Moonwalkers…

Tech Calendar

  • February 6-13: Steam NextFest
  • February 15 @ 2:30 PM GMT: OPPO Find N2 Flip global launch
  • February 22: PSVR 2 launch date
  • February 26: Xiaomi 13 series global launch
  • February 27: Honor Magic Vs foldable global launch
  • February 27-March 2: MWC 2023 Barcelona

Tech Tweet of the Week

can’t stop laughing at this guy announcing the Grammy win for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla pic.twitter.com/vz9bTVZFTX
— Wendell (@RhodeToLove) February 5, 2023

Something extra: In case you missed it, here’s your chance to check out Pedro Pascal as everybody’s favorite Nintendo character…

Have a great week!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.

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