Polestar is making a production version of its ‘Beast’ performance EV

Don’t worry if you thought the Polestar 2’s performance was somehow tepid. Polestar has announced a production version of the performance-tuned “Beast” EV it showed at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Polestar 2 BST edition 270 now produces 476HP from its dual motors (up from 408HP), and you’ll also see modifications like a lowered ride height, stiffer springs, adjustable Öhlins dampers, a front strut bar and Polestar 1-influenced 21-inch wheels with custom Pirelli P Zero tires. This is a Polestar EV you can take to the track, to put it simply.

The BST edition 270 isn’t quite as capable as the Beast. You’ll have to make do with the usual four-piston Brembo brakes instead of the six-piston Akebonos from last year’s one-off model. Even so, the improved driving dynamics and 4.4-second sprint to 62MPH should make it a viable alternative to rivals like Tesla’s Model 3 Performance.

This variant will be very difficult to get. As the name implies, Polestar is making just 270 examples to sell across China, Europe and North America. You’ll have to register just to be invited to buy one; if selected, you’ll pay $75,500. Production is poised to start in the middle of the year, with deliveries starting in the fourth quarter.

The debut of this limited version makes sense. Polestar was originally Volvo’s badge for high-performance models, and it spun out from Volvo (and Volvo’s parent Geely) with a focus on speed. In that regard, the BST edition 270 is a reminder of the brand’s roots, and a hint that projects like the Polestar 3 SUV and O2 convertible concept are just extensions of that go-fast strategy.

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Amazon to pull Kindle e-readers and bookstore from China

Chinese readers are about to lose some choice in e-books. Reutersreports Amazon is pulling Kindle products from China over the course of the next two years. The company will stop offering Kindle e-readers to local retailers as of today, and plans to shutter its digital bookstore in the country on June 30th, 2023. The Kindle app will leave Chinese online stores on June 30th, 2024, and customers will have until then to download any books they’ve already purchased.

Amazon will still provide warranty service and other help for Kindle e-readers, and will accept returns for “non-quality issues” for any device bought after January 1st, 2022. Hardware, apps and books will still be usable after the 2024 cutoff.

In its notice, Amazon stressed that this didn’t represent a withdrawal from China. The company had a “long-term commitment” that included online shopping and smart home devices. Amazon also told Reuters that this wasn’t due to censorship or other government pressure, and that it occasionally “make[s] adjustments” following reviews.

Poor sales might play a role. While Amazon is a frontrunner in the e-reader and e-book markets for numerous countries, it has struggled in China as of late. The country was once the Kindle’s largest market, with internal data (obtained by Reuters) showing that it represented over 40 percent of e-reader sales in 2017. The rise of Chinese competitors like Xiaomi andTikTok parent ByteDance eroded Amazon’s share, however, and iiMedia Research analyst Zhang Yi told Nikkei that the Kindle brand is now “relatively niche” in the region. The Chinese are more likely to read with their phones, and domestic e-book services like Tencent’s China Literature dominate where the Kindle app isn’t even in the top 10.

Amazon isn’t the only American company scaling back its Chinese presence. Airbnb, LinkedIn and Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company) have either limited services or withdrawn entirely. Amazon’s exit from e-reading is one of the more prominent examples, though, and illustrates how difficult it can be for US firms to court Chinese audiences.

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Sonos’ refurbished sale includes $180 off the Arc soundbar

It’s easy to drop a lot of money on a sound system for your home, especially if you want to go all in on Sonos devices. But you can save a significant amount by going the refurbished route, and now Sonos has a bunch of refurbished speakers and soundbars on sale. Key among them is the Arc soundbar — the refurbished version is $180 cheaper than a new model, bringing it down to $719. You’ll also save $110 on a refurbished Sonos Five, paying $439 for one instead of $549 for a new unit. If you want to start off with something more basic, both the refurbished Sonos One and One SL are under $200.

Shop Sonos refurbished saleBuy Arc (refurbished) at Sonos – $719Buy Five (refurbished) at Sonos – $439

Buying refurbished can be tricky business, but Sonos’ program tests every device to ensure it’s as good as new. These gadgets come with all of the necessary accessories, manuals and replacement parts as well as the same one-year warranty as the company’s brand new products. If you’re set on outfitting your home with Sonos speakers but want to do so on a budget, opting for a few refurbished devices is a good way to get the system you want.

Unsurprisingly, the deepest discounts in Sonos’ sale are on its higher-end products. The Arc soundbar earned a score of 85 from us when it first came out thanks to its excellent sound quality, Dolby Atmos support and modern design. It was a much needed update to the Playbar that came before it, and we appreciated its touch controls, Alexa and Google Assistant support and AirPlay 2 compatibility. Aside from its scant port selection (it only has an HDMI port, an Ethernet jack and a power port), our biggest complaint was that expansion gets expensive quickly. Adding a brand new Sonos Sub alone will set you back $749 (although the refurbished models cost only $599), and each new Sonos One speaker costs $219.

The Sonos Five remains one of our favorite music-focused speakers. It also has stellar sound quality and we appreciate its simple setup process and the fact that it can be easily added to an existing Sonos setup. There’s no Bluetooth connectivity, but it has a 3.5mm audio jack for a hardwired connection and it supports WiFi, AirPlay 2 and Alexa and Google Assistant commands.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Chipotle now accepts cryptocurrency payments

You can now reportedly pay for your burritos and tacos with Bitcoin and other digital currencies, in case you don’t mind spending your coins directly instead of going through exchanges first. Flexa has announced that the Mexican fast food chain can now accept digital payments through its platform. The option is apparently available at all Chipotle locations in the US, and you can use it so long as you have a Flexa-enabled wallet app, such as Gemini and SPEDN. You simply have to fire up your app, choose Chipotle and show your phone at the cashier.

With this update, Chipotle joins the list of famous food chains that accept cryptocurrency as payment, including Starbucks and Subway. Other retailers and stores, such as Nordstrom have also started taking digital coin payments in recent years. For a while, you could even buy a Tesla with Bitcoin in the US, though the automaker ended up suspending the method, citing environmental concerns. One of the biggest issues surrounding digital currencies is how much energy they consume and how big their impact is on the environment. 

Chipotle has yet to issue an official statement about the payment option — we’ve reached out to the company for confirmation — but Flexa says it’s giving everyone 10 percent off their next purchase at the restaurant until June 30th. There’s a one transaction limit, though, and the max discount you can get is $10.

Update: Jun 2nd, 9:33am ET. Chipotle sent over a statement from Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer, which says that the chain is “constantly exploring innovation that will enhance our guest experience, and that includes now accepting digital currency payments with Flexa in Chipotle’s U.S. restaurants.” 

Toyota’s prototype ‘cartridge’ is a way to make hydrogen portable

One of the myriad issues with hydrogen as a clean energy source is infrastructure, as it’s very expensive to move around and store an extremely explosive gas. Toyota and its subsidiary Woven Planet believe they may have a solution with a new portable hydrogen cartridge prototype. The idea is that they can be filled up at a dedicated facility, transported where needed, then returned when you receive your next shipment. 

The cartridges would be relatively small at 16 inches long, 7 inches in diameter and about 11 pounds in weight. Toyota calls them “portable, affordable, and convenient energy that makes it possible to bring hydrogen to where people live, work, and play without the use of pipes.. [and] swappable for easy replacement and quick charging.” 

They could be useful for “mobility [i.e. hydrogen cars], household applications, and many future possibilities we have yet to imagine,” Toyota said. It didn’t mention any specific uses, but it said that “one hydrogen cartridge is assumed to generate enough electricity to operate a typical household microwave for approximately 3-4 hours.”

In its press release, Toyota acknowledges that most hydrogen is made from fossil fuels and so not exactly green. But it thinks that it’ll be generated with low carbon emissions in the future, and that the cartridges could help with some of the infrastructure issues. 

Toyota plans to test that theory by conducting proof of concept trials in various places, including its “human-centered smart city of the future,” Woven City in Susono City, Zhizuoka Prefecture in Japan. The company is also “working to build a comprehensive hydrogen-based supply chain aimed at expediting and simplifying production, transport, and daily usage,” it said. 

Hydrogen is an impractical fuel for automobiles, mainly due to the expense and lack of places to refuel. It’s more viable for things like trains and semi trucks, where electrification can be more of a challenge. It also holds promise for air transportation, as batteries are too heavy to be practical in that situation. However, Toyota seems to be pitching the cartridges for personal and home use, but it’s not yet clear what you’d use them for. 

Google is scrapping Assistant’s ability to set location-based reminders

For people who know it exists, the ability to set location-based reminders is one of Google Assistant’s most useful features. It lets them specify a location, so that they can get an alert when they arrive wherever it is — for instance, a user can say “Remind me to call [name of their friend] in NYC,” and Assistant will send them a notification when they step foot in the city. The bad news for those who rely on the feature to remind them to get certain things from the grocery store or to fill up their car tanks when they pass by a gas station is that it’ll soon no longer exist. In the Assistant Help page, Google added a line that says: “The option to create reminders for a certain location is going away soon.”

The company trailed behind Apple and Amazon in introducing the feature and first announced the ability to set location-based reminders via Google Home devices in 2018. As 9to5Google notes, Google has only just started notifying users who set reminders with a location attached that the feature is getting axed. It didn’t say why, though, and only recommended setting reminders at a certain time or setting routines for a location instead. For the latter, users will be able to prompt Assistant to perform a series of tasks triggered based on where they are. 

Google doesn’t have a concrete date for the feature’s removal, but 9to5Google says it could be part of the company’s efforts to make way for the long-awaited “Memory” upgrade for Assistant. It’s meant to transform the voice assistant into a handy organizer, letting users save content, images, reminders and other items in one place that has a smart search function.