Enlarge / SpaceX completed a wet-dress rehearsal of its Starship launch system on Monday. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX on Tuesday confirmed that it fully fueled its Starship launch system during a critical test on Monday and is now preparing to take the next step toward launch.

The company shared images and video of its fully fueled Starship upper stage and Super Heavy first stage in South Texas. The shiny, stainless steel vehicles appeared frosty as they were loaded with super-cold liquid oxygen and methane propellants.

During this "wet-dress rehearsal" test, SpaceX said it loaded more than 10 million pounds (about 460,000 kg) of propellant onboard the vehicle, which, when fully stacked, stands 120 meters tall. Essentially then, over the course of a little more than an hour, the company filled a skinny, 30-story skyscraper with combustible liquid propellants—and nothing blew up.

Enlarge / SpaceX completed a wet-dress rehearsal of its Starship launch system on Monday. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX on Tuesday confirmed that it fully fueled its Starship launch system during a critical test on Monday and is now preparing to take the next step toward launch.

The company shared images and video of its fully fueled Starship upper stage and Super Heavy first stage in South Texas. The shiny, stainless steel vehicles appeared frosty as they were loaded with super-cold liquid oxygen and methane propellants.

During this "wet-dress rehearsal" test, SpaceX said it loaded more than 10 million pounds (about 460,000 kg) of propellant onboard the vehicle, which, when fully stacked, stands 120 meters tall. Essentially then, over the course of a little more than an hour, the company filled a skinny, 30-story skyscraper with combustible liquid propellants—and nothing blew up.

Enlarge / SpaceX completed a wet-dress rehearsal of its Starship launch system on Monday. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX on Tuesday confirmed that it fully fueled its Starship launch system during a critical test on Monday and is now preparing to take the next step toward launch.

The company shared images and video of its fully fueled Starship upper stage and Super Heavy first stage in South Texas. The shiny, stainless steel vehicles appeared frosty as they were loaded with super-cold liquid oxygen and methane propellants.

During this "wet-dress rehearsal" test, SpaceX said it loaded more than 10 million pounds (about 460,000 kg) of propellant onboard the vehicle, which, when fully stacked, stands 120 meters tall. Essentially then, over the course of a little more than an hour, the company filled a skinny, 30-story skyscraper with combustible liquid propellants—and nothing blew up.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

What goes up must come down, the tech industry is feeling that law right now. From historically low PC sales to depressing waves of layoffs hitting big names like Google , Microsoft , Amazon , and HP , companies are having to readjust after getting used to business-fueling pandemic conditions like lockdowns and working from home. The latest is Logitech, one of the kings of the tech pandemic boom, which is painting us another picture of the downsides that come with those short-lived highs.

On Monday, Logitech announced its Q3 fiscal year 2023 results, which covers the three-month period ending December 31, 2022. Sales fell 22 percent compared to Q3 of the prior fiscal year. This includes drops in PC webcams (49 percent decline), audio and wearables (34 percent), mobile speakers (32 percent), keyboard and keyboard combos (22 percent), and pointing devices (14 percent). In the nine-month period ending on December 31, Logitech saw a 16 percent decline in year-over-year net sales. (This includes streaming services revenue from its Streamlabs division.)

That's quite the contrast from May, when Logitech announced record sales from April 2021 to March 31, 2022 (fiscal year 2022), and from April 2021, when the company announced a 76 percent increase in sales year-over-year from April 2020 to March 2021.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

What goes up must come down, the tech industry is feeling that law right now. From historically low PC sales to depressing waves of layoffs hitting big names like Google , Microsoft , Amazon , and HP , companies are having to readjust after getting used to business-fueling pandemic conditions like lockdowns and working from home. The latest is Logitech, one of the kings of the tech pandemic boom, which is painting us another picture of the downsides that come with those short-lived highs.

On Monday, Logitech announced its Q3 fiscal year 2023 results, which covers the three-month period ending December 31, 2022. Sales fell 22 percent compared to Q3 of the prior fiscal year. This includes drops in PC webcams (49 percent decline), audio and wearables (34 percent), mobile speakers (32 percent), keyboard and keyboard combos (22 percent), and pointing devices (14 percent). In the nine-month period ending on December 31, Logitech saw a 16 percent decline in year-over-year net sales. (This includes streaming services revenue from its Streamlabs division.)

That's quite the contrast from May, when Logitech announced record sales from April 2021 to March 31, 2022 (fiscal year 2022), and from April 2021, when the company announced a 76 percent increase in sales year-over-year from April 2020 to March 2021.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

What goes up must come down, the tech industry is feeling that law right now. From historically low PC sales to depressing waves of layoffs hitting big names like Google , Microsoft , Amazon , and HP , companies are having to readjust after getting used to business-fueling pandemic conditions like lockdowns and working from home. The latest is Logitech, one of the kings of the tech pandemic boom, which is painting us another picture of the downsides that come with those short-lived highs.

On Monday, Logitech announced its Q3 fiscal year 2023 results, which covers the three-month period ending December 31, 2022. Sales fell 22 percent compared to Q3 of the prior fiscal year. This includes drops in PC webcams (49 percent decline), audio and wearables (34 percent), mobile speakers (32 percent), keyboard and keyboard combos (22 percent), and pointing devices (14 percent). In the nine-month period ending on December 31, Logitech saw a 16 percent decline in year-over-year net sales. (This includes streaming services revenue from its Streamlabs division.)

That's quite the contrast from May, when Logitech announced record sales from April 2021 to March 31, 2022 (fiscal year 2022), and from April 2021, when the company announced a 76 percent increase in sales year-over-year from April 2020 to March 2021.

Enlarge / This hypothetical dishwasher owner is one of a minority of smart appliance customers getting the full value of their device, including timely reminders to buy more of the company's recommended dishwasher tabs and cleaning packs. (credit: Dani Serrano/Getty Images)

Appliance makers like Whirlpool and LG just can't understand. They added Wi-Fi antennae to their latest dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators and built apps for them—and yet only 50 percent or fewer of their owners have connected them. What gives?

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report (subscription usually required), is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold—things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

“The challenge is that a consumer doesn’t see the true value that manufacturers see in terms of how that data can help them in the long run. So they don’t really care for spending time to just connect it,” Henry Kim, US director of LG's smart device division ThinQ, told the Journal.

Enlarge / This hypothetical dishwasher owner is one of a minority of smart appliance customers getting the full value of their device, including timely reminders to buy more of the company's recommended dishwasher tabs and cleaning packs. (credit: Dani Serrano/Getty Images)

Appliance makers like Whirlpool and LG just can't understand. They added Wi-Fi antennae to their latest dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators and built apps for them—and yet only 50 percent or fewer of their owners have connected them. What gives?

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report (subscription usually required), is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold—things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

“The challenge is that a consumer doesn’t see the true value that manufacturers see in terms of how that data can help them in the long run. So they don’t really care for spending time to just connect it,” Henry Kim, US director of LG's smart device division ThinQ, told the Journal.

Enlarge / This hypothetical dishwasher owner is one of a minority of smart appliance customers getting the full value of their device, including timely reminders to buy more of the company's recommended dishwasher tabs and cleaning packs. (credit: Dani Serrano/Getty Images)

Appliance makers like Whirlpool and LG just can't understand. They added Wi-Fi antennae to their latest dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators and built apps for them—and yet only 50 percent or fewer of their owners have connected them. What gives?

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report (subscription usually required), is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold—things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

“The challenge is that a consumer doesn’t see the true value that manufacturers see in terms of how that data can help them in the long run. So they don’t really care for spending time to just connect it,” Henry Kim, US director of LG's smart device division ThinQ, told the Journal.