The Morning After: Friday, April 28th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

A new Nintendo portable (don’t get too excited though), a mobile 3D printer that might be ready for your future Mars homestead, and one of Nintendo’s most influential employees is calling it a day. Plus: It’s earnings season!

Just two DsNintendo’s new 2DXL is coming July 28th

We weren’t expecting more new hardware from Nintendo, but that’s what they unveiled last night. The new 2DS XL brings the power of a 3DS XL, but without the added dimension. Easy enough to understand, right? The clamshell system will go on sale in the US July 28th for $ 150.

Perfect for DIY home building on an alien planetMIT’s mobile 3D printer built the largest structure to date

The Digital Construction Platform consists of a large hydraulic arm mounted on caterpillar treads, and it can build a 12-foot tall, 50-foot wide igloo in 13 hours, running on solar power. Don’t believe us? Just check out the video.

Yes, they have a permit.Apple’s self-driving test vehicle spotted on the streets of Silicon Valley

We’ve seen any number of test mules loaded up with LiDAR camera equipment, but yesterday one rolled out of an Apple building in California. The Lexus SUV sported some “off the shelf” equipment instead of custom designed hardware, but one way or another Project Titan is rolling out.

The Triton 700 is slightly thicker and less powerful than a Razer BladeAcer’s new Predator gaming laptop has one weird trick

Who doesn’t want a trackpad located above the keyboard?

It’s not just about making your selfies look better.Why Amazon wants to replace your mirror with a camera

Amazon believes you’ll spend $ 200 on a camera that’s both an extension of your smart home and the ultimate fashion accessory. The Echo Look is designed to help you look your best every morning, guiding and improving your style every time it’s used. But what it represents, and what Amazon gets out of it, could be a much bigger deal for the future of fashion. In short, the company hopes it’ll get some good data-based insight into how to sell you more clothes.

And the ones they do have are old and damaged.NASA is running out of functional spacewalk suits

NASA already spent over $ 200 million on developing a next-gen spacesuit, but it’s still years away from conjuring up a working unit. That’s a bigger problem than you might think because according to NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is quickly running out of (PDF) functional suits needed for spacewalks. The iconic white suits you see the ISS crew wearing today are the same units made for astronauts 40 years ago.

Data is now broadcasting.Cassini probe survives first dive between Saturn and its rings

NASA’s Cassini probe has emerged unscathed after its first dive between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft’s ground team had to spend 20 hours wondering whether the probe was doing well or whether it plunged to its death a few months too early. Thankfully, it got back in contact with NASA at 2:56AM EDT today, April 27th. By 3:01 AM, it started beaming back precious data about the planet’s atmosphere, including the unprocessed images of Saturn’s features above.

Takeda brought the world the analog stick, ‘Punch-Out’ and the Wii.Nintendo’s hardware visionary is calling it a day

Alongside yesterday’s impressive earnings report, Nintendo announced that long-serving employee Genyo Takeda is stepping down as company director this June. Holding the title of representative director and also sitting alongside Miyamoto as “Technology Fellow,” Takeda has played a key role in defining both Nintendo’s hardware and software. During his 46 year career at the Japanese games giant, Takeda’s credits include producing/directing Nintendo classics like Punch-Out!! and Pilotwings 64 plus designing the N64’s analog stick.