Review: 2021 Toyota Corolla Hybrid

Text and photos by Emily Chung

My 2004 Toyota Corolla is still in great shape with over 600,000kms on it! With proper maintenance (more than the manufacturer’s recommendations – those are minimum guidelines for the purposes of their warranty), Corollas can last a long time. I wanted to see what has changed with the long running nameplate and road tested the hybrid version.

Initially introduced as a subcompact car in 1966, the Corolla has been one of Toyota’s most enduring models. 55 years later, the 2021 Toyota Corolla is now a popular compact car with modern design and technology, and has a hybrid option available.

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Google officially retires Home Max speaker

Source: Google

Google's original large smart speaker is going away. The company confirmed with Engadget that it would no longer manufacture the Home Max, and the last few units on the Google Store have already been sold. But existing users can still expect to see support for the foreseeable future. Google doesn't plan to end support for the Home Max or the original Google Home speaker. The company said, "We're committed to delivering great sound and whole home audio features across all of our Assistant-enabled products."

It makes sense for Google to halt manufacturing for its old speaker as the new Nest Audio speakers are similarly priced and deliver similar, if not, better audio quality.

Apple Fitness+ is now available

Apple Fitness+ is now available. The Apple Watch-based fitness tracking and guided exercise service offers studio-style workouts to iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV so users can work out whenever they like

Fitness+ intelligently and seamlessly incorporates key workout metrics users love from Apple Watch directly to iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV alongside inspiring workout content for an unparalleled, highly personalized, immersive experience, set to motivating music from the world’s top artists.

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Google Messages on web get emoji reactions

If you want to send emoji reactions to someone you're chatting with on Google's Messages app, it's now possible to do that, even when you're on the web. Google updated its web client to allow you to send emoji feedback. You simply need to hover over any message you want to reply to, and two new icons will appear. One with an emoji, and another is an overflow options button. 

You can choose from seven reactions: thumbs-up, heart eyes, laughing with tears, surprised, sad, angry, and thumbs-down. It works on your messages and anyone else you're talking to, including group chats. But you can only send one reaction per message. The feature is rolling out to everyone, so it should make its way to you soon.

Source: Android Police