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Eager customers lined up outside electronics stores in Tokyo hours in advance to collect their preordered Nintendo Switch 2 video game consoles.The much anticipated Switch 2, being released around the world Thursday, is an upgrade to its eight-year-old predecessor with new social features meant to draw players into online gaming. Nintendo is counting on the Switch 2 to boost sagging sales.In the U.S., a chaotic preorder process in April left some fans frustrated after the consoles quickly sold out.In Japan, the new consoles were sold through a competitive lottery system that Nintendo said got about 2.2 million applications.Outside the official draw, some retailers offered their own lotteries to preorder the devices.Koji Takahashi was among those who missed out on the official draw but he was selected in the second round of a lottery held by a major electronics retailer in Japan.He was first in line waiting outside the store, arriving four hours ahead of its opening. He hoped to secure a limited supply of Nintendo accessories to buy along with his preordered Switch 2.“I feel very sorry for those who weren’t successful in the lottery. But I also had tough time getting this far, so I hope they forgive me!” Takahashi said.The new console comes with a larger and higher resolution screen than its predecessor, with improved processing power, offering smoother and more vivid graphics.Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.The company has promised to roll out attractive software for the Switch 2 later this year, including “The Legend of Zelda” games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.Nintendo is capitalizing on the launch with the opening of a store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility in Orlando, Florida, both set for this month.The Switch 2’s rollout arrives at an uncertain time for much of the gaming industry due to new tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump.In the U.S., the Switch 2’s baseline launch price is $449.99significantly higher than the original Switch’s $299 price tag.U.S. preorders for the Switch 2 were delayed for several weeks so the company could assess the potential impact of tariffs. Ayaka McGill, Associated Press
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While images of wildfires capture their ferocity, data can provide insight into how bad a fire season is.Such is the case with two graphics, powered by satellite data, that showcase a Canadian wildfire season off to a wildand scarystart.Twice a day a NASA satellite sends images to the ground, giving a real-time view of where fires are burning. This is especially useful for remote areas where no sensors are stationed. As of Tuesday that satellite had picked up four times as many fire hot spots across Canada than is typical for early June. That’s more than any year since the satellite began transmitting in 2012, except 2023, according to data from Global Forest Watch.Though the satellite has recorded thousands of hot spots so far this year, that does not mean there are actually that many active fires. Each hot spot could be detected repeatedly over the course of days. And because each detection is about the size of 26 football fields, it can represent part of a much larger blaze, said James MacCarthy, wildfire research manager at Global Forest Watch.Based on data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, about 200 fires are actively burning in Canada and have consumed about 7,700 square miles (19,900 square kilometers) of terrain, most of it in the last week. [Screenshot: CIFFC] Only 2023 saw such high numbers so early in Canada’s fire season, which runs from April through October. That year wildfires burned a record 67,000 square milesmore than twice the surface area of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes.Taken together, the hot spots and acres burned mean 2025 is the second-worst start to the season in years.“A warm and dry finish to May and early June has created a significant fire season,” said Liam Buchart, a fire weather specialist with the Canadian Forest Service.The weather conditions are made more likely by climate change and encourage wildfires to start. That means even though 90% of wildfires in Manitoba this year have been human-caused, according to the provincial government, climate change helps enable their spread.“Climate change is creating the conditions that make it more likely that human-caused fires are going to spread, or even start,” MacCarthy said. “It might be a human starting it, but it’s going to spread quickly because now there’s hot and dry conditions that are occurring more frequently and more intensely than they have in the past.”The hot and dry weather is likely to to continue for at least the next week across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, according to Natural Resources Canada. The agency’s forecasts also call for “a warmer and drier than normal July and August for large portions of Canada,” Buchart said.“The remainder of the fire season looks to remain above normal, especially over the northern prairie provinces and southern British Columbia,” he said. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. M.K. Wildeman, Associated Press
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A typical EV charger in the U.S. is a bulky, 6-foot-tall box in a parking lot. In Germany, a startup is rolling out a new type of charger that looks very different: Called the Curb Charger, it fits seamlessly inside a curb at the edge of a street. The Curb Charger upgrades existing urban infrastructure and adds hardly any additional street furniture to cities, says Felix Stracke, vice president of new mobility at Rheinmetall, the company that designed the charger. (Rheinmetalls primary business is defense manufacturingthe $80 billion company is the largest arms manufacturer in Germanybut it diversified into EV charging when it saw the opportunity for growth.) For an apartment dweller who parks their car on the street, having curbside charging suddenly makes it much easier to own an EV. Instead of driving to a store and waiting while the car charges, its possible to plug in overnight or when the car would otherwise be parked for hours. It also makes slow charging feasible, which helps EV batteries last longer and is less of a strain on the grid. [Photo: Rheinmetall] Larger chargers dont necessarily fit well on a curb. On a narrow sidewalk, they can take up too much space; they’re at more risk of vandalism; they can also block views and change the visual identity of a historic neighborhood. But the scaled-down design of the new chargers is nearly invisible. That invisibility is also a challenge, since drivers can’t quickly spot a charger. But an app can be deployed to direct someone to the nearest charging point. Other companies have taken different approaches to curbside charging, including making chargers that double as streetlights or packaging them in a sleek box that looks better than a conventional charger and is easier to install. [Photo: Rheinmetall] The Curb Charger sits inside a case that’s exactly the same size as a standard German curb. (The size can be adjusted for other locations.) It’s strong enough that a heavy truck can drive over it, and its waterproof, so the system can keep working in heavy rain. Drivers activate it through an app or by scanning a QR code. It does require that drivers have their own charging cord, though that’s standard in Europe. Rheinmetall says the equipment doesn’t cost more than a conventional charging station, and the small size means that installation can be simpler and cost less. If a charger needs repair, the charging module can be swapped out, making maintenance less expensive as well. When streets have major repairs, they could potentially be rebuilt with the hollow curb cases, ready to add the charging equipment as needed. In a yearlong pilot in the city of Cologne, the chargers were used nearly 3,000 times through all weather conditions, staying online 99% of the time. Users gave them high ratings. Now, Rheinmetall is scaling up production and beginning new installations in other cities.
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