preorders
Spoot: Spotted Early keeps preorders in one place: 3 stories so far. The section currently leads with “Project ARES puts 250 real electric motorcycles on the road, not just renders”, “Lutra's new camera sees through itself so you can see your subject”, and “Apple finally lets you poke a MacBook screen and we have the video”. Two hundred and fifty real motorcycles. A camera with a hole in it. Spoot: Spotted Early New things, caught while they're still new and a little weird. Spoot finds fresh gadgets, clever inventions, crowdfunding campaigns,… The list below is every preorders story on Spoot: Spotted Early, newest first.
Project ARES puts 250 real electric motorcycles on the road, not just renders
Two hundred and fifty real motorcycles. Not renders. Not a Kickstarter that fades into vaporware. Project ARES is building them, with sculptural bodywork that looks like it was carved by someone who got tired of looking at the same plastic fairings everyone else uses. The analog-inspired experience is the detail that snags me, because electric bikes often try to be futuristic in the most boring way possible, all screens and abstraction. ARES seems to want the future to feel like something you actually hold onto. It's preparing its first production run now, which puts it ahead of most of the concepts we cover around here. If you liked the way Lutra's new camera sees through itself to find the subject, you'll probably want to watch where ARES goes next.
Lutra's new camera sees through itself so you can see your subject
A camera with a hole in it. That's the HOA A1 from Lutra, and the trick is so simple it feels like a dare. Put the lens and sensor right in the center of a big open viewfinder, and suddenly you're looking at the person you're photographing instead of a screen. Eye contact. Presence. The moment, not the playback. It's reminiscent of the Godox C100, but the A1 pushes the concept further, and I respect the stubbornness. Only 100 units exist in this First Edition, launching December 1st, and preorders haven't even opened yet. That's a whisper of a product, but whispers are how the weird stuff sneaks in. If you're tired of staring at your own thumbnails, this one's worth circling back for.
Apple finally lets you poke a MacBook screen and we have the video
The glowing Apple logo is back. That alone is enough to make a certain kind of person sit up a little straighter, but Apple also finally, *finally* let you touch a MacBook screen. The new MacBook Pro has a PROLED XDR touch display, a tandem OLED panel hitting 2,000 nits at 120Hz, with a hole-punch webcam instead of that notch. It weighs as little as three pounds. Apple CEO John Ternus teased the returning logo on X, and now there's video of the whole thing in action. It took them long enough. If you're wondering whether this is the real deal or just another iPad-with-a-keyboard situation, go watch the footage. And while you're poking around, check out our piece on the iPad Mini that shed weight, gained OLED and a whole new reason to stare.