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Electric bicycle manufacturer Himiway has been riding high on its main two electric bicycle models for quite some time. Now the company says it is ready to mix it up with a slew of new e-bikes.

Himiway’s bread and butter has so far been its fat tire Cruiser e-bike and Escape moped e-bike.

Both are fast Class 3 e-bikes that can be unlocked for impressive speed and power levels rarely seen in the industry.

But with only two main e-bike styles in the lineup, Himiway is apparently planning to launch four new models with a bang during an upcoming livestream in October (date: TBD).

As Himiway’s CEO Mike Walker explained:

“We look forward to delighting both returning and new customers with our latest e-bike models. Watch our free livestream announcement from anywhere in the world this October as we showcase the Softail Supreme, Multifunctional, and Premium All-Terrain E-bikes. We will be announcing four new bikes across these three categories as an extension of our mission to revolutionize the electric bike experience for riders of all ages and fitness levels.”

himiway cruiser electric bicycle
The Himiway Cruiser is a fat tire e-bike with urban features like lights, fenders, and rear rack.

Himiway Softail Supreme E-bike

Himiway is referring to its new softail e-bike as its “most innovative e-bike yet.”

The company hasn’t released too many details other than to confirm that it will feature full-suspension with high-quality suspension components.

Himiway has also teased the price, indicating that it will fall somewhere in the $2,100 to $3,000 range.

This wouldn’t technically be Himiway’s first full-suspension e-bike, as the company’s electric moped also sports rear suspension. But that bike uses a simpler dual-coilover shock setup, while the softail e-bike Himiway is teasing is likely to be more similar to a traditional electric mountain bike.

A “multifunctional” e-bike

It’s not quite clear what Himiway means by a multifunctional e-bike, but it will likely fall somewhere in the hybrid category.

As the company explained:

“The Multifunctional E-Bike, as the name implies, will offer riders a range of uses from grocery shopping to pickups and deliveries, all the way to weekend trips with the family. E-bikes are well-known for their versatility and many people have replaced cars with an e-bike as their main mode of transportation. This makes e-bikes, such as Himiway’s, very affordable when considering the total cost of ownership. The Multifunctional E-bike will raise the bar for what it means to offer maximum utility at an affordable price.”

That might even mean that we could see a longtail cargo e-bike or a shorter utility bike. Given Himiway’s penchant for borrowing design inspiration, a RadRunner-inspired e-bike might not be out of the question.

And considering the teaser price of “$1X99,” we expect it will likely compete in the same category as popular cargo/utility e-bikes designed for value-oriented shoppers.

Premium all-terrain e-bikes

Again, Himiway is light on the details here for the company’s supposed “Premium All-terrain E-bike.” All we really know is that the company claims it will be “a blend of mountain and urban cruiser.”

We also know it will also be a sub-$2K e-bike just like the “multifunctional” line, so we’ll see what rolls out in October.

An update to the current Himiway Cruiser is a decent possibility, meaning fat tires for all-terrain riding combined with urban features like racks and lights.

Considering the company claims four new models are coming (and my PR contact mentioned an actual five models), some of these three styles are likely to have variants such as step-through frames.

The current Himiway Escape electric moped embraces Henry Ford’s “You can have any color you like as long as it’s black.”

Electrek‘s take

Himiway is taking a bit of a novel path here, dropping details about specific models and rough price ranges, yet preventing us from looking behind the curtain yet. They’re also using some odd nomenclature, but I’ll chalk that up to a PR language barrier. The company boasts a warehouse in California and an address in a business park in Vancouver, Canada. But let’s get real. That appears to be a small rented office, leaving Himiway as a primarily Chinese brand operating a direct-to-consumer model in the US.

I would have loved to see images of these new e-bike models, but Himiway isn’t ready to let us peek yet. The styles sound like a welcome addition to the lineup though, as they’ll help round out the otherwise lack of variety currently offered by the company.

As it is, Himiway already suffers from accusations that its two models are largely inspired by (if given the benefit of the doubt) or knock-offs (if not) of two other major players: Rad Power Bikes’ RadRover e-bikes and Juiced Bike’s Scorpion electric moped. Both models have since received updates, and so it’s not surprising that Himiway is also looking to update its line.

Come October we should have a much better idea of what Himiway is cooking up.


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Woman charged with fraud over ‘sale of Oasis tickets’

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Woman charged with fraud over 'sale of Oasis tickets'

A woman has been charged with fraud offences over the alleged sale of Oasis tickets.

Rosie Slater has been charged with 11 counts of fraud by false representation, Staffordshire Police said.

The 32-year-old, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, has been granted unconditional bail and is due to appear in court at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 11 December.

The charges relate to the alleged sale of Oasis tickets in May.

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It comes as ministers confirmed plans to make it illegal for tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost.

Earlier this month, pop stars including Sam Fender, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Radiohead urged the prime minister in an open letter to stand by his election promise to restrict online ticket touts.

The huge profits made by resellers were put in the spotlight last year when thousands of Oasis fans complained of ticket prices for their reunion tour, with some Wembley Stadium show tickets listed at more than £4,000.

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The Stone Roses bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield dies aged 63

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The Stone Roses bassist Gary 'Mani' Mounfield dies aged 63

The Stone Roses bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield has died at the age of 63, his family has said.

Mani’s brother, Greg, said in a post on Facebook: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother.”

“RIP RKID,” he added.

Gary "Mani" Mounfield and his wife Imelda at the world premiere of "The Stone Roses : Made Of Stone" in 2013. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Gary “Mani” Mounfield and his wife Imelda at the world premiere of “The Stone Roses : Made Of Stone” in 2013. Pic: Reuters

Formed in 1983, The Stone Roses were a mainstay of the “Madchester” scene.

Mani joined the band in 1987 and formed part of its classic line-up alongside singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire and drummer Alan ‘Reni’ Wren. He remained with the group until their split in 1996.

Mani’s death comes two years after that of his wife, Imelda Mounfield, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2020. The couple welcomed twin boys in 2012.

Ian Brown, left, with Mani, right, performing on stage during their 2012 reunion concerts in Manchester. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Ian Brown, left, with Mani, right, performing on stage during their 2012 reunion concerts in Manchester. Pic: Reuters

The Stone Roses frontman Brown shared a tribute online, writing: “REST IN PEACE MANi X.”

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Oasis singer Liam Gallagher said he was “in total shock and absolutely devastated”, describing the bassist as “my hero”.

“RIP Mani – my heartfelt condolences to his twin boys and all of his family,” wrote the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder, whose bandmate Rowetta added: “Back with your Imelda, Mani. Going to miss you so much. All my love to the boys, the family & all those who knew & loved him.”

The Charlatans frontman, Tim Burgess, shared a photo of himself with Mani, writing alongside it: “I shared this photo a week or so ago on Mani’s birthday.

“It never failed to bring a smile to my face – and that was exactly the same for the man himself.

“One of the absolute best in every way – such a beautiful friend.”

Echo & the Bunnymen vocalist Ian McCulloch said Mani was someone “who I have always loved and always will love, deeply and forever. Like a brother”.

He continued: “I am in shock to be honest. Please tell me I’m just having a bad, bad dream. My thoughts and feelings and Mani. Love to all of his family from me”.

Pic: Robert Marquardt/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Image:
Pic: Robert Marquardt/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The “Madchester” bands were known for blending indie with acid house, psychedelia, and pop.

The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut album of 1989 was a huge success, and was named the second greatest album of all time in a “Music of the Millennium” poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian, and Classic FM.

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Half of novelists fear AI will replace them entirely, survey finds

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Half of novelists fear AI will replace them entirely, survey finds

The novel has survived the industrial revolution, radio, television, and the internet. Now it’s facing artificial intelligence – and novelists are worried.

Half (51%) fear that they will be replaced by AI entirely, according to a new survey, even though for the most part they don’t use the technology themselves.

More immediately, 85% say they think their future income will be negatively impacted by AI, and 39% claim their finances have already taken a hit.

Tracy Chevalier, the bestselling author of Girl With A Pearl Earring and The Glassmaker, shares that concern.

“I worry that a book industry driven mainly by profit will be tempted to use AI more and more to generate books,” she said in response to the survey.

“If it is cheaper to produce novels using AI (no advance or royalties to pay to authors, quicker production, retainment of copyright), publishers will almost inevitably choose to publish them.

“And if they are priced cheaper than ‘human made’ books, readers are likely to buy them, the way we buy machine-made jumpers rather than the more expensive hand-knitted ones.”

Chevalier, author of the book Girl With A Pearl Earring, with the painting of the same name. Pic: AP
Image:
Chevalier, author of the book Girl With A Pearl Earring, with the painting of the same name. Pic: AP

Why authors are so worried

The University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy asked 258 published novelists and 74 industry insiders how AI is viewed and used in the world of British fiction.

Alongside existential fears about the wholesale replacement of the novel, many authors reported a loss of income from AI, which they attributed to “competition from AI-generated books and the loss of jobs which provide supplementary streams of income, such as copywriting”.

Some respondents reported finding “rip-off AI-generated imitations” of their own books, as well books “written under their name which they haven’t produced”.

Last year, the Authors Guild warned that “the growing access to AI is driving a new surge of low-quality sham ‘books’ on Amazon”, which has limited the number of publications per day on its Kindle self-publishing platform to combat the influx of AI-generated books.

The median income for a novelist is currently £7,000 and many make ends meet by doing related work, such as audiobook narration, copywriting or ghost-writing.

Read more: The author embracing AI to help write novels

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Could the AI bubble burst?

These tasks, authors feared, were already being supplanted by AI, although little evidence was provided for this claim, which was not possible to verify independently.

Copyright was also a big concern, with 59% of novelists reporting that they knew their work had been used to train AI models.

Of these, 99% said they did not give permission and 100% said they were not remunerated for this use.

Earlier this year, AI firm Anthropic agreed to pay authors $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to settle a lawsuit which claimed the company stole their work.

The judge in the US court case ruled that Anthropic had downloaded more than seven million digital copies of books it “knew had been pirated” and ordered the firm to pay authors compensation.

However, the judge sided with Anthropic over the question of copyright, saying that the AI model was doing something akin to when a human reads a book to inspire new work, rather than simply copying.

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Most novelists – 67% – never used it for creative work, although a few said they found it very useful for speeding up drafting or editing.

One case study featured in the report is Lizbeth Crawford, a novelist in multiple genres, including fantasy and romance. She describes working with AI as a writing partner, using it to spot plot holes and trim adjectives.

“Lizbeth used to write about one novel per year, but now she can do three per year, and her target is five,” notes the author of the report, Dr Clementine Collett.

Is there a role for government?

Despite this, the report’s foreword urges the government to slow down the spread of AI by strengthening copyright law to protect authors and other creatives.

The government has proposed making an exception to UK copyright law for “text and data mining”, which might make authors and other copyright holders opt out to stop their work being used to train AI models.

“That approach prioritises access to data for the world’s technology companies at the cost to the UK’s own creative industries,” writes Professor Gina Neff, executive director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy.

“It is both bad economics and a betrayal of the very cultural assets of British soft power.”

A government spokesperson said: “Throughout this process we have, and always will, put the interests of the UK’s citizens and businesses first.

“We’ve always been clear on the need to work with both the creative industries and AI sector to drive AI innovation and ensure robust protections for creators.

“We are bringing together both British and global companies, alongside voices beyond the AI and creative sectors, to ensure we can capture the broadest possible range of expert views as we consider next steps.”

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