Apple Plans iPhone X Cancellation

A credible Apple Source according to the Forbes article has stated that they will cancel the production of their most recent release the iPhone X. Though the iPhone X is performing at a market growth of 5%, even going against the expected 5-10% decrease in market growth. This sudden change is mostly due to lack of interest in the Chinese market. “In China big screens are king and the iPhone X’s polarising ‘notch’ is seen by Chinese consumers as removing too much usable space’. The Chinese market actually has shown a preference in the cheaper iPhone 8 Plus, mostly because of it’s size.

Apple plans to release 3 new versions inspired by the iPhone X: “a second generation 5.8-inch iPhone X, 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus and a “$650-750” 6.1-inch iPhone SE replacement which will be fitted with Face ID”. Apple is hoping that the bigger screens will do well in the Chinese market. The release of these phones is expected to be sometime in 2019.

Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/01/21/apple-iphone-x-buy-sales-specs-new-iphone-release-date/#7e628f7010cb

 

Uber-Waymo Trial Begins

The Uber-Waymo trial which has been in the making for almost a year officially started on Monday February 5th. Waymo’s lawsuit is accusing Uber of stealing their driverless car technology.

Allegedly former Google self-driving engineer Anthony Levandowsk stole thousands of documents. After “Levandowski left Google, he founded Otto, a self-driving truck startup, which was quickly acquired by Uber… Waymo’s lawyers have argued that Uber wound up with those allegedly stolen files and merely masqueraded the process as an acquisition”.

Many believe that this case should have never made it this far, but this case is slightly different. An Uber employee “accidentally CC’d Waymo on an email from one of its self-driving tech vendors. The email contained a drawing of a circuit board that looked suspiciously like one of Waymo’s designs”.  That mistake has been costly and been the catalyst in this multibillion-dollar lawsuit. “It was recently reported that Waymo sought $1.4 billion and a public apology from Uber”, but the company rejected the offer.

This lawsuit is monumental since it is putting two major tech players against each other in court. In addition this is the first big legal battle dealing with self-driving cars.


Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16955312/uber-waymo-trial-self-driving-cars-preview
Judge delays Waymo/Uber trial until December 4th

Alexa Will Now Send SMS Texts

Amazon is now allowing Alexa to send SMS text messages to any Android device. Previously Alexa was only allowed to send texts to others, via the Alexa app. But, even that feature required that other users have an Alexa as well, and they also  had to have the Alexa app downloaded on their devices.

In order to set up this new feature you “… navigate over to Conversations tab, then “Contacts,” then “My Profile,” then switch the “Send SMS” feature to on. There’s no word as to when or even if similar functionality will be available on iOS devices… Asking Alexa to send “a text”, will cause it to go straight to sending SMS messages”.

Alexa’s have become a household item, and I definitely think this new feature will be a boost to Android sales, since at the moment it exclusively for Androids. After so many people were having issues with their iPhone batteries, this new feature could be a selling point for those debating “Apple or Android”.

Source: 

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/30/16952218/amazon-alexa-sms-messaging-android-phone-update

Amazon to bring opt-in notifications to Alexa

Elon Musk’s reveals plans for Hyperloop tunnel

After much talk about potentially a New York to Washington Hyperloop tunnel, which would include stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore, Boring Company has decided to start with the California area of Culver City.

This decision is not too shocking considering Elon Musk’s, chief of Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp, idea originated after being “fed up” with LA traffic. In 2016 he tweeted that he would “build a boring tunnel machine”, and two years later he has revealed the plans for the first Boring Company’s Hyperloop tunnel system in the area, which will provide a service at “futuristic high speed”. 

Boring Company hopes that their Hyperloop tunnel idea will “alleviate soul-destroying traffic and augment public transit”. The tunnel will be a “privately funded human transportation tunnel that [will] run underneath the Westside of Los Angeles”. Although the tunnel will be owned by the company, they are not expecting any public funding, and they believe that “the cost to passengers would be comparable to, or less than existing forms of public transit in the region”.

According to a Culver City report, “The tunnel [will] contain a high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported on autonomous electric skates traveling at 125-150mph.”

Hopefully Boring Company venture is a success, and leads the way in an all new era of long distance travel.

Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology42788510
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-23/musk-s-boring-co-presents-l-a-tunnel-plan-to-culver-city

 

The Future of Transportation

The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas showcased self driving cars.  A partnership between Aptiv, Lyft and BMW was a big attraction at the show. A Lyft request offered a BMW 5 series sedan powered by the Aptiv technology to provide this unique no driver service.

The automotive technology company focused on future mobility, Aptiv, formerly known as Delphi, has made tremendous progress. “With the 2018 Aptiv autonomous-drive tools, you can see how we’re on a glide slope that would provide Level 4, possibly Level 5 autonomy sometime around 2020-2021. Level 5 is autonomous drive everywhere; Level 4 might call for driver intervention, but only with a good long warning period”.

A Time reporter described the experience. “In a half-hour ride in one of Aptiv/Lyft cars, it dealt with traffic lights, slower and faster cars nearby, lane changes, right and left turns, jaywalking pedestrians, and faded lane markings. Only once did the driver take over, and that was to steer around pylons in the middle of the road”.

Though these cars aren’t going to be hitting the market for purchase anytime soon, the future of transportation is evolving. According to Forbes, “On-demand ride services, deliveries and some commercial transportation will soon deploy autonomous vehicles; they’ll arrive courtesy of major brands like Lyft, Uber, Waymo, Toyota, Chrysler and BMW, among others”.

Sources:

Aptiv’s Self-Drive Car at CES 2018 Is Worlds Better
http://time.com/5093624/lyft-self-driving-car-ces-2018/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2018/01/10/what-i-learned-about-self-driving-cars-at-ces-psst-theyre-almost-here/#3ea2c3605176