New Apple iPads Bow; Google Gaming Initiative; Tesla Increases Model 3 Power Remotely; Lyft Public Offering Imminent

Apple has rolled out the expected refreshes to the iPad line. According to 9to5mac.com, there is a new iPad Mini, and a new iPad Air with a 10.5 inch screen. the Air has a thinner design and is powered by an A12 Bionic chip. The Mini keeps the 7.9 inch screen, but gets upgraded to the A12 chip. In something of a surprise, both get support for the 1st generation Apple Pencil. The Mini starts at $399 for 64 Gigs, and the Air at $499. Both can be ordered right now from Apple.

Google will be rolling out their gaming initiative March 19th, and if rumors hold, the company is planning to focus on something of a Netflix-like game streaming service. Busionessinsider.com reports that Google did a test run of what was then called ‘Project Stream’ in 2018. There may be a Google gaming console, although it doesn’t appear that it will be as powerful as the Xbox One or Playstation 4….or even an Nintendo Switch. As we reported earlier, the Google controller will have the ability to select different hardware to play on…like a TV, tablet, etc.

Tesla started remotely increasing power output of all Model 3 vehicles via an over the air software update. Electrek.co says this is in conjunction with an update Tesla had already implemented increasing Model 3 range. The power increase is about 5%, ‘improving acceleration and performance.’ In a call, Elon Musk mentioned that the company was more comfortable pushing the battery packs and and motors can be pushed to higher levels after accumulating real world street data for over a year.

Lyft apparently is shooting to go public as soon as next week. The ride hailing company plans to raise more than $2 billion in the IPO, according to engadget.com. This would put the stock at $62 to $68 per share. Like Uber, Lyft has been been burning cash..mainly due to rider and driver subsidies. The company has also been dumping cash into autonomous driving. Last August they hit 5000 paid driverless test rides in Las Vegas since early 2018.