GPUs Back in Stock-and Cheaper; iPhone 14-Selfie Cam Upgrade; Apollo May Act as Lender in Twitter Takeover Bid; Sega Super Game Project

They have been hard to find and carried premium pricing for white a while now, but at long last, Nvidia and AMD GPUs are getting back in stock, and the prices are falling. Theverge.com reports that some have dropped from $2505 last March down to $1569 now. Some were priced up double or triple list price, but the cards are down about 30% across the board in the last 3 months. Some are still commanding a $200 to $300 premium, but that’s a far cry from the last year or two. Gamers and coin miners will be looking to upgrade before long at these prices…albeit after they have recovered from the tax man’s bite! 

The rear cams on phones get all the attention and glory, but a lot of people (we all know some, LOL) shoot tons of selfies with the front cam. Now, 9o5mac.com says Ming-Chi Kuo is expecting Apple to upgrade the selfie cams on all the upcoming iPhone 14 models. Quoting Kuo: ‘The front camera of four new iPhone 14 models in 2H22 would likely upgrade to AF (autofocus) & about f/1.9 aperture (vs. iPhone 13’s FF (fixed-focus) and f/2.2). AF support and a lower f-number can provide a better shallow depth-of-field effect for selfie/portrait mode. In addition, AF can also enhance the focus effect for FaceTime/video call/live streaming.’ Translated into non-camera geek language, that means you would get better Portrait and Cinematic shots, as well as better low light selfies. I’m expecting to see a flood of new selfies from the aforementioned selfie kings and queens a month or two after the iPhone 14 models hit this September!

Reports picked up by CNBC have Apollo Global Management in discussions about financing a potential takeover of Twitter. It isn’t clear that they are interested in backing Elon Musk’s proposed deal, but might do one with another suitor. They are apparently not interested in being a piece of a private equity consortium, but would want to be involved in the form of preferred equity. Considering the poison pill Twitter put in place last week, it looks pretty likely that the board will reject Musk’s offer. 

Sega’s Super Game Project apparently has a big budget reboot of Crazy Taxi in the works…which might be out in the next 3 years. Engadget.com reports that the Super Game project involves a series of AAA titles leveraging cloud gaming and, deep sigh, NFTS. Late last year, Sega announced that it was teaming up with Microsoft’s Azure cloud division to help produce large-scale “global games.” In addition to Crazy Taxi, look for Sega to rework powered up versions of Jet Set Radio, Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter.

How Twitter’s Edit Button Might Work; MS Looks to Bring Ads to Free-to-Play Xbox Games; Apple iPhone 15 Periscope Telephoto; Developer Shortage Due to Great Resignation

A big noise made by Elon Musk as he bought stock in Twitter, then made a take over offer revolved around getting an edit button. Techcrunch.com reports that after Musk’s buy in and posting of a survey, Twitter admitted that it actually has been working on an Edit button for some time…and such a button has been a top request of users. Twitter had said that it was taking care to ensure the Edit button would not be able to be misused by bad actors looking to “alter the record of the public conversation” after the fact. Right now, the in-development button would be accessed by a three dot menu at the upper right of your tweet. From this menu today, you can do things like delete a tweet or pin it to your profile, among other things, so this would be a natural place to correct a tweet, as well. At least at this point, the button doesn’t seem to actually alter the tweet or delete it…it creates another, new tweet. This new, edited tweet would include the list of the old tweets prior to the edit. In other words, the new tweet would point to the original tweet and the edit history. Actually, to avoid a lot of misuse and abuse, it will almost have to do something like this in the finished feature. 

Oh, joy…more ads. I can hear the excitement now. (Actually, I just hear Microsoft rubbing their collective hands together over more money coming in…) Redmond is working on a deal that would ‘let brands showcase advertisements’ within free-to-play Xbox games. According to theverge.com, the ads wouldn’t be allowed to disrupt the game…you would see an ad on a billboard in a racing game, for example. It sounds a lot like product placement in movies and TV shows, which big sponsors have paid for for decades now. Think of the Coke in a movie on the table, or a brand of cars that dominate a film. Microsoft claims it doesn’t plan to take any revenue from the ads, but they will be used to attract more developers to the platform. No revenue? If you believe that, I have a big orange bridge between San Francisco and Marin County to sell you. Look for the ads by third quarter this year. 

It won’t be on the handsets this Fall, but next year’s iPhone 15 looks certain now to have a ‘periscope’ type telephoto lens, giving it a much higher optical zoom. Optical zoom gives you a much cleaner shot when zoomed in than the electronic zoom done by software. 9to5mac.com says that Apple is planning to use LG Innotek and Jahwa to supply its periscope lenses. The iPhone 13 has a 3X optical zoom, and 10X electronic zoom in. A folded periscope lens might give it 10X optical zoom, which as noted above, is much cleaner than the electronic zoom. If you use the telephoto lens as much as I do, this is welcome news. Looking forward to the iPhone 15 in 2023.

According to a new survey of 600 CIOs and IT decision makers by SalesForce’s MuleSoft, 93% of them are saying it is harder to hire skilled developers now due to the Great Resignation. Venturebeat.com notes that the survey also found 90% of organizations say empowering more individuals across the business to integrate apps and data for themselves would significantly reduce pressure on developers and accelerate transformation. As demand for faster innovation continues to rise, today’s skill shortage is piling pressure on already-stretched teams, creating the risk of developers tapping out — and leaving businesses’ infrastructure at heightened risk.

Meta AR Glasses Progress; Apple Delays AR Headset to 2023; Bosch Snaps Up Automated Driving Startup; Musk Hit With Class Action over Twitter Buy

Despite delays and the lack of a wearable, working model, Meta is racing the clock to have Augmented Reality glasses on user faces by 2024…and a lighter more advanced version by 2026, THEN a third gen set by 2028. Theverge.com reports that the driving force is Mark Zuckerberg, who envisions AR glasses as something of a Facebook ‘iPhone moment’. Meta’s CEO also sees the devices as a way to get out from under the thumbs of Apple and Google. The AR push is called Project Nazare. They are projecting initial sales of AR headsets to be in the tens of thousands, but are shooting for the tens of millions by the end of the decade. It remains to be seen if a gadget that will no doubt sell for at least a couple thousand will hit those numbers, but thousand dollar phones are pretty common, so who knows?

On the topic of one of the above mentioned companies with heavy thumbs for Meta…namely, Apple….it appears that their mixed reality headset will not be appearing too soon. 9to5mac.com notes that both Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have suggested the AR set would be out by late 2022, but a report from analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities says that the product may be delayed until the 1st quarter of 2023. It will run on an in-house designed chip, have 10 sensors, and an ‘innovative three-display configuration.’ Rumors are pointing to a wallet-crushing price of up to $3000. Apple thinks it will be able to sell a million to 1.5 million the first year. 

You may not be familiar with Robert Bosch, but if you have owned or driven a European car, you probably have been in a vehicle that uses their parts. Bosch has made fuel injection pumps and electronics for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Audi, VW, and others. Now, zdnet.com says they have picked up automated driving startup Five. Bosch plans to fold Five into its already established autonomous driving project. Bosch had recently picked up digital maps firm Atlatec, and has deals with Baidu, AutoNavi, and NavInfo to develop ‘high-precision maps.’

Its not the first time Elon Musk has gotten crosswise with the SEC over stock disclosures, but now, a class action has been filed over his late disclosure of his Twitter stock acquisition. Engadget.com reports that a Twitter shareholder has filed the suit over Musk’s 11 day delay in reporting his buy to the SEC. Under securities law, Musk was required to file paperwork with the SEC by March 24th — 10 days after his stake in Twitter grew to 5 percent — but he didn’t do so until April 4th. That delay might not sound particularly significant, but it may have netted him as much as $156 million. According to the lawsuit, those gains came at the expense of other shareholders, who were not able to similarly profit. The suit alleges that shareholders were damaged by his delay, as it ‘artificially deflated’ prices. Of course, Musk has previously laughed to fines of millions, as he is worth over $200 billion…but the time it will take to mount a defense to this case and perhaps go to court will likely have more of an effect on him than any fine could. 

Apple Watch-More Health, but Not BP Or Sugar Yet; Meta Blocking Private Home Info Sharing; Toyota’s 1st ‘Real’ EV; Honda Bets Big on EVs

Apple Watch will apparently get both temperature monitoring, and some other health features, but still won’t have blood pressure or blood glucose monitoring this Fall, according to macrumors.com. Apparently, they have been testing the BP monitor on employees, but it isn’t accurate enough. All it does is report hypertension anyway…NOT the systolic and diastolic readings. The non-invasive glucose monitoring, which would be snapped up by millions of diabetics, is still several years off it appears. Apple Watch will get new sleep, fitness, and medication management features in the next edition.

It won’t keep you from being doxxed, but at least if someone does that, they won’t be able to put it on blast on Facebook or Instagram. Mashable.com reports that Meta will block posting of ‘publicly available addresses’ by the end of this year. The policy will not only apply to home addresses, but also photos of the exteriors of private homes. An exception will remain if the property is the ‘focus of a news story,’ or for those belonging to ‘high ranking officials’ (which usually aren’t privately owned by them anyway.)

Toyota’s first battery EV will be hitting dealerships later this spring, with a just revealed price point of $42,000. Engadget.com says the upcoming bZ4X SUV will have 252 miles of range on a charge. A limited trim model will run you $46,700. The vehicle is 3.7 inches longer than a RAV4, but is a couple inches shorter, for a sleeker, more aerodynamic look. It will come with a 6.6kW adapter which will take to full charge on a level 2 charger in 9 hours. Toyota will give buyers a year of free charges at all EVgo stations in the US, too.

After steering clear of EVs for a time and just building hybrids…with really only one EV model and one hydrogen one, Honda is finally going all in on EVs. We reported earlier on their deal with GM to produce EVs on a shared platform, in addition to Honda’s own platform. Now, thenextweb.com reports that Honda will plow $40 billion into EVs, battery production, and software development. They are planning on 30 new EV models by 2030! Before that, we should see two mid-to-large SUVs, the Prologue and Acura, both hitting US roads in 2024. At first, Honda will rely on both lithium ion and solid state batteries, but will move to solid state totally before the decade ends. They are planning a solid state battery plant to be up and running by spring of 2024. 

Microsoft Targeted Messages; Apple WWDC & Mixed Reality Headset; Nissan Joins Solid State Battery Sweepstakes; Meta Turns to Qualcomm for Smart Glasses Chips

Here’s something no one asked for, that is apparently coming from Microsoft. Zdnet.com reports that they are planning to let IT administrators send targeted messages to Windows 11 desktops, right above the the taskbar! Yes, your boss and IT department can already feel your unbridled joy about this! No need to open the company email app or chat app now…you can be reached right from your desktop before you even so much as start opening apps or the browser to start your day. So…don’t forget to take that online corporate training that’s due in 2 weeks, ok? 

**A friend who is a retired engineer from IBM points out that they were doing this with messages on mainframes over 30 years ago.

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Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference will be virtual for the third year in a row starting on June 6th. Expect major iOS and watchOS upgrades, and perhaps some new Macs. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes that Apple originally had big plans to use WWDC 2022 as the launch event for its long-in-the-works mixed-reality headset. Apple will likely  announce that product at the end of this year or next year. Apparently, the beta versions of iOS 16 are jammed with references to the mixed reality headset. Apple will allow a limited number of people on campus for parts of the presentation, but the keynote and all the important presentations will again be prerecorded. 

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Nissan has unveiled a prototype production facility for solid-state batteries, a critical step in the automaker’s bid to develop and deliver an EV powered by the next-generation battery technology by 2028. According to techcrunch.com,  Nissan is aiming to incorporate all-solid-state batteries in pickup trucks and other vehicles by 2030. Solid state battery tech look to make EVs as affordable as gasoline-powered vehicles by the end of the decade. General Motors, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, VW, and Toyota are all working on solid state batteries. 

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Meta’s plan to make its own chips for its Ray Ban smart glasses has been put on ice. The Information says that the company had decided to go with an alternative chip from Qualcomm, according to two people familiar with the matter. The custom chip would power a variety of functions, such as taking high-quality photos and videos, on the glasses. Meta’s augmented reality chief, Alex Himel, decided using it could delay the glasses’ launch, originally expected for next year.

GM & Honda Partner on EVs; WWDC Announced by Apple; Comcast Rolling out 6E WiFi Routers; Germany Busts Biggest Dark Web Marketplace

General Motors and Honda have announced a partnership to co-develop affordable electric vehicles. According to techcrunch.com these vehicles should hit North America in 2027. The partnership centers around using the General Motors Ultium EV platform and both automakers’ heavy duty manufacturing capabilities. The exact terms of this partnership are not available at this time, and Honda is not specifying which vehicles will use GM’s Ultium EV platform or Honda’s own e:Architecture platform. This partnership is about scale. Together, Honda and GM have among the most robust manufacturing and distribution processes available and, depending on the exact terms, should be able to leverage these strengths to quickly and efficiently flood the market with EVs. Of great interest is their intent to get EVs out into people’s hands for $30,000 or less!

Comcast has announced that it’s starting to send out the xFi Advanced Gateway, a Wi-Fi 6E router the company announced at CES 2022, to customers that subscribe to Xfinity Internet Gigabit and Ultrafast plans. Until this point, many routers that support the new, higher bandwidth Wi-Fi standard have been far too expensive for most budgets (think $500 to $1,500, though there are now some in the $300 price range) — but Comcast’s is $14 per month, the company’s standard fee for equipment rental. Theverge.com says the new gateway includes built-in support for Zigbee, and Comcast has also said it will support Matter, a smart home standard slated to come out later this year. Comcast’s biggest pitch for the xFi Advanced Gateway is that it can handle traffic at faster-than-gigabit speeds. 

 WWDC 2022, the developer show from Apple, will start on June 6, and will again be almost entirely online. Appleinsider.com notes that the Monday keynote, when Apple usually discusses its biggest changes, will be a pre-recorded video stream, similar to the last two presentations. Though not a fully on-stage affair, expect Apple CEO Tim Cook introducing other executives to speak about Apple’s operating systems in an information-dense and slickly-produced video.After the keynote, Apple will be sharing updates via online sessions, with video presentations from key  Apple employees. In addition to the online conference, Apple will be hosting a special day for developers and students at Apple Park on June 6, to watch the keynote and the State of the Union videos. Apple will be supplying details about applying for attendance via its Apple Developer site soon.

 German federal police, working with US law enforcement have seized Hydra Market, billed as the world’s largest and longest-serving dark web marketplace. Engadget.com reports that it allegedly accounted for about 80 percent of all dark web-linked cryptocurrency transactions and had taken about $5.2 billion in crypto since 2015. It had roughly 17 million user accounts and 19,000 sellers. The seizure included both the servers and crypto wallets holding about $25 million in Bitcoin. This won’t stop dark web criminal operations, but it could disrupt them for a while, and might serve as a reminder that even the larger digital black markets can fold with little warning.

MS Integrates 365 Cloud PCs into Win 11; Starbucks Goes ‘NFT’; Amazon’s Employee Chat App Bans Words; Fox Viewers Paid to Watch CNN Revised Political Views

Microsoft introduced cloud PCs last year, which let businesses access cloud PCs from anywhere via Windows 365 to stream a version of Win 10 or 11 inside a browser. Now, theverge.com reports that Microsoft will let Windows 11 PCs boot directly to Windows 365 Cloud PCs or easily switch between them using Windows 11’s virtual desktops feature. It’s part of a hybrid work push for Windows, allowing businesses to support a mix of working remotely on traditional devices or through virtual cloud-powered ones. Microsoft is working on three new Windows 365 features that will be deeply integrated into Windows 11. Microsoft is also working on a Windows 365 offline feature, which will allow you to work locally when you don’t have connectivity to access a Cloud PC.

Now, you will not only be able to get your fancy coffee fix and your bagel, but Starbucks will also offer NFTs. According to geekwire.com, the company will be into the NFT business by the end of the year. Taco Bell and Papa Johns have also announced intentions to get into non-fungible tokens that allow people to secure unique ownership of artwork, videos, photos, and other digital content on the blockchain. If you have always wanted to own an original digital copy of something that can be copied like mad (although not your precious ‘original’ copy), and have money to burn…hey, go for it. I’m sticking with the hot beverages and a bagel!

An Orwellian twist has been spotted in Amazon’s planned worker chat app. Engadget.com says the app applies the company’s anti-union stance to language that can be used in the app. Besides blocking profanity, which is understandable, the app bars a number of ‘pro-union key words.’ Included in the ban list are “union,” it would also block terms like “compensation,” “pay raise,” “ethics” and even “robots.” The program associated with the app will reportedly launch this month. 

Researchers at University of California Berkeley and Yale paid a sample of Fox viewers to watch CNN for just 7 hours a week in September 2020. It was part of a 5 year study on the effect of partisan media on people’s political views. Yahoo.com notes that they got an interesting result…a percentage of the group that watched CNN changed their views on long COVID (5% more likely to believe), President Biden (opinion of him 10% better), and mail ballots (24% more supported.)  The control group that continued to watch Fox didn’t change opinions. The researchers wrapped up the study with this statement: “Partisan media does not only present its side an electoral advantage—it may present a challenge for democratic accountability.”

Hertz Will Buy 65,000 EVs; Musk Takes Almost 10% Piece of Twitter; Alphabet’s Wing Launching Drone Deliveries in DFW; Apple’s Phone $ubscriptions

Hertz has committed to buying 65,000 EVs from Polestar, the sub-brand from Volvo and its corporate parent Geely of China. Theverge.com reports that Hertz had earlier announced a purchase of 100,000 Teslas. The Polestar buy will run over 5 years. Hertz fields about 500,000 vehicles in its world wide fleet, so this will make about 20% of them EVs. The company has plans to electrify nearly all of its fleet. 

According to an SEC filing, Elon Musk has snapped up 9.2% of Twitter. According to electric.co, the electric vehicle and space billionaire dropped nearly $3 billion in the buy…practically pocket change for him. Most other mega billionaires have a few billion in companies besides the one they founded and became wealthy from, like Jeff Bezos of Amazon or Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (Meta.) Up to now, Musk has claimed he didn’t own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla. Since Musk recently complained about Twitter throttling free speech and threatened to launch his own social media platform, maybe this was an alternative way to push Twitter into more of his vision of free speech. With almost 10%, he could jockey for a board seat. 

Wing, a division of Alphabet, will be starting drone deliveries in Dallas Fort Worth in a matter of days (April 7th.) Engadget.com notes that Wing’s primary customer at launch is Walgreens. They will deliver health and wellness products directly to people’s homes. In addition to Walgreens, Wing will deliver Blue Bell Ice Cream, Easyvet pet prescriptions, and first aid kits from Texas Health. The Wing drones can carry a payload of around 3.3 lbs and make a round trip for deliveries of about 6 miles…so really will only be able to reach a customer under 3 miles away from the launch site. They will initially be launched from a company parking lot.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman did some calculations after word of Apple’s planned iPhone subscription service came out. The service will not only be a way for Apple to get more people to trade up to new phones a year, but will make them more money (surprise!) Right now, most people trade about every 3 years, unless they have damage. The average iPhone price is about $825 according to Counterpoint Research…which means Apple picks up about $800 per customer every 3 years. With a subscription, they might be able to pump that up to $1000 and take the old phones back to sell on the secondary market. Gurman speculates that Apple could lease you an iPhone 13 for $35 a month, garnering Cupertino $1260 over 3 years instead of $799. With a 13 Pro, that might be more like $45 a month, which means $1620 instead of $999. For the Pro Max, a $50 per month subscription would bring in $1800 to Apple instead of $1099. AND, they take back the old phone and resell that! Keep in mind that this is like a lease instead of making car payments on a loan. Leases ALWAYS cost you more. Companies that lease don’t care, because they can write off the expense….but for the average buyer, you can’t do this. Weigh the option carefully if and when (and it looks like when) subscription iPhones become available. 

DOJ Looking at Google Maps; Smartphone Demand Softening-TSMC; Apple May Enter 1st Party Financial Services; Dyson’s Wild Headphones With Air Purifier

The EU has been on Google’s case about stifling competition. Now, the US Department of Justice is getting in on the act. Arstechnica.com reports that the DOJ is looking at Google’s bundling of Android Automotive….the product that runs in cars, as opposed to the Android Auto app that runs on phones. The DOJ, like the EU, is looking at the crushing of competition from Google’s bundling of maps…which also requires the manufacturers to take the Play Store, Google Assistant, and YouTube Music. It is a bit puzzling that the DOJ hasn’t gone after the app for phones, as there are  more of those in use than the software in cars (like 2.5 billion), but hey…it’s the government, LOL! Android Automotive is only baked into about 10 vehicles so far, but will be in all 2023 Fords. The DOJ is also taking issue with how Google limits the use of Maps data for app and website developers, and how Google blocks use of Maps data use with any other mapping service. No suit has been filed by the DOJ as yet.

We reported earlier this week about Apple cutting iPhone SE production 20% just weeks after rolling out the new model. Now comes word from TSMC that demand is softening for smartphones. 9to5mac.com says that actually, Apple’s sales are doing better than any other maker, but the slowdown is primarily in China, and is being attributed to increasing chip prices and the Russian war in Ukraine. In addition to phones, PCs an TVs are seeing reduced demand, too. China is the biggest market for cell phones. Analysts at Bank of America say demand in the US for Apple’s phones is still strong. Apple has already had ‘buy now, pay later’ payment plans with no interest charged on iPhones, Watches, and computers. They are reportedly working on a hardware subscription program, where you would basically lease an iPhone for a period of time, then it would go back to Apple and you would lease a newer model. 

Apple has been working under the radar to provide first party financial services without the need for outside partners. According to appleinsider.com, the project is codenamed ‘Breakout.’ Apple wants to do their own payment processing, risk assessment, fraud analysis, credit checks, and other customer service functions. Up to now, Apple has been using Goldman Sachs for the Apple Card and its own financing programs, as well as CoreCard Corp. and Green Dot Corp. Apple would like to offer the Apple Card outside the US. 

Dyson is getting into headphones in the most Dyson way possible: the Zone, a pair of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones with air purification technology built in, thanks to a bizarre-looking magnetic face visor. It’s both the strangest and most ambitious product that the company has ever made. According to theverge.com, the visor, which looks like a modern, cleaner Bane mask from the Batman universe, doesn’t touch your face, but furnishes a layer of clean, pure air. The rather heavy headset won’t be out until fall, and no battery life figure or price yet (although considering it’s Dyson, it will be a bundle!) Tech reviewers who have had a listen say it sounds very good, but not great or better than other high end headphones. It does have noise reduction…which you need, since the purifier visor has little fans in it.

Google Building Bluetooth Tracker into Android; Messenger Gets New Shortcuts; Waymo Bringing Driverless Rides to SF; Hamburger Vending Machine in New Jersey Mall

Apple waited a while to jump into the tracker business (which Tile had championed for several years), and quickly sucked plenty of air out of that room. Now, Google is getting into Bluetooth tracking…but with a twist…building it directly into Android. 9to5google.com reports that code has been spotted that would allow for tracking. After initially only being an Apple to Apple feature, Apple pushed out ‘Tracker Direct’ last year to let Android users track AirTags, and Tile launched such a feature this month. Google is apparently baking in the feature in a yet to be released version of Android. In mid-March, a pre-release version of Android showed up with ‘unfamiliar device alerts’ and ‘Unfamiliar Tag Detected Notification.’ What Google appears to be making won’t have to be activated by the user to scan for nearby trackers…it will be on in the background. As is always true with this kind of in the weeds find in a software build, no clue as to when or if it might be released into the wild, or what other features Google might add.

Facebook’s (Meta) Messenger is picking up some new shortcuts that will let you send silent replies, or ping everybody in a group chat, like Slack allows for. According to theverge.com, those two shortcuts are available now, and there will be more unveiled in the next few weeks. For example, /pay will let you send or request money right from the Messenger chatbox on both iOS and Android. You will also be able to key in /gif and a topic and get a selection of graphics to drop into your chat. (As with everything computers, this is all relative…when I typed ‘chatbox’ above as well as just now, auto-correct helpfully changed it to ‘hatbox.’ Who the hell these days uses or needs to type hatbox?

Waymo is getting set to offer totally driverless rides in San Francisco…with NO safety driver aboard! Theverge.com says the Google (Alphabet) subsidiary is going to test the program on employees first, but will then expand to members of its ‘Trusted Tester’ program. I have always joked about being into work in San Francisco unless I get hit by a bus…now, it looks like I will have to update to being hit by a driverless car! Waymo has been running driverless rides outside Phoenix for over a year now, and is also going to add downtown Phoenix in addition to SF. Eventually, the service is expected to expand to regular humans. General Motors’ Cruise division has been running driverless car tests in San Francisco for quite a while, now. The last several years, you would have been hard-pressed to walk a block or two in SF without seeing a Waymo car, one from Cruise, or a Zoosk vehicle tooling down the street. 

It won’t do any good to yell at it if it messes up your burger order. A startup has put a hamburger vending machine in Jersey City’s Newport Centre Mall. RoboBurger says its robot burger vending machine will be the ‘biggest innovation in hot food vending since the invention of the microwave. Engadget.com reports that the contraption takes about 6 minutes to make you your burger…using a process that’s pretty much the same as a fast food restaurant’s. Automated grill fries the burger while the bun is toasted elsewhere in the 12×12 box. It supposedly will ad ketchup, cheese, etc based on what you key in when you order the sandwich. The startup says it has a built in cleaning system that meets the National Sanitary Foundation’s standards. RoboBurger says they do use grass-fed Angus beef. They plan to expand to a number of other malls and airports this year. Yum?