Playstation 5 Alleged Drop Date & Price; Google Buys Pointy; RIP Win 7 & Major Win Bug; Amazon AI- Why People Buy Irrelevant Stuff

Sony showed off the Playstation 5 logo last week at CES. Now, thanks to a big leak, it looks like we have the release date and pricing info. Bgr.com reports that the leak has the PS5 bowing at a PlayStation meeting on February 5th at Sony Hall in New York City. It’s expected that the console design, controller, home screen, specs, and of course games will be shown. The rumor touts ‘little to no load times,’ ‘blazing fast downloads,’ ‘immersive controls,’ and claims Sony will use ‘It’s time to play’ as their new PS5 slogan…and may apply that tag line to the entire brand. What about the pricing?? $499 is the amount leaked. There will apparently only be a single model out at launch, and no Pro version will make it into stores in 2020. It will supposedly have 10 teraflops of GPU power, compared to 4 of the Xbox. Another rumor has a more expensive Xbox sporting 12, however. The leak claims Sony will offer full backwards compatibility with all PS4 games, which is huge. Also…saved data/ backups form PS4 games will be transferable.

Google seems to be moving in on some of Amazon’s territory, picking up Pointy…a startup that helps brick and mortar retailers to list products online (I’m just smelling a whiff of Amazon Marketplace here). According to techcrunch.com, Pointy has developed hardware and software tech to help retailers…especially those that don’t already have deep e-commerce presence…to get their inventory findable online without any extra work. Pointy is a startup out of Dublin, Ireland. It looks like for now, Google will let the company operate relatively independently. Google has partnered with them since 2018. The original Pointy hardware is only $700, and they have a free app that integrates with point of sale equipment from the likes of Clover, Square, Lightspeed, Vend, Liberty, WooPOS, BestRx, and CashRx POS, so a retailer can essentially get into their ecosystem for nothing at first. It seems pretty likely that Google will be looking to scale this up into a major presence.

You’ve probably heard the news that today is the day Microsoft ends support for venerable Windows 7. Ironically….or maybe not…security expert Brian Krebs warns that there is a nasty bug that affects not only Windows 7, but Vista as well. Pcworld.com says Microsoft may be pushing out a patch for it today. The bug allegedly concerned crypt32.dll, which controls ‘certificate and cryptographic messaging functions in the CryptoAPI.’ Infection creates the possibility of your PC allowing a piece of malware to be installed posing as a legit application.

Amazon is using AI to try to figure out why people buy products that seem irrelevant to their searches (both web and voice ones.) According venturebeat.com, the AI group has found that people are most likely to do so in a few categories…like toys and digital products…and not so much in beauty products or groceries. An interesting result so far…it turns out that people who use either very short or unusually long queries tend to be more ‘flexible’ in their purchasing decisions than people who use medium length ones. So if you go for the really short ones or long ones, you’re apparently a soft touch!

More Galaxy Leaks; 5G iPhones Set; GM May Roll Out e-Hummer; Some Walmarts Getting Inventory Robots

As we get closer to Samsung’s Unpacked event on February 11th, more keeps coming out about the next gen phones. 9to5google.com reports that the handsets will definitely be named Galaxy S20, skipping ahead a decade in numbering. Also, images leaked out over the weekend, showing the expected ‘domino bump’ on the back with the 4 cams, flash, etc. The phones won’t have the curved glass as previous models, and have a very slight bezel. The top line Galaxy S20 Ultra will be the top line, but the #2 phone…S20+ …will be the one to sport a new 12MP main cam, in addition to an ultra wide angle and telephoto zoom lens. The selfie cam will be a hole punch type, so the phones will have very slight ‘forehead’ and ‘chin’ expansions of the bezel at the top and bottom.

Noted Apple watcher and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has now said he sees 4 5G phones coming from Apple later this year, including both sub-6GHx and mmWave versions…depending on the part of the world. According to macrumors.com, the mmWave phones will be limited to the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the UK. Kuo thinks the phones will launch in the US in September as usual, but some sources say they won’t make it out until late in the 4th quarter. At any rate, don’t expect to have access to 5G service widely in 2020…the providers are building out as fast as possible, but like with LTE when it first bowed, expect your phone display to jump between 5G and LTE (or 5Ge, as AT&T has tried to re-brand it) for at least a year or two!

After killing the gas-guzzling, excess-dripping brand following their bankruptcy in 2009, GM is toying with reviving the Hummer brand. Mashable.com says the new Hummers would be all electric…starting with an e-SUV in 2022. They also are planning a full sized e-pickup. Since GM already has a number of mid-sized and small EVs in the pipeline, it’s expected that the e-Hummers will play off the original’s brand, and be full sized EVs. The new Hummer pickup is slated to be shown off by LeBron James in a Super Bowl ad next month.

While others are grappling with robots that have arms and can restock shelves, Bossa Nova is getting ready to launch a battalion of inventory robots at 1,000 US Walmart stores. According to techcrunch.com, the devices, which look like a roller suitcase with a tall, stationary raised ‘arm’, will only scan the shelves for inventory, and transmit back the info to a central computer. This will enable good ol’ humans to go out and restock the shelves with precisely what’s needed. Bay Area based Bossa Nova had previously done a test run with 350 of the devices. The rollout of 1,000 inventory bots should be in place by summer…covering about 20% of Walmart’s 5,000 US stores.

Apple’s App Store- Record 2019; Facebook & eBay Step Up Fake Review Policing; Ford Getting 2 Leg Robot for Package Delivery; BMW Shows Future AR Windshield

Apple says its App Store brought in a record $1.42 billion for developers during the Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve period…a 16% jump over last year. The amount included app sales and sales of in-app items. Cnet.com reports that on New Year’s Evey Day, Apple hit a single-day record of $386 million, a 20% boost over last year! Which apps did the best?

Top Free iPhone Apps
1 YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
2 Instagram
3 Snapchat
4 TikTok – Make Your Day
5 Messenger
6 Gmail – Email by Google
7 Netflix
8 Facebook
9 Google Maps – Transit & Food
10 Amazon – Shopping made easy
Top Paid iPhone Apps
1 Facetune
2 HotSchedules
3 Dark Sky Weather
4 The Wonder Weeks
5 AutoSleep Tracker for Watch
6 TouchRetouch
7 Procreate Pocket
8 Sky Guide
9 Toca Hair Salon 3
10 Scanner Pro: PDF Scanner App

Under pressure from the UK, Facebook and eBay have promised to do more to clean up fake reviews. According to techcrunch.com, a British consumer rights group says Facebook has removed 188 groups and 24 user accounts so far. eBay has permanently banned 140 users after the watchdog and UK’s Competition and Markets Authority pressed them. Both companies have pledged to ‘better identify, investigate and respond to’ the trade in fake reviews, and keep them off their platforms moving forward.

Ford has announced the purchase of some new two-legged robots built by Agility Robotics. Zdnet.com says the robot, named Digit, is a 5 foot tall robot with humanoid form factor. Ford plans to mate them up with self-driving delivery vehicles to handle the pesky ‘last 50 feet’ of delivery that has been a knotty problem for delivery services. Some are working on drones…like Amazon, but those have limited carrying capacity and range. Ford would like to have autonomous vehicles for commercial operation by next year. Unlike a small drone, the robot could unfold out of the back of the vehicle, pick up a package of up to 40 lbs, and put it on a doorstep. Since Digit has legs as opposed to wheels like other concept delivery robots, stairs aren’t a problem. Ford plans for the robots to be able to top of and recharge while riding from place to place in the vehicle. Lidar will spot potential obstacles for the robot, and it can radio back to the car, which can connect to a bigger computer that will send a solution. It’s doubtful this will all happen by 2021 as Ford might like, but it’s definitely on the way.

In other cool auto tech, BMW showed off a mind blowing concept…an AR windshield for the 2021 iNext. According to engadget.com, the windshield has an overlaid transparent display, that lets data be overlaid onto the road ahead. You might get descriptions and contextual info about nearby objects, buildings, and signs. It has eye tracking sensors that let the car follow your gaze, and display more data about something that has caught your attention. If you want to go deeper, you will be able to gesture towards the screen, and more info will appear. To be able to make all this happen, it will require the speed of 5G, and BMW says the 2021 iNext will be the first car to feature 5G standard.

Facebook Bans Deepfakes-But Not Other Fake Videos; Galaxy Chromebook Bows; Lenovo ThinkBook Plus; Waymo-20 Million Public Road Miles

The good news: Facebook has banned deepfakes. The bad news…they won’t ban other fake videos, NOT made with the AI used to make deepfakes. 9to5mac.com reports that the platform will at least spare us seeing the super realistic fake videos that can analyze how peoples’ faces move when they talk and mimic the movement needed for any word. Deepfakes can create fake videos from chopped up sound clips of an actual person or utilize an impressionist to create videos that are hard to tell from actual video made of the person. The tech has existed at least since 2017, when University of Washington used to to create a fake Obama speech. Because only the Deepfake AI tech videos are banned, we will still be bombarded with videos and pictures made with normal editing tools…like the fake video doctored to make Speaker Pelosi appear to slur her words that appeared earlier. Maybe more than politicians…deepfakes really freak out actors and actresses…which can be made to appear in fake porn videos doing things they would never do…at least in front of a camera.

Samsung rolled out a Galaxy Chromebook at CES. It’s a great looking machine, but at $999 starting price, pretty sky high for a Chromebook. It does come with a 13.3 inch AMOLED display, and a 10th gen Intel Core i5 processor. According to theverge.com, there’s a fingerprint sensor for unlocking, a pair of USB-C ports, and expandable storage via micro-USB. The screen rotates 360 degrees, and an S-Pen is included, which has a handy storage slot. At least for the almost thousand bucks, it’s aluminum, and not plastic. Besides the price point, this box won’t be for everyone….it comes in a bright red orange!

Lenovo showed off a number of new laptops at CES, but one was a bit of a surprise. Engadget.com notes that it’s the ThinkBook Plus. It comes with a 13.3 inch matte full HD IPS display, a single USB-C Gen 2 port, a couple standard USB ports, and and HDMI out. the rig can be spec-ed out with up to a 10th ten Core i7 processor, up to 16 gigs of RAM, and 512 gigs of storage. That’s all cool, but on top of it, there’s a 10.8 inch touch sensitive E-Ink display on the back of the screen! If you want to check an email or your calendar, you can do it without opening up your device at all (although you can’t edit the calendar or reply to email.) You can use the 2nd display to jot down notes with a stylus in OneNote. You can also talk to Alexa over the E-Ink screen. The demo version had to be touched to activate it…Lenovo says on release, you will be able to talk to Alexa as you normally would. No pricing was given at CES.

Google self-driving car division Waymo has announced that its cars have now driven over 20 million miles over public highways, and been run through tens of billions of miles in computer simulations. According to venturebeat.com, the roadway driving has mainly taken place in Novi, Michigan, Kirkland, Washington, and San Francisco. The public miles is double what Waymo had racked up just a year ago! For comparison, Yandex and Baidu both claim to have driven about a million miles each, and GM’s Cruise division says it’s on the verge of hitting a million miles a month with their autonomous test cars. Not everyone is impressed…Uber claims miles driven doesn’t mean much without context like location…a sentiment shared by the Department of Transportation. Way did pass 1500 monthly active riders in December, and has now hauled over 100,000 since launching its programs in 2017.

Samsung Unpacked Date & Rumors; Apple- 9 of Top 10 Christmastime Activations; CES Insults Own Cannabis Award Winner; Illinois Bans AI Graded Hire Videos

Samsung Unpacked will be February 11th in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Rumors have had the handsets named Galaxy S20, but until it’s known for sure, we’ll say 11 here. There are expected to be 3 S11 phones, and a foldable one with the form factor of Motorola’s Razr, not the size and shape of the Galaxy Fold. Cnet.com notes that Samsung has rolled out its phones before at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is coming up February 24th, but this gives them a head start on rivals. The new generation Galaxy phones are rumored to have 5G, a 108!! megapixel camera, 5,000 may battery, and a new form factor that resembles the Galaxy Note 10.

Apple made nearly a clean sweep of device activations for the holiday period of December 25th-31st. According to Flurry Analytics, Cupertino took 9 of the top ten spots, led by the iPhone 11. Older models…the XR, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8…took the next 3 slots, with the 11 Pro Max coming in 5th. The only non-Apple phone in the top 10 was the Xiaomi Mi 4 LTE at #10. Over the holiday period, Apple bagged 42.8% of all mobile device activations when you include iPads. Samsung held 23.5% of the market through the holidays, leaving everyone else scrapping over the remaining 33.8%

Shades of last year…CES this year awarded Keep Labs, giving them Innovation Award Honoree, but won’t let them say or display the word ‘cannabis’ on the CES show floor! Keep Labs has decided to pass on exhibiting due to having their marquee product basically banned. It is still listed on the CES website. According to techcrunch.com, last year, CES banned Honoree Innovation Award winner Lora DiCarlo, which makes sex toys. CES also withdrew the award, but after quite an uproar, restored the award and apologized. Lora DiCarlo successfully lobbied, arguing that the CES was discriminating against a product for women…and this year they will be on the show floor with 2 new products that use micro-robotics tech to mimic human touch. One gadget, Onda, is G-spot specific, and the other named Baci is designed to target the clitoris. The original Ose claims to produce a ‘blended orgasm.’ NO, you can’t try before you buy on the show floor!

As computer tech becomes more and more pervasive in hiring…software has screened resumes for a couple decades now…Illinois has moved to block a type of AI in hiring use… due to possible bias and inaccuracy. Vox.com says the type of software used by HireVue uses algorithm based analysis of recorded video interviews. The algorithm analyzes how you answered AND your facial expressions to make predictions about your fit for a position. The Illinois lawmakers considered that most facial recognition software is only 85-95% accurate, and restricted the AI. The law requires firms to explain how the AI works, and wheat ‘general types of characteristics’ it considers when evaluating candidates. The law also limits who can view the recorded video interview to those ‘who’s expertise or technology is necessary’ and requires that companies delete any video an applicant submits within a month of their request. It’s not exactly a heavy handed law, but does give applicants at least some rights when computers are involved in trying to get a job and make a living. Welcome to the future, and all hail our computer and robotic overlords….

Samsung- Zero Bezel TV Coming; Apple Gaming Computer; Uber Sues to Block Gig Workers= Employees Law; Huawei Makes $122 Billion; Musk Downplays Meetings’

We’ve seen a lot the last few years about disappearing bezels on smartphones…now Samsung may unveil a true ‘era bezel’ TV at the upcoming CES in January. Engadget.com reports that mass production on the set could start in February. Samsung may be virtually eliminating the present borders on sets 65 inch and larger. On indicator that this rumor could be accurate…Samsung has trademarked the brand name ‘Zero Bezel!’ If it happens, look for it to be on 8K TVs and for an eye watering price tag!

It’s something of a wild rumor, but Apple has been known to drop an amazing ‘one more thing’ out of the blue on the world before. Now, macrumors.com has picked up a rumor from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News that Apple will announce a high end gaming computer at WWDC this coming summer. It’s unclear whether the device would be a large screen laptop or an all in one desktop, but the price is rumored to be up to..gulp….$5000! The device would be aimed at e-sports, or competitive gaming. With the horsepower Apple has dropped into the new Mac Pro, it would certainly be easy to pull some of that into a new gaming system should Apple decide to do it. It’s a long time to June, so more could come out that might solidify or quash this rumor.

Uber and Postmates have sued California, in an attempt to block the new gig worker law going into effect. According to bloomberg.com, the suit was filed Monday in Los Angeles. The suit claims the law unfairly targets gig economy companies while favoring other industries. AB 5 is due to go into effect on January 1st, 2020. The new law contains a more straightforward test than has existed in California for determining which workers qualify for employee status and therefore the benefits that accompany those full time jobs.

Chinese electronics giant Huawei reported 2019 revenue over $122 billion, a new record high and an 18% jump from last year. Techcrunch.com says that the company is the 2nd largest smartphone maker globally, selling 240 million handsets in 2019, up from 206 million the previous year. Huawei did warn that 2020 could be more of a challenge with the US blacklist on many of its products, including back end 5G components banned for posing a threat to US national security. A number of countries have followed the US’s lead, while some…including India…have elected to use the company’s equipment.

Love or hate him, you can’t ignore Elon Musk’s success at starting a new car company from scratch that has become one of the most valuable ones in the world. The past is littered with failures at trying this. According to businessinsider.com, Musk has demanded that his employees work harder and think differently. Here are his 3 golden rules regarding better meetings:

1) No large meetings
2) If you’re not adding value to a meeting…leave
3) No frequent meetings.

Perhaps I just strongly agree with these and have done them when I was a manager of a department or a couple of small companies, but if you can, try them. Large and long boring meetings just eat up time and the souls of employees who could be doing something productive…while often serving to do no more than stroke the ego of a manager or CEO. Most meeting content can be covered in an email. Don’t hold one to ‘hold court!’

iPhone XR Bests Rivals in ’19; Pixel 4a- Hole Punch Cam; VW’s Robot EV Charger; Oculus Quest Backordered Until February; ‘Data Leak’ of IoT Gadget Maker Wyze Exposes Millions of Accounts

Apple apparently hit a home run with the iPhone XR. The lower cost, ‘semi-top line’ handset has bested competitors, and comes up the best-selling handset in the world for nearly all of 2019 according to Counterpoint Research…beating out the Samsung A10, Huawei P30, and Xiaomi Redmi 7A. Part of the draw has been Apple’s cutting the price down from $750 to $700…that appears to be a real sweet spot for the entry level ‘higher line’ phones, which mostly cluster around $1000 to $1100 now.

The latest rumor has the Google Pixel 4a launching with a hole punch selfie cam….becoming notch free. According to zdnet.com, the mid range phone will also have just a single rear cam, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is expected that Google will upgrade the rather poor battery and slower processor of the Pixel 4. The display grows from 5.6 to 5.8 inches. It may bow with a rear fingerprint scanner as opposed to a face unlock system.

One noticeable issue with electric vehicles…having to hunt for a charging station…may become less of a problem with something Volkswagen has cooked up. It’s a robot that brings a charger right to your vehicle! Geek.com notes that the in-concept robot would be a little ‘mule’ which would pull a battery wagon charger over to your car and connect, then go back and pick up another charger and take it to the next car, and so forth. It is intended primarily for parking structures. The robot is summoned via a mobile app. VW conceptualizes cars that could actually call the robot for a top off without human intervention! The chargers would be 25 Kwh and would support DC quick charging up to 50Kw. VW plans to hold off production ‘until conditions are right,’ which probably means seeing a certain penetration of EVs into the general car market.

The Oculus Quest is now sold out until mid February in the US. Venturebeat.com says Facebook’s standalone VR headset had already sold out at several online stores before Christmas…but now new orders are totally sold out for the $400+ device until around February 18th. Previously, preorders had been promised by February 1st. The standalone headset works fine in wireless mode, but if you plug into a high-end PC, you can play some of the more powerful, expansive PC VR games…including No Man’s Sky VR, Skyrim VR, and Valves Half-Live VR. By the way, Valve’s high end PC powered Index VR headset is also backorder until February. It has been available through the Steam Store, and sells as a kit for $1000.

There has been plenty written about the ease of hacking of Internet of Things devices. Usually, it’s those physical devices that give up our data, not the makers or cloud companies. Now, mashable.com reports that smart home gadget maker Wyze confirms that personal date of millions of users was left exposed on the internet for weeks…they claim due to human error. The data of 2.4 million people includes users’ emails, nicknames given to cameras, Wi-Fi names, health data like weight and gender, and information on users’ Wyze devices. The info was open to the world from December 4th to the 26th! If it’s any consolation, Wyze claims no passwords, financial information, or “government-regulated” personal information was exposed. Your home address should still be safe, even if your email address is not.

Rivian Guardian Mode EVs; TikTok Looks to Move HQ From China; GM SteeringWheel-Less Cars; IBM Developing New Battery

Electric vehicle maker Rivian has patented a so-called ‘Guardian’ mode for its upcoming SUVs. The mode would allow for transporting, for example, kids to school in a driverless EV. According to electrek.co, the passengers couldn’t open windows or doors without permission from a parent…or unbuckle a seat belt. In addition, the mode would ‘geofence’ the vehicle, and route it through a safe route. Should a child or other try to open a door, unfasten seat belt, or the like, the parent gets an SMS message. If it’s ok, the parent can approve that from their phone, or deny it. It will also send a notice that the vehicle is not moving. 

Of late, TikTok has gotten heat for its closeness to the Chinese government. Now, Businessinsider.com reports that they are looking to build a new headquarters outside of China. Some US senators have been calling for investigation of censorship by the app, and many believe it can be used as spyware by the Chinese government. TikTok parent ByteDance is looking at Singapore, London, and Dublin as possible sites for the new HQ. The company has refused to say why it wants to move, except in a statement saying “We have been very clear that the best way to compete in markets around the globe is to empower local teams… TikTok has steadily built out its management in the countries where it operates.”

GM is talking to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to test a number of self-driving vehicles on public roads. That’s happening all the time with a number of companies. The difference here? Cnet.com says GM wants the self-driving Bolt EVs running the Cruise self-driving automation to have NO steering wheel or pedals! Are you nervous yet? The NHTSA is still reviewing the request. Waymo, the division of Google Parent Alphabet that deals with self-driving vehicles, has been running some self-driving minivans in Arizona…those, however, still have steering wheels and pedals. The Waymo minivans have been running lately without safety drivers. 

Most batteries since the old lead acid and dry cells have used some sort of heavy metals. The most widely used tech today is the lithium-ion battery formulation. Now, according to zdnet.com, IBM Research says it has come up with a battery design that doesn’t use heavy metals and which can out perform lithium-ion in several ways. The tech uses a cobalt and nickel free cathode material along with a safe liquid electrolyte which has a high flash point. This combo reduces flammability in batteries, and minimizes growth of lithium metal dendrites during charging. Big Blue claims it has more sustainability and better performance. It’s also a huge deal to avoid the sourcing problems of heavy metals, the largest easily mineable supply of which is in China. A big plus…the battery can charge to 80% in less than 5 minutes!

ToTok Chat App Is Spyware; Top 2020 Smartphones Getting Longer Optical Zoom; Secret Apple Team Pursues Internet Satellites; Ludicrous Mode & Better Battery for Tesla Model 3; EV Startup Rivian Snags $1.3 Billion More Funding

There are lots of chat apps available, and some people like to check the latest. Most of the big name secure encrypted apps are pretty safe: iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, Signal, etc. If you have downloaded ToTok, though…delete it immediately! According to bgr.com, the app is named to sound a lot like the popular TikTok social network…but…the app is spyware….it tracks, ‘every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones.’ The NY Times first broke the story, and now the app has been removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The app appears to have been developed by a front company for DarkMatter, and Abu Dhabi based cyber intelligence and hacking firm that’s staffed by former NSA, military intelligence, and Emirati intelligence agents. Again– DELETE ToTalk now if you have it!

A note from well-respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says a number of top end smartphones in 2020 will feature 10x OPTICAL zoom. Optical zoom is far better than the electronic zoom most have, which smears and gives fuzzier shots, the more you zoom it. Macrumors.com reports that Kuo specifically mentions the Huawei P40 Pro phone. He doesn’t mention Apple or Samsung by name, but he does say the zoom feature will appear in more high end start phones in 2020. Personally, I use zoom much more than the ultra wide angle lenses that Apple and others have added lately, as do a number of pro photographers. Note that you see lots of giant telephoto lenses at sporting events and the like, in order to frame the action. The ultra wide lenses are great for the Grand Canyon or large buildings, but a lot of times you want to focus on specific people or action, so a 10X optical zoom will be very welcome, and perhaps a ‘killer feature’ when it gets here.

Who, besides the CEOs and stock holders would cry if it was possible to get completely around cellular providers and their service issues and high prices? Now, bloomberg.com says Apple has a small, secret team working on developing internet satellites and related wireless tech to allow users (and of course, Apple…which would reap more monthly fees) to get around cell providers entirely. They hope to deploy results within 5 years. Apple is not alone…Amazon plans to deploy some 3,000 satellites in the future.

Sometimes, we get the coolest heads up on future features and products from folks digging through existing lines of code. Mashable.com notes that a Twitter user was combing through Tesla code, and found a couple gems. The user, who goes by Green, spotted an inclusion of Ludicrous Mode for the Model 3. Ludicrous mode could give the 3 a head-snapping zero to 60 time of 2.5 seconds…up from the already crazy fast 3.2 seconds for the Performance model. Even more enticing was spotting an option for the 100kWh battery, a nice jump from the presently offered 75kWh battery in the Model 3. With software reveals, you never know when features might actually get here, but Green also noted other changes in the software that could point toward new options for Model 3 buyers. There could be new tire pressure sensors, new rim options, new options for glass roofs, and improved airflow.

Tesla is far from the only firm with EVs or working on same, although they are the most widely known right now, and have a huge fleet on the roads. EV startup Rivian has picked up another $1.3 billion in new funding for its EVs…which initially will focus on a pickup truck and an SUV. According to TechCrunch.com, the new cash is on top of $700 million from Amazon, $500 million from Ford, and $350 million from Cox Automotive. Amazon is in the mix because Rivian is working with them on all electric delivery vans, which should be a great way for Amazon to go considering all the short haul trip those delivery vehicles take during the average day. Rivian has a 2.6 million square foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill, and R&D facilities in several spots worldwide.

Apple, Google, Amazon, & Zigbee Partner- Smart Home Standards; Facebook Rules Decade With Top 4 Apps; Facebook Adding PT Fact Checkers; Virtual Buttons Could Make Next Smartphones More Waterproof

The truth of the matter is that the connected home is a mess. There are too many non-compatible systems in use, making it really hard on consumers to try to jump wholeheartedly into this area. Now, cnbc.com reports that Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance have partnered on Project Connected Home over IP, with the goal of making it easier to pull that fragmented ecosystem of connected home products together. Amazon, Google, and Apple are all hotly competing to get into your homes with more and more IOT (Internet of Things) gadgets and devices, to say nothing of the light bulbs, appliances, and all the rest. As IDC says the world market for home devices is expected to grow 23.5% year over year in 2019, the tech firms see big dollar signs if they can make everything work together, so consumers can buy devices and have them actually be ‘plug and play,’ and not have to wade through complicated setups…or worse, find out they bought a gadget that is not compatible with what they already have! If the firms can build on the Zigbee Alliance and make Amazon’s devices work with Apple HomeKit, and Google Google home, it’s a win all the way around. It should be noted that Samsung Smart Things, Philips Hue, IKEA, and others already work under the Zigbee system. the Alliance hopes to have preliminary open source materials out late next year.

Like ‘em or not, and apparently scandals or not, the decade belonged to Facebook as far as apps. According to mashable.com, App Annie has revealed the top 10 most downloaded mobile apps of the decade, and the top 4 spots belong to Facebook. they are: 1) Facebook, 2) Facebook Messenger, 3) WhatsApp, and 4) Instagram. Rounding out the top 10 apps are: 5) Snapchat, 6) Skype, 7) TikTok, 8) UC Browser, 9) YouTube, and 10) Twitter. It should be noted that Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, so they basically bought out a couple of top competitors. Still, owning the top 10 downloaded apps on Android and iOS for the decade is a pretty major accomplishment…again, particularly considering the issues with peoples’ data that have tarred the company.

In more Facebook news, the company says they will be adding part-time fact checkers to help root out misinformation. Axios notes that Facebook is starting a pilot program in the US that will leverage contracted ‘community reviewers’ to expedite its fact checking program. The fact checking partners have to be approved by Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. The reviewers are hired through a third party contractor called Appen…which already sources, vets, selects, and qualify community reviewers. Facebook is also partnering with YouGov, the global public opinion and data company, to ensure that the pool of community reviewers represents the diversity of people on Facebook.

Next year, some phones will replace buttons with ultrasonic sensors that will act as virtual buttons. According to cnet.com, phones will benefit from better waterproofing and durability. The virtual buttons will be showed off at CES next month by UltraSense. Right now, a number of handset makers have shown interest, but it’s not clear if the virtual buttons will bow on top line phones, or show up first on lower line models, where makers won’t take as much heat if they bomb. The chip that powers the ultrasonic buttons is truly tiny…about twice the size of Lincoln’s beard on an US penny! The sensors, which UltraSense calls TouchPoint, could eventually make it into numerous other uses like fridges, medical instruments, and replacing all the buttons on car steering wheels, since they can be placed under smooth, easy to clean surfaces.