$30,000 or Less Tesla Preorders Next Month; Feds Rule Google Self-Driving Car IS Driver; Twitter Does Tweak Newsfeeds a Bit
Posted: February 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: $35, 000 EV, Google, Model 3, NHTSA, Non-chronological, Rebates, Self Driving Cars, Tesla, Twitter, While you were away Leave a commentElon Musk has announced that pre-orders for the small Tesla Model 3 will start in March, and that the car will be on the pavement by 2017. It will be priced at $35,000, but that’s before federal and state rebates. The federal rebate is $7500, Colorado adds another 6 grand, and California, Massachusetts, and Tennessee give you $2500. Bloomberg.com says the average car right now is 31 grand, so this is right in the sweet spot for mass production. It’s supposed to have a 200 mile range. Tesla can’t be late on this as with past launches…GM’s $30,000 Bolt EV with a 200 mile range will be out late this year.
While on the topic of future cars, the NHTSA has ruled that Google’s self-driving car is its own driver for regulatory purposes. This is a victory for Google, as it allows them to move forward with their self-driving vehicle design…without steering wheel, pedals, etc. Cnet.com reports that state rules will still apply regarding how the Googlemobiles can be operated on public roads.
There was a big uproar last week about Twitter changing its newsfeed to non-chronological. It was so big, the CEO had to come out and deny it. Now, according to thenextweb.com, Twitter has expanded and tweaked its ‘While you were away’ feature. If you have been gone a while, they will serve you tweets at the top of the feed based on what an algorithm determines you might be interested in. The feature will be on by default when it rolls out to everybody, but it’s opt-in…you can dismiss it, at least for the time being.
Apple Next Big Thing- VR; Your Twitter Timeline Isn’t Changing
Posted: February 8, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Augmented reality, Chronological, Dual lens camera, iPhone 7, Stanford, Twitter, Virtual Reality, VR Leave a commentEver since Steve Jobs left the mortal world, there’s been fairly continuous hand-wringing about what Apple’s going to do when they run out of his clever ideas. Now, it appears Apple’s next big thing may well be virtual reality. What could be bigger than a powerful computer in your hand? How about dropping you into a totally computer generated world of VR, or assisting you with amazing augmented reality? Business insider.com points out that Cupertino is already staffing up, and that a division has been building VR prototypes for months, and that Apple has purchased at least 4 startups in related tech. Then, there’s the fact that Apple-ites hadn’t set foot in Stanford’s VR lab for 13 years…until lately. Now, they’ve dropped in 3 times in the last 3 months. Finally, think about the dual lens camera Apple has been placing large orders for…as we’ve reported, to go into the iPhone 7. Besides shooting stills and video at the same time, and multi focus adjustable pictures, a dual lens is good for augmented reality.
After a major freakout that Twitter was going to kill the chronological timeline, CEO Jack Dorsey had to come out over the weekend and say ‘it ain’t so.’ Dorsey says such a change was never planned, and in fact Twitter hopes to make your timeline feel more…not less…live. As engadget.com notes, the chronological feed is the feature that separates Twitter from the other social networks…and despite out of order features like ‘while you were away,’ it will continue to be a firehose of breaking news and fresh information.
Periscope Live Video Tweets in Twitter Stream; Lenovo’s Moto Plans’ Musk on Apple Car
Posted: January 12, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple, Apple Car, Elon Musk, Facebook Live Video, Fingerprint sensors, Lenovo, Moto, Motorola, Periscope, Tesla, Twitter Leave a commentTwitter bought Periscope a year ago, and now the live video is available in your feed…in fact, you can broadcast live video directly into your feed without leaving the Twitter app. Businessinsider.com reports that Periscope…which only launched in March 2015…is consistently one of the top 20 social networking apps on iPhone. Twitter hopes this will help engagement, like Facebook has done with Facebook Live Video.
Lenovo is killing the Motorola name for Moto, and now, we hear that all Moto phones in 2016 will have at least 5 inch screens and fingerprint sensors. That’s according to Chen Xudong of Lenovo, in a story from 9to5google.com. For now, at least, Lenovo will use its Vibe brand for smaller and low end phones, and keep Moto as the flagship oriented line. The only down side is they plan to stop using the pure version of Android for a custom version…like almost everyone else.
Elon Musk is on a roll…in an interview yesterday covered by appleinsider.com, he says the Apple electric car is an open secret in Silicon Valley. Musk points out that they’ve hired a thousand engineers, including a number they have poached from Tesla. Musk claims that whatever Apple does automotive-wise won’t hurt Tesla. Apple now holds the domains apple.car, apple.auto, and apple.cars.
Twitter May Explode From 140 Characters to 10K, SanDisk Bows 200 Gig Wireless Flash Drive
Posted: January 6, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 140 Character limit, 200 gig, Amazon, Best Buy, blogging, SanDisk, Twitter, Wireless flash drives Leave a commentTwitter may soon drop its 140-character limit and allow users to write as much as 10,000 characters in a single tweet, according to recode.net. The plan is for the expanded tweets to appear the same way as they do now, showing just the first 140 characters, but users will be able to click on them to expand. This would be one of the biggest changes ever to Twitter’s design-in fact, it would change the entire character of the service. Some are already complaining it would basically turn Twitter into more of a blogging space. Last month, the company started testing a timeline that didn’t show tweets in the traditional reverse chronological order.
Wireless flash drives are pretty handy. I’ve been using a 32 gig one for over a year now, and it connects easily with my phone, and recharges just by plugging it into a usb drive. Now, SanDisk has rolled out a 200 gig model. If you are running out of memory on your smartphone…like the entry level iPhones with their puny 16 gigs, this may be a fix for you. Bgr.com reports that the new 200 gig model is $199.99 from Amazon, Best Buy, and SanDisk, and works with iOS, Android, Macs, and PCs.
Twitter Testing Emotion Emojis as Plus to Hearts; Uber’s Carpooling Feature for Drivers
Posted: November 16, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Commute, Destinations, Drivers, emoji, Heart, Twitter, Uber Leave a commentAs some users are still pining for the star that Twitter killed in favor of the new heart, a user has uncovered the fact that Twitter is testing out a variety of emoji you will be able to use to express your reaction to Tweets. According to thenextweb.com, the user found the emoji through a hack that opens up developer test features. Right now, clicking on one makes the floating emoji go ‘poof,’ and revert to the heart. No word from Twitter as to when the feature might be rolled out.
Uber drivers wanting a few extra bucks on their commutes to and from home — especially those who drive part-time — will be able to with the ride-hailing app’s new “destinations” feature. Theverge.com says drivers rolling in a particular direction can plug their destination into the app, and Uber’s algorithm will send them ride requests that appear along the way. Requests that would force them to deviate from their route would be filtered out. Uber says it will heighten driver flexibility, but it could have much more far-reaching consequences. 61 percent of drivers in the US have full- or part-time jobs outside Uber. If you never have to deviate from your route, suddenly anyone has the potential to be an Uber driver, regardless of employment status. It will launch in San Francisco first.
Twitter Replaces Stars with (Gasp) Hearts; Amazon Opens Physical Bookstore
Posted: November 3, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Hearts, Periscope, Physical bookstores, Stars, Twitter, Vine Leave a commentTwitter has killed the star indicating you’ve favorited something, and replaced it with a heart, denoting a ‘like.’ Thenextweb.com says Vine will also get the heart and lose stars. Twitter has tested hearts, and says the heart has similar meanings across varied cultures and languages, while the star did not. Twitter’s live streaming video Periscope was already using hearts. Look for this on twitter.com, TweetDeck….basically, everywhere but Twitter for Mac, where it will show up later in a refresh. For those who hate change…let the complaint Tweets begin!
After 20 years of systematically killing off physical bookstores, Amazon has now joined them and opened one of their own. It’s in Seattle’s University Village, and resembles a Barnes & Noble, in that it has some other items like Kindles, the Echo, Fire TV and tablets. Theverge.com reports that the books are racked face out, as opposed to spine out like at most stores. In-store prices will match online prices, and each book has its amazon.com rating and an actual customer review. Amazon says this is a permanent location, and others will follow…ironic coming from a company which caused the closure of so many physical bookstores for the last 2 decades.
ESPN Pulls Out of YouTube Due To YouTube Red Issues; World Series Updates on Facebook Messenger
Posted: October 28, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Disney, ESPN, Facebook, Messenger, MLB, Red, Twitter, World Series, YouTube Leave a commentOn the heels of YouTube’s announcement of their ad-free subscription service called Red last week, ESPN has pulled all content from YouTube. The content is still available on ESPN’s own digital properties, according to 9to5google.com. The only reason given is ‘rights and legal issues.’ It appears that ESPN can’t sign on with YouTube Red due to deals it has with other distribution partners. Since ESPN is a Disney property, it’s a good bet that YouTube can get their content back by throwing money at them.
Meanwhile, if you’re where you can’t catch world series games on the tube or radio. Facebook has started letting some Messenger users subscribe to MLB World Series news, stories, and hi lights, embedded in a one on one chat. Thenextweb.com reports that it’s a slick way for Facebook to get into Twitter’s turf. So far, it seems to be just a test feature, but if you can’t catch the game, start a chat about it with a friend, and you may see the game updates invite from Facebook Messenger.
‘Bendy’Battery & Twitter Partners on Next Dem Debate
Posted: October 26, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Band, CBS News, Democratic Debate, Flexible batteries, Samsung, Stripe, Twitter Leave a commentLike Phoebe Buffay from the old ‘Friends’ TV show, Samsung has developed a couple of batteries called Stripe and Band, that are almost ‘very bendy!’ The most flexible of the two is Stripe, which can be flexed many ways, like a fiber. Geek.com reports that Samsung suggests it can be used as a necklace, hairband, or other accessory, to provide on-demand power. It reportedly has a higher energy density than any remotely similar device. Band is specifically for smartwatches, and will increase battery life in smartwatches by at least 50%. No word on when they will hit the market yet, but look for Band on a future Samsung smartwatch soon.
In a move to capitalize on their rep at a real time source for news and commentary, Twitter is partnering with CBS news on the next Democratic presidential debate November 14th. The firehose social media site will provide CBS with real time data and insights, and bring in live reactions and questions. According to techcrunch.com, CBS will integrate this data and viewer commentary and questions into its live coverage. Look for the official hashtag #DemDebate.
Google and Twitter Partnering For Instant News Articles
Posted: September 11, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D printing, Apple, Facebook, Google, Instant news, Snapchat, Titanium, Twitter Leave a commentGoogle and Twitter are partnering on making their own version of instant news articles. Recode.net says they are teaming up with a small group of publishers, and should launch this fall…joining the likes of Facebook, Apple, and Snapchat. The plan is for either Twitter users or people using Google search who click on a link via their smartphones to see the full article pop up on screen nearly instantly, instead of having to wait several seconds. A big difference between the Google-Twitter partnership and the others is that this one is based on open source publishing tools. The articles are also cached from the publishers’ sites, not hosted by Google. An interesting twist is that it will operate without either Google or Twitter branding.
It’s both amazing and a little creepy…we are on the verge of becoming like Wolverine! After a Spanish man lost his sternum and part of his rib cage to cancer, surgeons at Salamanca University installed a 3D printed replacement out of titanium. Gizmodo.com reports the implant was made by Anatomics in Australia. This isn’t the 3D printer the geek next door has in the garage…titanium is tricky…it’s a $1.3 million electron beam Arcam 3D printer. The patient was out of the hospital after 12 days, and is recovering well…and part of him is pretty bulletproof, now!
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