Business -- 13 days ago
10 Things In Tech You Need To Know This Week
Words: Gentleman's Journal
As always the world of tech has been a busy one. The last seven days have seen the some of the industry’s biggest companies post their profits for the quarter, we’ve seen innovations in both car and travel, whilst Uber’s stole more than a few headlines.
Tesla Introduced Ludicrous Speed
Elon Musk has announced a new mode for the top end Model S, an upgrade called ‘Ludicrous Speed’. The acceleration boost will only be available on the P85D model and puts it a supercar worthy 0-60 in 2.8 seconds.
Apple Posted A Record Quarter, But Its Value Tanked $66bn
The world’s most valuable company set a new third quarter record on Wednesday with profits and revenues soaring to $10.7billion and $46.9bn respectively. Despite this, markets were disappointed with a expectations for the fourth quarter and a perceived overreliance on the iPhone and thus the company’s value dropped $66bn overnight.
Apple Watch Sales Topped $1 Billion
In true Oscar Wilde fashion, reports of the Apple Watch’s demise were greatly exaggerated. The smartwatch has raked in “well over” $952 million since its release according to Apple CFO Luca Maestri.
Uber’s Facing It’s Worst Case Scenario
The California Labour Commission made a ruling against Uber this week that may have to reclassify all of its drivers in the state to employees not contractors. This would seriously damage the company’s business model and could be seriously expensive.
But New York Have Backed Down On Limiting The App
The startup did get a break in New York though, as the city dropped plans to limit the number of cars the business can operate in the city. Uber has agreed to take part in a four-month study to see the impact of its cars on traffic and pollution, the city won’t then impose a limit on cars during this period.
Apple’s Car Took Another Step Forward
Apple have recruited Chrysler’s Senior Vice President, Doug Betts it was revealed week, fuelling rumours that the tech giants are working to release a car in the not-too-distant future. The project is purportedly codenamed “Project Titan”.
The World’s First Robot Run Hotel Opened
The Henn-na Hotel in Japan is the first of its kind in the world, as it’s manned almost exclusively by robots. A dinosaur in reception as well as various other androids take care of almost everything for guests, its creator is bringing the idea in to reduce labour costs.
Lexus Built The “Heartbeat Car”
The carmaker unveiled a one off custom RC F coupe that is fitted with world-first biometric tech. It reads the driver’s heartbeat and reflects the results on the car’s colour. Visualising the connection between man and machine, the electro-luminescent paint changes with the mood.
Amazon’s The World’s Most Valuable Retailer
Amazon posted a surprise profit this week and the subsequent surge in share price has pushed its value to $259bn, overtaking Walmart at $232.5bn.
Samsung Announced A Tablet Thinner Than The iPad Air
The electronics firm announced its thinnest-ever tablet: the Galaxy Tab S2. The successor to the Tab S, it’s just 5.6mm thick, 0.5mm thinner than the iPad Air 2. ?A vivid display, 8 megapixel camera, 3GB RAM, 32 or 64GB of on-board storage and an octo-core processor all feature. ?It’s due to be released in black and white this August.
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