Daily Tech Headlines – September 28, 2016
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| Daily Tech Headlines – September 28, 2016 | |
| Number | 80 |
| Broadcast Date | SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 7:04 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Uber gets into trucking, BlackBerry stops making handsets, AI comes to Google Translate.
Headlines
- Uber-owned Otto tells Reuters it will increase its fleet from 6 to 15 trucks and have them carrying freight for customers next year. Otto is working with independent truckers to try an algorithm that matches freight with drivers and provides a more efficient route. That is a competitive business with industry heavyweights like XPO Logistics and CH Robinson already offering similar services. Some trucks will be autonomous on freeways but still need a driver and an engineer. Others will just use sophisticated navigation mapping and tracking. Otto has motor carrier permits with the US DoT and California DMV and filed for a permit to haul freight last month.
- Blackberry CEO John Chen put out a statement saying "The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners." Blackberry has named one partner so far Indonesia's BB Merah Putih. Last year, CEO John Chen said the company would need to sell 5 million phones for the handset business to be profitable. BlackBerry posted Q2 results Wednesday showing a loss of $372 million or 71 cents a share. A year ago the company had a profit of $51 million on 24 cents a share.
- Google Translate now uses a neural machine translation system in Web and mobile versions of Google Translate for translating Chinese into English. The company also published an academic paper detailing the new process. Google's researchers claim the new system reduces errors by 60%, but warned that issues may still arise with proper names, rare terms, and sentences that rely on a larger context.
- Apple said Wednesday will move its London-based headquarters to the former Battersea Power Station. The station famous to many for being on the cover of Pink Floyd's album 'Animals', was purchased in 2012 by a Malaysian consortium and is being redeveloped into offices, hotels, housing and shops. Apple will take up residence in the former central boiler house where Cybermen once had their headquarters in an episode of Doctor Who. Apple will move in 2021.
- Sources from TechCrunch confirmed a report by the Information that Facebook at Work will launch in the next few weeks. Facebook at Work will feature a "Work Feed", where employees can assign tasks and share ideas, and have familiar Group and Messenger services geared for business. Facebook will charge companies based on monthly active users of the service, rather than a flat fee, although exact pricing has not been announced.
- Reuters sources say Wal-Mart is in talks to buy a minority stake in India's largest e-commerce firm, Flipkart. The two may also team up and share expertise on retail and supply chains in India. Amazon and Snapdeal are Flipkart's largest competitors in India. India's Economic Times says a meeting is scheduled this week between Wal-Mart and Flipkart to discuss the deal. Wal-Mart agreed to purchase a 5% stake in China's JD.com earlier this year.
- Google released an update to the Google search app for iOS Tuesday that adds incognito mode. It also integrates YouTube video playback inside the app and fixed other bugs for reliability.
- The city of Moscow is looking into replacing Microsoft software as President Putin encourages state officials to reduce reliance on foreign software providers. Moscow plans to start by replacing Exchange and Outlook with email systems from state-run carrier Rostelecom PJSC.
- A new version of the Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote will go on pre-order today for $40 including a remote. In addition to voice-command capabilities the stick also gets upgraded from a dual to quad-core processor. Shipping begins October 20.
- Uber's food deliver service Uber Eats launched in its 34th city, Tokyo, on Wednesday. 150 restaurants are on board. TechInAsia notes only 16% of Japanese workers eat out with the rest bringing food from home or purchasing lunch at a convenience store. The majority of food delivery in the country is for corporations catering meetings and events.
- Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced the company plans to open hundreds of retail stores a year across China with a total of 1,000 targeted by 2020. Xiaomi has famously relied on online sales but is facing tough competition from Huawei, Oppo and Vivo in China. Xiaomi has already converted 25 of its 33 Mi Home "experience centers" to selling products.
- Home automation company Wink announced the Wink Hub 2, designed to communicate between various smart home protocols and devices. The Hub 2 supports Kidde, Lutron Clear Connect, Thread, Z-Wave, and ZigBee protocols, as well as standard Bluetooth, Wi-fi, and ethernet connections. The device will be available for $99 in late October.
- During open enrollment this fall, medical insurer Aetna will subsidize a "significant portion" of the cost of the Apple Watch for larger employers and individual customers. The company would work with employers to make monthly payroll deductions available to cover the remaining cost. Aetna employees will also receive Apple Watches as part of the company's Wellness Reimbursrement Program. Aetna will also develop health apps for iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, including Apple Wallet integration for bill pay and checking deductibles.
- VR company Occipital announced its Dev Kit is available for preorder, which the company claims allows for roomscale VR with an iPhone. The $500 kit includes a Homido 1 VR viewer, a Structure Sensor, and a 120-degree lens converter for the phone. Roomscale VR is done by scanning the room with the connected Structure Sensor. Once the phone is inserted into the VR viewer, the objects in the room will be visible as a user approaches, similar to the HTC Vive.
- The Next Web reports that Google Play Music is now available in India. Indian users can now purchase tracks to the store, as well as upload up to 50,000 of their own songs for streaming. Play Music All Access, podcasts, and family plans are currently unavailable.
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| Preceded by: "Daily Tech Headlines – September 27, 2016" |
Daily Tech Headlines – September 28, 2016 |
Followed by: "Daily Tech Headlines – September 29, 2016" |