Daily Tech Headlines – September 8, 2016
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| Daily Tech Headlines – September 8, 2016 | |
| Number | 66 |
| Broadcast Date | SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 9:51 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
New PS4s, HP Enterprise and Intel spinoffs, and oh yeah the iPhone.
Headlines
- Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4 Pro and PlayStation 4 Slim at an event in New York Wednesday. The Slim will feature the same components as the original PS4 in a thinner more energy efficient design. It will go on sale in most markets Sept 15th and retail for $299. Previously known as the PS4 Neo the PS4 Pro is beefier upgrade to the PS4 supporting 4K video and HDR. ““Our goal is to deliver high-fidelity graphical experiences,” lead architect Mark Cerny said on stage during a hardware event today. It’s got a faster CPU, a 1TB hard-drive, and an upgraded GPU. It’ll also play all old PS4 games. Sony later confirmed that all PS4 models will support HDR, via an update coming next week.
- AT&T has now exempted DirecTV streaming video app and the U-Verse App from AT&T’s mobile data caps. When the FCC approved AT&T's merger with DirecTV it prohibited AT&T from putting home internet data caps to any of its own content. AT&T argues that the clause does not apply to mobile data. When Ars Technica questioned AT&T about its decision it replied “"We are not treating our services differently from any other data. Other content providers can do the same thing through our sponsored data program." Ars Technica notes that apparently DirecTV is paying AT&T to participate in the sponsored data program.
- The Nashville Metro Council voted 32-7 for the “One Touch Make Ready” policy giving Google Fiber faster access to utility poles. The One Touch Make Ready ordinance lets single companies—like Google Fiber—"make all of the necessary wire adjustments itself without having to wait for incumbent providers" - like AT&T who’s been opposed to the measure - to send construction crews. However the Nashville Electric Service, who owns most of the poles in the area, must still review the applications and inspect the lines before work can begin.
- Bloomberg reports that Snapchat is killing off daily local stories for cities feature. In its place Snapchat is putting live videos of specific events like sporting events and holiday celebrations called “live moments”. According to people familiar with the matter 15 curators who worked on Local Story in LA and NYC will be let go.
- TechCrunch reports that US Chase Visa, and UK “Santander and TSB” cardholders can use their accounts with Android Pay. Google also said Android Pay on the mobile web will debut soon on Chrome with Groupon, 1-800-Flowers.com and a select group of there sites.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced on Wednesday that it plans to spinoff and merge its software business with Micro International PLC. In the announced deal, HP Enterprise would receive $2.5 billion in cash and $6.3 billion in Micro stock, giving HP Enterprise shareholders ownership of 50.1% of Micro. HP Enterprise said the spinoff would free the company to pursue a faster growing and higher margin direction.
- In further spinoff news, Intel announced yesterday it sold a controlling stake in its cybersecurity business to the investment firm TPG. Intel acquired the cybersecurity division in 2010 with the purchase of McAfee for $7.7 billion. In the sale, TPG will pay $1.1 billion for 51% ownership. The spun out McAfee unit will borrow funds to pay Intel a $2 billion dividend. The McAfee name will be included in the sale. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2017.
- Dell Inc announced yesterday it had completed its acquisition of EMC Corp, a $60 billion deal and the largest technology merger in history. The mergered company will be called Dell Technologies and is expected to be the world’s largest privately controlled tech company. The deal was financed by $40 billion in debt raised in partnership with the investment firm Silver Lake. The deal includes EMC's wholly owned subsidiaries including RSA Security LLC and virtualization vendor VMWare.
- Niantic announced that its wearable for Pokemon Go, the Pokemon Go Plus, will be released on September 16th, after being delayed from a prior July launch. The wearable can be worn on a user's wrist and connects over bluetooth. Users will receive vibrating notification whenever they are near a pokemon or pokestop. The device will retail for $35.
- On Wednesday Google announced a major refresh to its transparency report, originally launched in 2012. The report now includes examples of content removal requests, showing typical content in dispute and Googles response, an Explore the Data page which provides searchable lists of reporting organizations, domains, and copyright owners, as well as a better explanation of copyright notice and take down.
- Senate Bill No 995 unanimously passed the Michigan state Senate to amend the state's vehicle code to allow “the motor vehicle to be operated without any control or monitoring by a human operator.” The bill further puts liability for crashes on car manufacturers and provides for self-driving truck and car fleets for ride hailing services. The bill now advances to the House for consideration. If passed, Michigan would be the first state to approve self-driving cars on public roads outside of testing provisions.
- Mercedes Benz and drone startup Matternet debuted a jointly designed concept car called the Vision Van, showing a possible method of drone package delivery. The van works in conjunction with Matternet's M2 drone, which can carry a 4.4 pound package across 12 miles on a single charge. The drones use the van's roof as a launch and landing pad, while a mechanized shelving system loads new packages into the drones. The M2 drone is specifically designed to gather its payload and swap batteries without human intervention. Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos explained that the concept is ready for real world applications where regulation allows.
- In a blog post, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced they have sold their 10 millionth unit of their credit card sized computers. The Raspberry Pi was originally launched in February of 2012 to help promote basic computer science education in schools and developing nations.
- Well I think that's all the major news... Oh yeah, there was an Apple event yesterday. Apple unveiled the iPhone 7, Apple Watch 2 plus new updates to Apple Pay and Mario is coming to the App Store
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus:
Features a new A10 Fusion 64-bit processor quad core processor.
as rumored the headphone jack has been removed now uses lightning connection.
Apple unveiled its wireless headphones, called Airpods, uses a new W1 wireless chip, but runs on bluetooth. Always on mics for Siri control and 5hrs of battery life. Starts at $149.
The new phone has a new 12MP camera sensor, optical image stabilization, with a dual camera on the 7 plus with 2x optical zoom
The phone also features stereo speakers, and is water and dust resistant, rated at IPV67
Shipping on September 16, starting at $649 for the 32GB base model.
Apple Watch Series 2
40% faster S2 dual core processor
Upgraded GPU
50 meter water resistance
The device will be slightly thicker, and Apple announced no update on battery life
It will be available September 13 starting at $369, new ceramic versions start at $1249. Original Apple Watch renamed Series 1, gets upgraded CPU, on sale for $269.
Apple also quietly discontinued its ultra luxury Apple Edition solid gold version of the watch.
On the software front, Apple's iWork productivity suite will now feature online collaboration features.
Super Mario comes to App Store
Super Mario Run, a completely new Runner Game featuring mario, will debut on the iPhone, but will also be released for Android at a latter point.
No Price was announced, but it is confirmed it won't be subscription or free to play.
Software updates: iOS 10 and WatchOS 3 coming out on September 13th, macOS Sierra coming out September 20th.
- In a blog post, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced they have sold their 10 millionth unit of their credit card sized computers. The Raspberry Pi was originally launched in February of 2012 to help promote basic computer science education in schools and developing nations.
Links
| Preceded by: "Daily Tech Headlines – September 7, 2016" |
Daily Tech Headlines – September 8, 2016 |
Followed by: "Daily Tech Headlines – September 9, 2016" |