Valued at $250 billion
Facebook is valued at over $250 billion just three years after its IPO, the fastest company to reach that benchmark in Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. It is now the ninth largest company in the S&P 500.
Audi race car drives itself
Audi presents a red RS7 that drives itself around Sonoma Raceway. Robby, as the test-car is called, uses radar, lasers and cameras to drive around the track. Audi and other automakers ultimately are banking on consumers being more interested in cars that can take over some, but not all, of the tasks of driving.
We want to produce a car that gives people the freedom to decide whether to drive yourself or have the car do it while you think of something else. These changes (to cars) won’t just arrive one day, it’ll be a step-by-step adding of functionality…The idea is to increasingly give customers less stress, and more situations in which they can relax in their car.
Rexulti approved
FDA approves H. Lundbeck A/S and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd’s anti-psychotic drug Rexulti for the treatment of schizophrenia. The approval follows the results of seven clinical trials, three of which examines its effects on schizophrenia and four of which examines its effects on major depressive disorder (MDD).
‘Prime Day’ celebrates 20 years
To celebrate 20 years since its website opened, on July 15, Amazon will have a massive sale involving one of its most successful businesses — Amazon Prime. Prime Day, will feature thousands of deals for Amazon Prime members — more deals than on popular shopping day Black Friday. Deals will be introduced throughout the day beginning at midnight, sometimes as often as every 10 minutes. Prime Day will also feature a photo contest to pair with Prime Photo, a relatively new photo-storage service. Customers can submit photos of how Prime saves them time for the chance to win a $10,000 gift card. Amazon also commissioned artists across the world to showcase #PrimeLiving. The Company may make Prime Day into an annual evnt.
Episcopalians allow gay marriage
The Episcopalian church gives its blessing to allow same-sex couples to marry in the church. Same sex weddings will be allowed after November 1st, however, in a compromise with conservatives, clergy can refuse to perform same-sex services and bishops can prohibit the ceremonies in their diocese. The denomination’s landmark vote, at the Episcopal General Convention in Salt Lake City, came 12 years after the church elected its first openly gay bishop. Priests in many dioceses have already been allowed to perform civil same-sex weddings with a modified prayer service. Church spokesperson:
We have learned to not only care for, but care about one other. That mutual care was present in the conversations we had. Some people disagreed, some people disagreed deeply, but we prayed and we listened and we came up with compromises that we believe make room and leave no one behind.
Announces free public WiFi
0 0 Daniel Xie Daniel Xie2015-07-16 18:16:322015-07-16 20:24:03Announces free public WiFiIntroduces transgender contestant
In the season 17 premiere, the show will introduce Middleton, its first ever transgender contestant.
With this game, you either go out early enough to be a hero, or stay long enough to be a villain. I’m going to be a misunderstood villain.
Launches desktop app, adds student discount
Tidal begins offering a beta desktop app for Mac and Windows users. The app will offer access to 35 million songs, 75,000 videos, gapless play, as well as support for Mac Airplay and DAC. The app will come with updated features, including a more prominent offline mode bar, concert tickets via Ticketmaster, updated search, more personalization options and a retooled menu for simplicity. The Compnay also says it will offer a discount program for students who have .edu addresses. Both of its payment plans will now be slashed in half for students.
Button reaches 1million presses
The Button has had one million different people press it in the two month and two days since its origin, which represents a little over one tenth of the total population of all Reddit accounts.
Plans HuB apartment complex
Biter plans to add a seven-story residential building with 90 one and two bedroom apartments, called called HuB Lofts, next to the HuB business incubator. The 1000 sq ft units will rent for $1600 a month and are targeted to those who work in the incubator, with 30 inquiries so far. The 5,500 sq ft ground floor of the building would be used as HuB office space. Construction is to begine by June 2106. Co-developer Brian Jones:
I look at it like an overall campus we’re creating. It’s not just an office, just apartments and they’re separate. The residential portion will be able to use office amenities, and the office will be able to use residential amenities.
Tweets link to sneak peek of online store
Clinton’s campaign offers a discount and sneak peek of her online store.
10% off and an exclusive sneak peek at the #Hillary2016 store ahead → http://t.co/nIzR7ugFyE pic.twitter.com/2V4ixGEVhn
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 26, 2015
Self-driving car test
Google will test 25 of its self-driving cars on public roads this summer. The cars will have steering wheels and brakes — not what the company envisioned a year ago– and will use the same software as Google’s Lexus RX450h sport utility vehicles, which have already self-driven about 10,000 miles a week in recent months. Convincing the public that driverless technology is safe is one of the hurdles the company must overcome. Project director:
This vehicle could go on a freeway, but when we think about introducing the technology, we want to do that very thoughtfully and very safely.
Medical marijuana delivery
Sidecar adds medical marijuana to the list of goods it will promptly deliver to customers in San Francisco. The ride-sharing service teams with Meadow, which runs a website where people can order medical marijuana from licensed dispensaries. Orders are secured in lock boxes for trips, and drivers are card-holding medical marijuana patients who are also members of local collectives shipping the pot. Sidecar:
Our vision is that one day any business will be able to take an order and get it to the customer in an hour, and Sidecar will be the service that powers this capability. The delivery of medical marijuana, with its layers of complexity, is perfect to highlight the power of our delivery.
Drone delivery patent
According to a patent that the company submitted in September 2014, Amazon’s delivery drones will be able to update their routes in real time by tracking the location of the recipient by pulling data from their smartphone, as well as talking to each other about weather and traffic conditions. Winning patent approval does not mean that the final product will be exactly as described or that it will become reality.
Ends CA water bottling
Starbucks moves water bottling for Ethos Water outside of California.
We are committed to our mission to be a globally responsible company and to support the people of the state of California as they face this unprecedented drought.
3000 apps released
App Store for Apple Watch releases 3,000 applications for travel, health, family, communication, fitness and work. It features Yelp, TripAdvisor, Fandango, Twitter and the NYTimes.
Project Fi
Google launches wireless carrier service named Project Fi.
Project Fi enables us to work in close partnership with leading carriers, hardware makers, and all of you to push the boundaries of what’s possible. By designing across hardware, software and connectivity, we can more fully explore new ways for people to connect and communicate. Two of the top mobile networks in the U.S.—Sprint and T-Mobile—are partnering with us to launch Project Fi and now you can be part of the project too.
Anti-abuse policy update
Twitter updates its abuse policy to make it tougher for trolls to flood it with threats and harassment.
We are making two policy changes, one related to prohibited content, and one about how we enforce certain policy violations. We are updating our violent threats policy so that the prohibition is not limited to direct, specific threats of violence against others but now extends to threats of violence against others or promot[ing] violence against others.
Friendlier News Feed
Facebook announce three changes to the content that is displayed in users news feed. The changes will increase the amount of content from close friends in users feed.
The first is improving the experience for people who don’t have a lot of content available to see. Previously, we had rules in place to prevent you from seeing multiple posts from the same source in a row. With this update, we are relaxing this rule…The second update tries to ensure that content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it. If you like to read news or interact with posts from pages you care about, you will still see that content in News Feed…Lastly, many people have told us they don’t enjoy seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post. This update will make these stories appear lower down in News Feed or not at all, so you are more likely to see the stuff you care about directly from friends and the pages you have liked.
600kph world record
JR Central’s Magnetic levitation train sets world speed record on its test track near Mount Fuji. The seven-car train clocks over 600kph (373mph). The service is expected to connect Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya in 40 minutes, and by 2045, maglev trains are expected to link Tokyo and Osaka in just one hour and seven minutes, slashing the journey time in half.
