| Big phones have big price tags, Elon Musk's tunnel vision pays off, and Tesla's truck could go the distance. All this and more in The Daily Crunch for August 25, 2017. 1. Apple's big new iPhone could be $1k Are smartphones inevitably going to catch up with notebook computers in terms of pricing? It seems that way, as Samsung revealed its Note 8 priced at just under $1K, and rumors are that the forthcoming iPhone 8 (X or whatever it's called) will also come in at $999. That's a lot of money to spend on a device, but smartphones ARE the only computer most people want or need anymore, outside of work. That's helping justify an increase in the premium market. Also, it kind of fulfills the long-held view that Apple would move into the mid-market – except it did so by adding a new tier above the old definition of "premium." 
2. Elon Musk's tunnel digging company can dig a little further now Elon Musk's audacious plan to dig a tunnel transportation network under cities is still more dream than reality, but it just moved a step closer to becoming something concrete. The city of Hawthorne voted in a council meeting to approve Boring Co's plan to dig a two-mile test tunnel under an unoccupied part of the town near LA. As long as the Earth doesn't collapse, this could be the start of something very interesting. 3. Tesla's truck could get 200 to 300 miles of range I've seen a lot of response from trucking industry folks around this report that Tesla's all-electric semi truck will get 200 to 300 miles of range per charge. The sentiment seems to be that it'll be perfect for in-city and short haul trips, and even for some entry-level long haul, but people really want to know how long it'll take to charge up that big battery. 4. Shervin Pishevar is speaking out against Benchmark This Uber suit is definitely becoming one of the most interesting stories in Silicon Valley and VC, and now that Shervin Pishevar has waded in with a letter to the board against Benchmark, it's only getting juicier. 5. Samsung's vice chairman is headed to jail Samsung just launched what looks like a pretty great phone to what seems like good reception, but the company's vice chairman and apparent heir Jay Y. Lee is headed to jail, found guilty of charges of bribery, embezzlement, capital flight and perjury. You win some, you lose some. 6. Facebook adds new memory features Facebook definitely tries to hack engagement by applying pressure to the emotional nostalgia regions of your brain, and now it has more ways to do that with additional memory features around your previous posts or festive seasonal sharing. I'll not be emotionally blackmailed into posting, Facebook. 7. Uber rival Go-Jek nears close on $1.2 billion round If Facebook has done one really good thing for the entrepreneur community, it's loosen the pockets of VCs around competitors. Go-Jek, an Uber competitor based in Indonesia, is nearing the close of a massive $1.2 billion round, for instance. Also, TechCrunch Disrupt is right around the corner, and we'll have Human Utility Executive Director and Detroit Water Project co-founder Tiffani Ashley Bell on stage to talk about tech and social good. Meanwhile, you can donate to Human Utility and the Detroit Water Project using the link below to help do some social good yourself: 
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment