Thank you for taking the time to read my first weekly tech news roundup. Starting today and every Friday moving forward I will do my best to keep you up to date on technology.
Let’s start with a topic that is huge on every social network but LinkedIn:
Pokemon GO
I haven’t tried Pokemon GO yet but its promise is interesting. As the first popular Augmented Reality (AR) game of its kind it forces players to travel in the real world to catch Pokemon. The game was launched last week and has broken records to become the most successful mobile app launch ever. It will be interesting to see how business can leverage it to attract or reward new customers.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Outsells iPhone 6S/6S Plus
In the 3 months period following March 1st, Samsung’s flagship model has outsold Apple’s by approximately 9.6%. A key different between both models is that the Galaxy S7 was launched in March whereas the iPhone 6S made its debut 6 months earlier. In my opinion this divide will increase in the next quarter as Samsung launches the Galaxy Note 7 and more iPhone buyers wait for the release of the iPhone 7 in September.
Tesla Autopilot: U.S. Senate has some questions for Elon Musk
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating a fatal accident that occurred in Florida two weeks ago. While it isn’t clear yet what the outcome of that investigation will be, the U.S Senate has questions for Tesla and they want answers by July 29th. Tesla is coming under fire for naming its semi-autonomous mode autopilot, as some fear it misleads drivers into believing the system is foolproof. In its defence Tesla has repeatedly stated that the system is in beta period and that drivers as asked to acknowledge this every time they turn it on. This is definitely not the last time we will hear of this.
Line: Biggest Tech IPO so Far this Year
Line’s shares (LN) started trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange. Listed at $32.84 per share for the initial public offering they are currently worth $39.76. Line is a popular messaging application in Asia. It offers all the bells and whistles of similar applications such as voice and video. The reason it stands out from the crowd is that it has found a way to add sponsored content to user’s conversation without annoying its user-base. It currently makes most of its revenue from selling in-app games and stickers.
Please let me know in the comments below if you think I missed any important news and I will make sure to cover them in next week’s post!
-Phil Alexandre