1 April 2016
At SparkOptimus, we try to highlight the most important news and background stories in digital, e-commerce and retail. Here is our selection of last week’s news:
Last week was a big week in the world of the (e)automotive industry. Tesla officially released its much anticipated ‘Model 3’ to the world, hailing in a new era for the young US car maker. At $35,000 apiece, the Model 3 is set to make fully electric cars more accessible to the masses –and the masses are interested. In a mere three days after its launch, Tesla collected almost 300,000 pre-orders for the Model 3 –with many people ‘taking to the streets’ (quite literally) and waiting in line to reserve a Model 3 for a modest down payment of $1,000. Quite impressive, given the first Model 3 will only ship late 2017.
Last week was also a big week in the world of European (robot) football. Teams from all over Europe took to the pitch to battle out whose robots played the best ‘footie.’ Team The Netherlands took home the European cup (despite The Netherlands not qualifying for the ‘real’ European cup), after an exciting final against Portugal. Other robots are taking ‘putting countries on the map’ a little more seriously. Through a partnership between 3D Robotics and Sony, we will soon have advanced robot drones capable of mapping the world in 3D –useful, for say a bridge that needs checking-up or a building site that needs prospecting.
Lastly, you might soon be able to ‘visit’ friends halfway across the world using holograms; the sim card might soon become a museum piece; BlackBerry may quit the mobile industry altogether and drones (we can’t get enough of them) have made their first autonomous delivery to an unmoored cargo ship making it easier for replenish critical supplies. If you’re looking for a little more ‘human’ attention, technology also has something for that: soon you’ll never have to worry about an unanswered message again thanks to Microsoft’s self-learning (AI) chat bot…