Tuesday, October 31, 2017

The iPhone X review. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31 2017 By Darrell Etherington

The iPhone X is a great anniversary gift, House of Cards will come to a fraught end after season six and Waymo can do driverless without actual drivers. It's The Daily Crunch.

1. iPhone X reviewed

Listen, it's the iPhone 'Ex' regardless of what Apple says. Also, Matthew got to spend a considerable amount of time with one pre-release, and was one of a very small group of reviewers to do so.

His verdict is essentially that this is a great device, but it'll still take some getting used to when compared to the traditional iPhone design, thanks to the lack of a home button and the notch, but it's still Apple's best effort yet.

2. 'House of Cards' to end after season six

Netflix's House of Cards is crumbling down after six seasons – and the news came out hot on the heels of allegations against star Kevin Spacey regarding an incident of alleged sexual assault that occurred 31 years ago.

3. Waymo is driving people around without anyone at the wheel

For now, it's only doing this on private test roads, but I was one of the first people outside the company to get to experience driving in a Waymo vehicle without a safety driver – the drive went perfectly well, and got me excited for a future where you can sit back and relax while the vehicle handles all the driving. Waymo is now focused on figuring out how best to deploy that future, too.

4. Samsung has another record quarter – and it has components to thank

Samsung posted record profit for its most recent quarter, and also changed up its leadership with three new CEOs to replace its three existing CEOs. Trouble at the top doesn't appear to be impacting business, however.

5. Square hopes to Register with merchants with latest product

Square has new pro register hardware that's designed to appeal to larger merchants who thought the prior approach of using a square stand combined with an iPad was maybe a little amateur looking. This incorporates a customer facing and retail employee facing display, and definitely seems to feel a bit less 'mom and pop.'

6. Amazon's new Kindle is a winner

The Kindle is still Amazon's best product line, I will stubbornly believe forever – and the Oasis sits atop that line like a glorious beacon. The new one is apparently even better, and I'm getting my hands on one soon to verify Brian's impressions.

7. Microsoft is launching an LTE Surface Pro in December

Microsoft promised an LTE version of its Surface Pro was on the way, and now we know when it'll arrive: December. This should make one of the most convenient travel computers even more so. Apple, take a hint here and finally put LTE in the MacBook.

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Monday, October 30, 2017

iPhone 8 buoys Apple in China. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30 2017 By Darrell Etherington

iPhone 8 propels Apple's return to growth in China, Toyota wants us all to love our cars very much and Switch predicted to top Wii U sales in year one. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for October 30, 2017.

1. The iPhone 8 returned Apple to growth in China

China, once Apple's fastest growing market, has recently been a tough spot for Apple in terms of increasing its shipments year-over-year. But the iPhone 8 has changed that, according to research firm Canalys.

Yes, the iPhone 8 – not the iPhone X that seems so much more highly coveted. This is great news for Apple of course, but it'll be interesting to see how the much more expensive iPhone X strikes Chinese customers.

2. Toyota believes AI is truly the future for cars – and in a "Her" way

There's no question that Joaquin Phoenix's character in 'Her' felt a deep connection with Scarlett Johansson's virtual assistant, and Toyota seems to want to achieve a similar kind of connection between a driver and their car, and it's working with SRI International to make that a reality.

3. Nintendo says Switch will beat total Wii U sales in year one

If the Wii U was the ugly duckling in Nintendo's console lineup, the Switch is the swan – the newest game hardware from the company will likely cross 14 million sales by the end of its financial year, according to Nintendo, which would put it ahead of the total lifetime sales for the Wii U.

4. Apple gets set for a race to $1 trillion

Apple is gearing up for a run to see if it can become a $1 trillion company, on the back of its iPhone sales this year. Thanks to the iPhone X, it could go far and above past performance and even expectations and rise from its current $842 billion market capitalization.

5. Elon Musk's first Boring Co. tunnel is... well, you know

Elon Musk's Boring Co. tunnel digging company is making progress, and the serial founder proved it with a pic of their first tunnel dug under LA. It's not visually exciting, really, but it is conceptually thrilling, if you're into high-speed underground hyperloop networks.

6. Twitter addresses revenge porn in new rule change

Twitter has a new policy that bans revenge porn more stridently than ever before, but the proof will be in its enforcement of its policies, which hasn't been great with its harassment rules thus far.

7. Techie tea infuser startup shuts down

Oh, no one wanted your $1,000 tea infuser? You don't say.

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