Google Might Come With A Virtual Reality Gear

Google might come up with a big breakthrough in virtual reality.

Many believed that Alphabet Inc. debut in the virtual reality domain was through the company’s virtual reality related efforts. However, a new report has been recently revealed by The Financial Times which indicates that the tech giant is all set to come up with a better product for virtual reality that will be similar to the Samsung Gear VR.

Along with the new plastic casing, it is believed that the headset will be able to offer support for a broader range of smartphones in contrast to the Gear VR. Sources close to the company have also revealed to the newspaper giant that the device will have “better sensors” and “lenses” which means that the product will not solely rely on the equipment present in your smartphone. Moreover, the report indicates that a great chunk of the device’s processing power would be via the smartphone itself.

Google Cardboard has been retailing in the market for a time span of more than a year and a half and has two lenses made out of plastic which stations the smartphone in the right manner to enable its VR related functionality.

May, 2015 is expected to be a miraculous year for the search engine giant where we might hear a lot about the company.

Google holds the developer conference namely I/O every year which seems to be the best possible platform for the company to come up with the new gadget. As per the Financial Times, the hardware can be similar to other products that have resemblance with the Nexus series. This will be designed in a manner that sets a target for the company and also establish a template for Google hardware components. As reported, the hardware is likely to surface by September, 2016.

The recent hardware can also be launched parallel to the Android VR operating system. A report was also published today which gives more insights regarding the system. There has not been much news circulating regarding the aforementioned OS except for the fact that the Wall Street Journal unleashed back in FY14 that the company was reportedly working on the software.

It is now being assumed that Android virtual reality is likely to come up with virtual reality compatibility to the basis of the immensely popular operating system platform. If that is actually the real case scenario, then the developers will find it easy to write the applications based on virtual reality. In contrast, Google Cardboard is basically a self-contained application which has very limited functionality options within.

The expanded VR push by Google was just reported last month when rumors started to circulate regarding it. The company has come up with job postings regarding new positions in the virtual reality segment. So far a lot remains hidden regarding the new headset and Android VR in general. One question that most of us wish to know is that the integration of this technology with Project Tango which has the ability to track and scan the real life scenario.

Amazon Echo Embraces Another Significant Milestone

Amazon Echo offers support to Spotify for Premium subscribers.

Amazon.com Inc. came up with the Amazon Echo, which is one of most sought after products by the company that has a strong user base and sales. Echo is a product with Bluetooth-enabled speakers that have an ‘amazing lady’ known as Alexa present inside.

Alexa is your one-stop solution since she can be your note taker, a pivot point for your smartphones, and a list maker for your shopping needs. It is a faithful partner in this fast-paced world. It is odd and futuristic if one thinks about talking to a tennis ball but not anymore. In reality, it is actually quite amazing since the company’s speech recognition is actually quite strong.

So far, nothing can be concluded of being perfect. However, one annoying fact regarding the company’s voice enabled assistant is the support it gets from big industry that consumers actually demand.

Users can request iHeartRadio stations or Pandora to play the songs present in Amazon Music library or any music in store on Amazon Prime Music but that is a viable option if he/she possesses an Amazon Prime membership. It goes beyond saying that users can make use of Echo as a speaker connected via Bluetooth with the ability to pair up with gadgets if required.

For now, Alexa cannot play carefully picked guitar playlist present on Spotify. The paradigms have changed finally and now Amazon has finally announced its support for the Premium account holders on Spotify.

What Spotify users need to do is simply log in their accounts through the Alexa Application running on Google Android and Apple iOS. Once this is done, simply convey all your demands to Alexa and it will have everything sorted.

According to the company, the recent functionality of Echo encompasses Spotify Connect, which ensures seamless transition on the go and while listening at home. You can easily transmit whatever you have been listening to from your smartphone to the Echo speaker and it will play from exactly the point you stopped.

Many analysts now believe that this might be the point where the dynamics change for Amazon since it is pushing Echo to become an open-end platform. It seems like an important change in terms of the strategy deployed by Amazon since Spotify has always acted like an imminent threat to Prime Music.

Ironically, there is great difference when it comes to both the streaming services since Spotify has 30 million songs on it digital library whereas Amazon Prime Music just has more than a million. Thus, getting access to 30 million songs with just some verbal commands will actually be appealing.

Alibaba To Invest In Flipkart If The Price Is Right

Alibaba is looking to buy stake in Flipkart and Snapdeal if they decide to offer discounts on their current valuations.

Alibaba Group Holding is currently not only looking to focus on its domestic growth but wants to increase its influence in the international markets as well. According to sources, it is believed that the Chinese tech company intends to purchase stake in one of the biggest Indian online retailer, Flipkart.

The e-commerce giant previously supported two Indian startups known as Snapdeal and Paytm but it is looking to further increase its presence and influence in the Indian market hence it is exploring to acquire stake in India’s largest internet firm, Flipkart.

The sources familiar to the matter told that the talks between both parties are at an initial stage and the result is mostly dependent on Flipkart. Three people with detailed knowledge of the matter reported that only if Flipkart is willing to offer a concession on its current value of $15 billion, then Alibaba Group might carry forward this deal in the future. Three people asked not to be identified in public because of the confidentiality of this matter.

The Chinese e-commerce giant is also in negotiation with another Indian company, Snapdeal, and it wants a discount on Snapdeal’s current valuation of $6.5 billion. Alibaba wants to grow its footprints in the region, two of three people said. So far, the spokespersons of Alibaba, Flipkart, and Snapdeal have not responded to the e-mails, which sought comments regarding this matter.

It is believed that there are not ‘too many’ takers in the Indian e-commerce market as of now which will approach Alibaba for cash in order to encourage Snapdeal and Flipkart to offer discounts. People told that both companies have enough money to fund their existing burn rates for the next one year. However, they will have to raise money in 2016 if they want to refill their fast emptying wallets. The cash, which they have to invest, is not enough to keep on going for eternity hence at some point they might need investments from other big tech firms.

Since May 2014, the valuation of Flipkart increased five times to $15 billion after it raised a massive $210 million from Tiger Global Management, DST Global, and others in a funding round. Snapdeal is also raising enough money to be right behind Flipkart in India’s e-commerce market. Its valuation increased six times when it raised $100 million in the same month in response to its funding round. Ever since then, both have raised enormous amounts worth $2.4 billion and $1.3 billion respectively.

If Alibaba’s deal with Flipkart goes through on mutual consent, it will make the Chinese firm one of the most important investors (out of 3) in the region. The other two are Japan’s SoftBank Group and Tiger Global Management.

One of the three people said, “You will see only a handful of investors, who have the potential to invest, arm-twist even the large unicorns in order to extract stake at cheap valuations.”

Boeing 737 Max Upgraded Version Will Be Seen In The Skies In 2017

Boeing 737 Max passed tests on Friday and took off for its first ever maiden flight and has already been nicknamed as 'The Spirit Of Renton'

The giant aircraft manufacturer, Boeing Corporation’s upgraded version of 737 MAX passenger airplane took off for its first ever maiden flight on Friday morning at 7:46AM local time. This new product of the aircraft giant has been nicknamed as ‘The Spirit of Renton’, it took off for its first flight in Seattle. It has managed to pass all the necessary tests for jets from fuel efficiently to many others. The bestselling product of the company will be seen in the skies by 2017 when its first delivery will be made.

Boeing Co.’s bestselling airplane, 737 MAX first flight lasted for three hours and made landing at a close facility of the aircraft company in Seattle at 12:33PM, local time.  Pilots have already applauded and appreciated the performance and handling of the airplane, according to a press conference after the flight. The engines were reported to be quiet, and no problem were found according to Craig Brendon, who was one of the test pilots of the company and flew the plane with Ed Wilson.

The aerospace company will be able to complete all the necessary licenses, certifications and other documentations by 2017 and the first delivery will be given to Southwest Airlines by the end of the same year. This latest plane is the upgraded and modified version of the popular series 737 of the company, and is mostly used for medium or short flight by airlines around the world. It has better engines and fuel efficiency in comparison to it predecessors.

The first 737 was launched all the way back in 1967 by the aerospace giant, however now the jet has way more innovative equipment providing an enhanced experience to both, the passenger and the pilots. Operation costs are expected to be lesser by almost 14% in comparison to the previous version of the jet. It has three different versions Max 8, Max 7 and Max 9, which give occupation to almost 120 to 220 passengers.

The plane that was tested consisted of the LEAP-1B engine by CFM International, and will compete in the market with Airbus’s jets. The aircraft giant had 409 orders by the end of December for its MAX jets, out of which 100 were from AerCap Holding N.V. It has also announced of having 3,072 order for its MAX series from around 62 customer around the globe. This jet will bring the company more success and order evidently, and according to the pilots it is worth paying for.

Tesla Elon Musk Considers Humans To Be A Problem

Elon Musk promises to come up with an Autopilot update.

Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Elon Musk recently announced the launch of an autopilot mode scheduled for the mid of October FY15. Tesla which is known for is electric cars that are battery powered, came up with a system that ensures hands free functioning of the steering wheel to a particular degree; this is a function which most of the conventional automotive giants aim to come up with by the end of FY20.

The electric car giant has recently announced an upgrade of the Autopilot mode just a day before the kick off of the Detroit Auto Show. While TSLA is coming up with features that are semi-autonomous, other automotive companies are simply coming up with new models. Apart from this, another car maker that has announced regarding semi-autonomous driven cars is Volvo- the Swedish Automotive company who will unveil this technology in its S90 luxury sedan.

Elon Musk has focused on the limitations that are associated to an autopilot feature which will be in its beta phase and has also asked the drivers to be particular while driving and never move their hands away from the driving wheel. On the other hand, he mentioned that the system was far better equipped to deal with driving on the highways in contrast to the humans making use of top notch radars, maps and cameras.

Recently, Tesla Motors has announced its plans to revamp its Autopilot driving mode which is currently available only for the Model S cars. This will help them in putting new limitations to help in devising functions that lead to hands free operations. This can actually mean that the electric car maker would limit the functionality on the roads particularly in the busy areas of the city by limiting the speed of the car to a very slow rate.

When Mr. Musk discussed about a new feature that enables the vehicle to slow down when it observes a curve on the road, he seized the opportunity to acknowledge the masses regarding the safety factor associated with the Autopilot mode in its present state. The reason why the upgrade has surfaced is more because of the responsibility of the masses who are not acting appropriately for which the system cannot be termed as incompetent. It is the human who needs to be blamed and not the car since the limitations are very well explained to the masses.

Twitter Ads Not Shown To Valuable Users

Special treatment is given to some prominent and valuable users of Twitter who are no longer bothered by advertisements.

Twitter supports favoritism on its platform when it comes to social advertising. Many of the ‘valuable’ users of the micro blogging platform admitted not seeing an ad on their accounts. Some users claim to have not seen a single ad while others say the amount has gone down very low in term of the advertisements they had seen.

Twitter Incorporation is now ad-free for special users. Many of them are prominent individuals including politicians and celebrities. The reason for this favoritism by the social media platform is to keep these high profile users entertained and stay on the platform rather than nagged by unnecessary advertisements.

The social media advertising company recently lost many of its senior executives, who are now joining other businesses in the industry. It even changed some of its policies and advertisements shown to the users. At the CES of this year, the company showed a new way of making and showing ads by gathering a collection of tweets from the platform, and branding them after attaining users’ permission, considering it a new and more realistic way of advertising.

The social media network, on the other hand, denied to admit not showing ads if users are high profile and has power but releases the amount of advertisements shown based on tweets they generate. People do not know yet as to what the truth is at this point, however many high profile users did report that they had not seen any ads in long time.

The VIP Twitter users’ feeds can be seen having tweets of followed users and nothing else. The company had been testing the ides of an ad free platform for the special users in September. It seems it is now implementing this idea, which came in to being when Jack Dorsey was made the CEO of the business he co-founded, once again.

Mr. Dorsey has been reportedly making changes and attempting to attract users to help the business to be successful since he has been re hired. Unluckily for him, that has not been going well so far.

The change of the way the micro blogging organization is showing ads now is a bit unusual because it damages the profit it generates, and it is known to generate a huge amount of money from ads. The business is trying to provide a better experience to high profile users so that they start using the platform more, which in return will attract their fans to the social media platform. The idea is a bit farfetched but is definitely not unachievable.

Canadian Solar Subsidiary Closed Finances For 100MW Astoria Project

Canadian Solar solely owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, closes financing on its solar power project of 100 megawatts in Astoria.

Canadian Solar’s exclusively owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, has recently closed finances for its 100Megawatt Astoria Solar Plant Project, as announced on November 19. The company subsidiary is one of North America’s major projects developing firms. The subsidiary has closed a debt facility for the project, which is under constructions in California currently.

The solar power company’s recently financed plant will be operational by the fourth quarter of next year, using 46 GE 1500PV inverters. This project will be able to create solar power that can provide energy to around 33,250 houses. The produced energy and electricity are planned to be sold under the agreements of power purchases.

Recurrent Energy is going to manage the plant as it will own the facility. This project has two parts; one is completed, meaning that half of the project is complete, while the other half’s finances are expected to be provided by the end of the year. The renewable energy company’s chairman and Chief executive officer showed his appreciation to all the lenders and investors saying, “GE is a widely respected renewable energy investor and we are proud to begin this partnership for the Astoria project. It is also a privilege to continue our work with this group of lender as our team continues a long history of successful solar development in Southern California.”

The Astoria project is GE energy financial services’ newest investment in renewable energy, which invested over $2 billion in around 2 gigawatts of solar power plants and projects around the world and is still investing $1 billion every year. GE is a digital industrial company and the Astoria project will be situated in Kern County.

In other news regarding the company, it has had many difficulties in it business, from gaining huge amount of profit to a sudden push of losing millions of dollars. It announced its third quarter earning recently which showed that it revenue fell by 7.1% compared to the previous year. Currently, it has expansion plans, expecting to have 3.4 gigawatts and 5.6 gigawatts of solar module capacity by 2016. This is risk from an investor’s point of view as the company is planning to expand very rapidly, which is not always a healthy move for a business or its shares, as there are chances of having too many debts to pay later. It should aim to make its product better so that it can push margins.

Canadian solar stock closed at $ 20.57, going red by -2.88% on November 19.