What's hot in tech - January 8th
- The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show kicks-off today in Las Vegas
- Seagate Technology may have 4% stake in Ripple
- Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is looking into how it can use cryptocurrency
- Nvidia partners with Uber, Volkswagen and Baidu on driverless cars
- Net neutrality suit gains support from tech’s biggest companies
The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show kicks-off today in Las Vegas
According to The Verge, augmented reality (AR) should outshine virtual reality (VR) at the conference, as hits like Pokémon Go and Apple’s AR Kit have made the technology more mainstream. Electronic and autonomous vehicles should also remain a focus at the conference, while gaming is expected to be more important than ever before. Virtual personal assistants should remain a top theme with a wide-range of new product introductions for smart home devices incorporating VPAs from Amazon and Google. The Verge reports that the number of wearables booths expected at CES 2018 has decreased by almost 40% compared to 2017, and vendors should focus on the ability to measure more complex health data, as simple step-tracking wearables become more commoditized.
Read more @ https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/3/16842608/ces-2018-las-vegas-rumors-lg-sony-samsung-preview
Seagate Technology may have 4% stake in Ripple
According to Seeking Alpha contributor Value Street Research, citing data from Crunchbase.com, Seagate invested in both the 2015 Series A and 2016 Series B fundraising rounds conducted by Ripple. Based on some assumptions and data from other tech sites, including TechCrunch, the Seeking Alpha contributor hypothesizes that Seagate may own over 4% of Ripple.
- Seagate Technology invested in the Series A and B of Ripple, owner of 61% of XRP, a top-three cryptocurrency
- Ripple holdings of XRP are currently worth over $180B on the market
- If Seagate still has its Ripple investment, it could plausibly be worth $7.8B, two-thirds of its market cap
- The street has given zero credit for its crypto-investing prowess
Read more @ https://seekingalpha.com/article/4135878-seagate-technology-may-4-percent-ripple-credit-street
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is looking into how it can use cryptocurrency
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he will research cryptocurrency in 2018. The goal is part of his yearly personal challenge, which is mainly focused on fixing Facebook's problems. The head of Facebook Messenger is joining the board of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
Nvidia partners with Uber, Volkswagen and Baidu on driverless cars
Nvidia has partnered with Uber, Volkswagen and China's Baidu in driverless cars, as the chipmaker looks to expand its presence in the autonomous driving space. Ride-hailing service Uber will use Nvidia's chips for its artificial intelligence (AI) computing system in its fleet of self-driving cars, the companies said at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Net neutrality suit gains support from tech’s biggest companies
A leading lobbying group for Amazon, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Twitter and other tech giants said Friday that it would be joining the coming legal crusade to restore the U.S. government’s net neutrality rules. The Washington, D.C.-based Internet Association specifically plans to join a lawsuit as an intervening party, aiding the challenge to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s vote in December to repeal regulations that required internet providers like AT&T and Comcast to treat all web traffic equally, its leader confirmed to Recode.