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- ⚡️ Musk sets Mars timeline to hyperdrive
⚡️ Musk sets Mars timeline to hyperdrive
PLUS: Samsung's smart home future revealed
Rowan Cheung
October 06, 2023
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
Elon Musk is fueling his Martian hype machine — now claiming SpaceX could touch down on the Red Planet within 3-4 years.
Will the stars align for the billionaire’s lofty Mars ambitions?
In today’s tech rundown:
🚀 Musk: SpaceX could reach Mars in 3-4 years
🏠 Samsung unveils latest platform updates at SDC23
💳 PayPal sued for allegedly stifling competition
🛠️ 7 New products
📰 7 quick stories
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
SPACEX
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Azerbaijan on Thursday, Elon Musk said SpaceX could land its massive launch vehicle Starship on Mars as soon as 2026.
The details:
This new estimate is faster than his six-year prediction for Mars from 2016 — but Musk's timelines are notoriously ambitious.
Rapid rocket turnaround is another goal, with Musk hopeful to accomplish mid-air booster and orbital Starship catches in 2024.
Both components of Starship are designed to be reusable — a key breakthrough for Musk’s eventual goal of colonizing the Red Planet.
Why it matters: Musk continues to rally support and capital around his Mars dreams — and while his antics with X get all the attention, his interplanetary goals with SpaceX could ultimately define his legacy.
SAMSUNG
Image source: Samsung
The Rundown: Samsung just highlighted new multi-device experiences enabled by its connected ‘SmartThings’ ecosystem at the company’s annual developer conference SDC23 — including a new SmartTag device and digital healthcare experiences.
Key points:
SmartThings now has over 290 million compatible devices, including integration into new Samsung TVs and speakers.
Virtual assistant, Bixby is integrating more with SmartThings, featuring more intuitive voice controls and personalized experiences.
Samsung also boosts Tizen OS capabilities and blockchain-enabled security features like Knox Vault.
The company announced new research collaborations and plans to integrate Food AI into Samsung Health.
The relevance: Samsung continues to push its vision of an open, connected ecosystem where devices communicate to enable seamless experiences. With the rise of AI, smart homes and cross-device integrations are about to get much more useful.
PAYPAL
Image source: X @zackhargett
The Rundown: Payment giant PayPal was slapped with a new antitrust class action lawsuit on Thursday, claiming its rules block lower-cost rivals like Stripe and Shopify from competing.
Key points:
PayPal's merchant agreements ban discounts for using other payment services, deemed illegal ‘surcharges’.
This stops retailers from highlighting competitors' lower fees or preferential checkout placement, resulting in consumers paying more.
With 400M+ users, PayPal controls huge swaths of e-commerce — and attorneys compare the situation to pre-2010 credit card anti-steering.
Why it matters: This lawsuit pulls the curtain back on hidden fees and anti-competitive practices — something we’ve seen a lot of lately. It’s clear regulators and users alike see serious issues with the current state of the industry giants.
NEW PRODUCTS
⚖️ Degoverned- A modern legal platform for tech startups (link)
📈 Getquin- Track all your investments in one place (link)
🎓 Monic AI- Learn anything faster with AI (link)
📽 Fliki- Video creation made 10x simpler & faster with AI (link)
⚡️ Play HT- The highest quality AI-Powered voice generation platform (link)
🔥 PromptPal- Share & discover the best AI prompts (link)
💡 Mixo- Launch a startup in seconds with AI (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
SNIPPETS
Sony launched a movie streaming service on PlayStation with superior video quality and a vast IMAX Enhanced film collection.
Apple discussed making DuckDuckGo the default search engine for Safari's private mode but rejected it due to privacy concerns related to Bing.
Hyundai will adopt Tesla's NACS for its EVs, granting access to 12,000 Superchargers in North America, and is collaborating with other automakers to develop a charging network of 30,000 stations.
Researchers at the University of Oxford have 3D printed stem cells to replicate the cerebral cortex, offering potential treatment for brain injuries.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Amazon and Microsoft's dominance in the UK's cloud computing sector after concerns highlighted by Ofcom.
FTX co-founder Gary Wang confessed to fraud and disclosed diverting FTX customer funds to Alameda Research with Bankman-Fried's involvement.
Samsung will introduce driver's license storage in Samsung Wallet for Arizona and Iowa customers, mirroring features by Apple and Google.
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THAT’S A WRAP
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