Important Innovations

  New, Luxury EV With Awesome Technology Source:  Lucid Air exterior and interior  Lucid Air Just Unveiled A new competitor for Tesla in global EV technology leadership has emerged.  California startup Lucid Motors just unveiled its Lucid Air.  The EV is an ultra luxury model with ultra EV performance.  It has a highly advanced battery technology with an EV industry leading range of 500 miles in its special edition.  That exceeds Tesla by about 100 miles.  The normal Lucid Sky model delivers a 400 mile range on a charge.  The Sky also packs speed.  It can reach speeds of 200 mph.  Of course that's on a racetrack, not on the highway.  Tesla's Model S can hit speeds of 150 mph. Sky's Technologies The EV has two electric motors that drive the front and rear axles at 650 horsepower each.  It can go from 0 to 60 in less than 2.5 seconds. Sky has lidar and is ready for full autonomous driving when it is authorized.  For now, the EV has an advanced driver assist system, called Dre

  Amazon Free E-Book Copies Source:  Amazon   https://amazon.com/author/ekane Limited Time Opportunity Journalist Edward Kane's book "How To Use AI and AR" is available for free on Amazon in a very limited time promotion.  The e-book showcases some of the most innovative uses of artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and more.  To get a free copy, click on  https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07KBBQ44J&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_GnoxFbXQE09RG&tag=ejkane2-20    I co-authored the book with Ed.

  Using Your iPhone to Find Lost Items  Source:  Apple iPhone Very HighTech Lost & Found Apple is expected to release a new product called "AirTags" that helps the user find lost items using their iPhone.  AirTags are small trackers that can be placed on easily lost items like keys, sunglasses, wallets and handbags so that you can locate them with your iPhone.  There are indications that the product could be unveiled next week or at an Apple event in October.  AirTags is much anticipated. Some experts said it would be released in the first half of 2020, but it has remained in the Apple innovation pipeline until now. High Tech Lost and Found The AirTags product is expected to be similar in purpose to the stickers and trackers sold by Tile. If your lost item is marked by one of the Apple tags, AutoTags would integrate with the iPhone's Find Me app and track the location of the misplaced item.  Apple already offers software features that help you find your iPhone, laptop

  NASA Will Pay Thousands for Moon Dirt and Moon Rocks Source:  Moon stock image  Moon Commercial Exploration About to Expand NASA wants to mine the Moon. And to do so, it just announced that it's looking for companies to do lunar mining.  This is a bold bid by NASA to start the commercial development of the Moon.  The initial purpose is to help US astronauts establish permanent bases on the Moon and "live off the land".  And, then for NASA to move forward to Mars where astronauts would need to live off the resources available there. The new program to find valuable resources on the Moon and later Mars is part of NASA's Artemis Project and it is open to international companies. International Companies Encouraged to Participate NASA is looking for private companies, that are already part of space explorations, to collect rocks and dirt from the lunar surface and sell them to NASA, as part of a technology development project.  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted:

  Tesla's New Gigafactory in Germany Source:  Tesla Factory  Sustainable Energy  Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is promising that his new gigafactory in Brandenburg, Germany will revolutionize how electric vehicles are built.  He is replacing hundreds of robots with huge, aluminum casting machines to build simpler chassis and parts. From Musk's perspective, the robots are not up to the task that he wants to accomplish. Musk is repositioning production to components glued and rivetted into the car's rear underbelly with a single module from the aluminum gigapress machines.  Musk also predicts that the Brandenburg plant will deliver a radical overhaul in the way electric car battery cells and battery packs are built. At the new plant, Tesla intends to manufacture a new version of its Model Y crossover vehicle. Moving Toward Sustainable Energy In a visit to the Tesla plant site in Germany, Musk said he will transform the core structural design of electric cars, in terms of en

  Walmart's Online Business Has Doubled On Demand Drones Walmart is beefing up its delivery services with on-demand drones. It just announced that it's launching a pilot program delivering groceries and other household items by drones.  The pilot program is being done in partnership with the drone delivery service Flytrex.  The world's biggest retailer is flying the grocery deliveries using Flytrex automated drones. Drone Insights Drone deliveries started today in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  Cloud-controlled drones are picking up and dropping off select items.  In a blog post, Walmart SVP of Customer Products Tom Ward said the drones are controlled over the cloud using a smart and easy control dashboard.  Through the drone delivery service in Fayetteville, Walmart hopes to gain insights into  customer and staff drone experiences "from pickup and packing to takeoff and landing". COVID Environment Because of the COVID pandemic, shoppers prefer having items delive

  GM Has #1 Electric Vehicle in China Source:  GM's MINI EV That #1 China EV Seller GM Just Inked a Deal with E-Truck Maker Nikola Two big surprises from GM.  Its micro electric vehicle made by GM's Chinese joint venture is the #1 selling electric vehicle in China.  It sold 15,000 cars in August beating Tesla's 11,800 Model 3 sedans. Hongguang MINI EV The model is called the Hongguang MINI EV.  It's a two-door micro-mini EV that was launched this past July by the joint venture between GM, SAIC Motor Corporation and SGMW.  The starting price is very low at $4,200.  That price is less than 10% of the cost of Tesla's Model 3. Nikola-GM Deal Meanwhile, Wall Street is cheering news that GM and electric truck startup Nikola will join forces to build electric pickup trucks and commercial trucks powered by fuel cells.  Their intent is to compete hard against Tesla's e-trucks.  GM has taken an 11% stake in Nikola, which is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.  The stake is