SpaceX aims for 24-hour rocket refurb turnaround by 2018, and Qualcomm feels the burn from Apple legal battle. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for July 20, 2017. 1. SpaceX wants to reuse rockets within 24 hours – starting next year SpaceX has long said that it wants to get the re-use time of its rockets down to 24 hours (it currently takes a few months to refurbish the Falcon 9 first stage). It's technically on track to make that happen by 2018, Elon Musk said yesterday. Overall, SpaceX thinks it can eventually get the vast majority of the rocket to a reusable state – it says it's at about 80 percent already. The fairing, an expensive nosecone loaded with electronics that protects the rocket's payload, is next in its sights for recovery and redeployment. 2. Qualcomm earnings show cost of Apple dispute Chipmaker Qualcomm is entangled in a protracted legal battle with Apple over licensing and royalties, and it's clear why Qualcomm has been so adamant about fighting the iPhone maker after its most recent earnings. These payments are crucial to Qualcomm's overall financial health, and it took a big hit once Apple stopped paying. 3. Microsoft is making a Nest competitor Microsoft's hardware business continues to be a strange and wonderful thing. It surprised everyone by debuting a thermostat called GLAS it's building with Johnson Controls that's powered by its Cortana smart voice assistant. Looks great, too. 4. U.S. lifts remaining airline laptop ban Laptops are no longer banned from airplane cabins on the flights to the U.S. The remaining affected airlines and airports have been removed from the ban, as the U.S. has put "enhanced security measures in place." It sounds good, but it's also bound to mean longer lines and waits at security checkpoints everywhere. 5. Citymapper goes from transit app to bus operator Citymapper is a category leader in mapping and routing for getting around cities, but now it's putting its data and data science expertise to work with its first ever commercial bus service. It's operating actual buses, complete with some fancy onboard tech features, starting in London along one night route later this year. 6. Google brings Street View to orbit aboard the ISS This new Street View feature is out of this world: Imagery form the International Space Station has been added to the service, which is super cool. There's also a Dragon capsule from SpaceX parked at the station when this was captured. 7. MIT builds backwards recipe prediction tool Your Instagram pics could give up the secrets of your favorite recipes: MIT's CSAIL has created an AI-based software system that can predict the ingredients that went into a dish just by analyzing finished photos from social media. I'm hungry. Also, FYI the automated version of this newsletter is no longer going to be sending on the weekends, but if you still want TC news on the weekend you can sign up for the Week In Review or the Startups Weekly. |
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