Weekend in Tech Trends

July 18-19
Hotels get strange, Apple updates iPod, Tesla goes ludicrous and more tech trends to follow.
First robot hotel opens in Japan

Be welcomed by a robot dinosaur as you enter the world’s first robot staffed hotel. This five star hotel called the Henn-na Hotel — a name that translates as Strange Hotel — allows you to have a very strange experience from the moment you walk in the door. With a dinosaur working the front desk and a robotic cart bringing your luggage to your room, everything is robotic.
Everything is also very futuristic-and strange. There are no room keys, instead there is a facial recognition system that grants entry into hotel rooms, the air conditioning reads body temperature and automatically sets the temp, and there are also no TVs, guests are able to watch TV on one of the provided tablets that are in the rooms. The other strange part of this hotel is that in order to book a room, guests must bid. The highest bidders will secure the rooms, there will however be a price cap for bidding so the prices can’t go too high.
Being something I only thought was possible in Star Wars, maybe robot run businesses will be become a reality all over the world. Check out the video below to see this strange hotel for yourself.

Video Source: WSJ
Source: CNN
Apple updates the iPod
On July 15th, Apple released updates to the iPod Touch. Complete with a 4-inch display, 64 bit A8 chip and an M8 processor, alongside an 8 megapixel iSight camera and 6 new colors, this iPod Touch is much better than the last. Some are questioning whether or not there is even a market for the iPod Touch. But with an update like this, Apple must still see the potential for this once ground breaking device. Another factor that makes this iPod a little more appealing is the 128 GB option. This makes it a more viable replacement for the iPod classic which was discontinued last year. We will have to wait to see if the public’s demands for an iPod are still high enough to justify production. Meanwhile, you can grab the 16 gb iPod Touch for $199.

Source: MacRumors 
Tesla Model S reaches ludicrous speed
Tesla was back in the news with the announcement of their new “ludicrous mode” as well the now confirmed Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Model S now has the option for “ludicrous mode” which allows for the car to reach 100 km (62 mph) in 2.8 seconds. This ridiculously fast time is similar to that of the Mclaren P1 and the LaFerrari. Both very fast supercars. The option comes after a new fuse design was able to stop the melting beyond certain amperage. This allows for the amperage to be increased from 1,300 to 1,500 A.
Tesla is also offering a battery upgrade to 90 kWh (up from 85 kWh) for a total cost of $3,000. While upgrading to ludicrous mode within 6 months will cost you a discounted $5,000, the upgrade will set you back a total $10,000 with the purchase of a new Model S(hey, nobody ever said it would be cheap to go fast). While the option may not be for everyone, there will no doubt be Tesla owners out there who can’t wait to get their hands on the upgrade. But for those who are willing to wait, Tesla also hinted within their press release that we could be seeing a much faster Tesla Roadster in 4 years. Don’t believe me? I’ll just leave you here with the exact quote from the Elon,
“There is of course one speed faster than ludicrous, but that is reserved for the next generation Roadster in 4 years: maximum plaid.”

 
Source: GizMag
Ebay and Paypal part ways
In a battle that has been fought for a long time, Ebay and Paypal officially split into two separate public companies today. While there are opinions on both sides as to whether this was a good decision or not, most people who were in favor of the decision believe it will be much more beneficial for Paypal rather than Ebay. They cite the fact that Paypal needs to be able to function independently as more companies enter the payment industry. And that is where the importance of this event lies.
Paypal acknowledges the fact that if they don’t continue to innovate and progress with mobile payments, they will lose to one of the now many players entering the mobile payments market. It also shows that they don’t want to lose this market and that they are willing to go to great lengths to win. Paypal believes, alongside the many other companies, that mobile payments are the future. Hopefully, this split leads to further innovation for mobile payments and the mobile wallet as well as Paypal.

 
Source: Engadget
Apple and Samsung look to kill the sim card
Apple might finally get the chance to remove the sim-card slot from the side of their phones. Working with GSMA- the association that represents the mobile telecom industry and supports the GSM standard – Apple and Samsung would like to put e-sim cards into their phones. All they need is a little help from the carriers and the sim card can be built electronically right into the phone, so that there will no longer be a need for a physical sim card. GSMA hopes to finalize the launch sometime in 2016. We may be able to see this in the iPhone 7 or the next Galaxy but that will depend heavily on the carriers. With regards to design, this will free up a little space on the inside and not force Apple to integrate an access port on the side of their iPhone.

 
Source: TechSpot