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Amazon says it'll roll out a new grocery store format next year
Amazon is wading further into the physical retail world as it confirmed plans to open a different type of grocery store in 2020. Reports earlier this year suggested Amazon was working on a low-cost grocery format as an alternative to Whole Foods and Amazon Go.
Google's Waze-like app for public transit hits five more cities
Last year, Google incubator Area 120 announced a public transit app that works in a similar way to Waze. Users of Pigeon report transit information to help others know if they're likely to face delays or other issues. Until now, it's only been available in New York City, but as of today, it's going live in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
A virtual reality massage center will open in Los Angeles this week
Los Angeles residents will soon be able to float off into distant worlds while their aches are soothed in a virtual reality massage center, which opening this Friday, July 5th. At the outset, the Esqapes Immersive Relaxation Center, supposedly the first of its kind, will offer 10 different VR environments for you to try and relax in, including a sauna, a koi pond at an ocean-side resort and a ski cabin with a crackling fireplace.
LA and Minnesota are getting 'Call of Duty' esports teams
Activision Blizzard has revealed the next two teams for its upcoming Call of Duty esports League, bringing the total franchises announced so far to seven. The latest squads will represent Los Angeles and Minnesota.
CBS expands its streaming local news service to Los Angeles
CBS has expanded its local news streaming service to Los Angeles after it debuted CBSN New York in December, giving Los Angelenos another way to find out what's happening around town. The ad-supported CBSN Los Angeles includes continuous news coverage for the area, including daily newscasts produced exclusively for the service, breaking news coverage and live streams of KCBS and KCAL 9.
LA County is using an algorithm to clear 50,000 pot convictions faster
The district attorneys for Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties have teamed up with Code for America to help them clear around 54,000 marijuana convictions. The nonprofit's algorithm will aid prosecutors by automatically evaluating whether a case is eligible for dismissal or resentencing.
SpaceX isn't moving Starship development to southern Texas (update)
SpaceX's decision to construct its Starship test vehicle in Texas may have just been the harbinger of things to come. The LA Times has claimed that development and assembly of Starship and its Super Heavy booster system will take place in southern Texas, not the Port of Los Angeles. It'll maintain existing design, manufacturing, launch and recovery operations in the area (plus Vandenberg Air Force Base), but that's only a partial consolation when existing projects like the Falcon 9 rocket have a limited lifespan.
Elon Musk's LA tunnel turns Teslas into a 'rail-guided train'
Tonight The Boring Company hosted a launch event for the test tunnel it successfully built in LA running from SpaceX's property to "O'Leary Station" at a reported cost of about $10 million. In tweets, he showed off a Model X equipped with gear that guides the car between elevators at each end of the tunnel, where it then simply drives right back onto the road. The rig itself is really just a set of wheels, and TechCrunch reports that Musk said during a media briefing that they will be available as an aftermarket add-on for $200 to $300.
Boring Company's LA tunnel event set for December 18th
The bad news first: Elon Musk's Boring Company won't make its projected December 10th launch date for the LA Test Tunnel. The good news, however, is that Musk locked down a "product launch" to take place on December 18th complete with "modded but fully road legal autonomous transport cars & ground to tunnel car elevators." On Twitter, the company's official account said it needed more time to work on the snail habitat, referencing Elon's pet that outpaces the company's fastest digging machines. The event will occur just over a month after the company's digging machine broke through at O'Leary Station, and as Musk describes it, will be much more than just a tunnel opening. The whole idea is to show off lifts capable of operating in very small footprints, as well as the vehicles that will zoom through these tunnels at up to 150 MPH.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company abandons plan for LA Westside test tunnel
Elon Musk's Boring Company is ditching plans to build a 2.5-mile test tunnel underneath Los Angeles' 405 freeway and Sepulveda Boulevard. The controversial project had been the focus of a lawsuit filed by two neighborhood groups, accusing LA officials of violating state law by exempting the plans from environmental review. A settlement was reached last month and, on Tuesday, the Boring Company and the Westside activists made the closure official.
Boring Company breaks through to the end of its first test tunnel
We're about a month away from the planned opening of The Boring Company's Test Tunnel in LA, and it appears progress is moving along. Elon Musk tweeted this brief video of a digging machine breaking through, and although he wasn't specific about the location, it looks like they've reached O'Leary Station where the first test tunnel will end. The 'Godot' machine dug its first segment on SpaceX property in June, and things have been moving along busily ever since. We'll probably see people lining up for test rides after Black Friday. As the Boring Company explains, the point of this tunnel isn't just to dig it, but also to show off the small elevators that are key to its "loop" concept and are small enough to fit inside a house. Update: Just after this post was published, Musk tweeted again congratulating his company on completing the LA/Hawthorne tunnel.
The Boring Company's LA test tunnel is almost complete
Today, Elon Musk announced via Twitter that the first Boring Company test tunnel under Los Angeles is almost finished. When it's complete, the system will be able to carry pedestrians, cyclists and private vehicles at speeds of 155 mph. People will be able to try the loop out for free at a special event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, on December 10th.
After Math: What could go wrong?
It's been a week of risk in the tech world, and I don't just mean Elon Musk's recent Twitter-on-acid experiment. Best Buy is wagering $800 million on a company that teaches your grandparents how gadgets work, Saint Louis University is peppering its dorms with Echos for some reason, and Reebok is hoping folks won't be too tempted to eat their vegetable-based sneakers.
The Boring Company will build a rapid transit system to Dodger Stadium
LA's baseball fans and concertgoers might be among the first to ride The Boring Company's high-speed pods. Elon Musk's company has announced that it's planning to dig a tunnel that leads to Dodger Stadium for a high-speed electric transportation network called the Dugout Loop. The Boring Company is still in the midst of deciding where to build the system's departure point and considering three neighborhoods in particular: Los Feliz, East Hollywood and Rampart Village.
Los Angeles will be the first US city to use subway body scanners
Los Angeles will be the first US city to start equipping its subways with body scanners. But the Southern California metropolis isn't using the bulky, slow-operating models that populate US airports: Instead, LA's Metropolitan Transit Authority will deploy portable trunk-sized scanners that can survey people from 30 feet away at a rate of 2,000 individuals an hour.
Discovery's streaming service could package 17 channels for $5 a month
Discovery could launch its own streaming service. CEO David Zaslav (above) said that he's considering bundling the 17 channels his company picked up in last year's Scrips Networks Interactive acquisition into a service that'd cost between $5 and $8 per month.
Warner Bros. wants to build a sky tram to the Hollywood sign
Finding your way to the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles typically involves a lot of back-street driving. As the iconic sign continues to get visitors, however, the congestion on those residential roads increases, as well. Warner Bros. has a proposal for the city of LA that it claims will help alleviate all that: a tram that connects the Warner Bros. studio lots in Burbank to the famous landmark, along with a visitor center near the sign.
Recommended Reading: The fate of Facebook's free internet project
What happened to Facebook's grand plan to wire the world? Jessi Hempel, Wired For years, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted the company's Internet.org initiative that sought to bring connectivity to everyone in the world. It was presented an ambitious humanitarian effort, but things didn't go according to plan. Wired tells the story of what happened to the project following criticism and bans from local governments.
Verizon will turn on 5G in LA this year
Verizon has already committed to launching 5G in Sacramento in 2018, but what about the other cities it promised? They're finally starting to trickle out. Company chief Lowell McAdam has confirmed that the high-speed network will launch in Los Angeles sometime in the fourth quarter of the year. As before, the initial focus will be on fixed internet access. You'll need to wait until the first quarter before you can carry a 5G-capable mobile device, McAdam said in a chat with CNBC.
Tidal's next exclusive concert pairs Deadmau5 with a symphony
Electronic musician Joel "Deadmau5" Zimmerman is stripping down his sound and adding string instruments to his army of synths for a Tidal-sponsored "Where's the drop?" concert next month. Tidal subscribers can jump in on today's pre-sale, while the general public will be able to buy tickets starting tomorrow. The concert takes place April 1st (no foolin') at Los Angeles' historic Wiltern Theater. In case you forgot, Zimmerman is a one of the service's artist-owners, along with Jay Z, Jack White and Daft Punk.
