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Elon Musk agrees robot glut slowed Model 3 production
Tesla's affordable Model 3 has been trapped in development hell for what seems like ages now, and in an interview with CBS's Gayle King, CEO Elon Musk offered a little more insight into how the production process has fallen short. While escorting King through the company's Fremont, California-based factory, Musk conceded that Tesla might've had too many robots involved in its car production process and that the company would benefit from having more humans on the line. And when King opined out loud that in some cases, said robots probably slowed down production, Musk responded with a terse "yes, they did."
Honda unveils the 2019 Insight, its new upscale hybrid sedan
Honda has debuted the 2019 Insight, an all-new hybrid sedan positioned in price between the Civic and Accord hybrids. Unlike the Clarity EV and plug-in hybrid, it's a so-called "series hybrid," with the 1.5 liter Atkinson-cycle gas motor acting as a generator to produce power for the propulsion motor and 60-cell lithium-ion battery pack. At higher speeds, a lock-up clutch engages the gas engine for more efficient highway and freeway driving.
Tesla temporarily paused Model 3 production in February
Tesla temporarily halted production of the Model 3 in order to fix crucial bottlenecks in the assembly process. According to Bloomberg, the line at the company's Fremont plant was shut down between February 20th, through to the 24th. In a statement, Tesla said that its plans include pauses in production to "improve automation and systemically address bottlenecks."
Tesla targets 2,500 Model 3s a week while posting largest quarterly loss
After its CEO launched one of its Roadsters into space yesterday, Tesla posted its largest quarterly loss while simultaneously posting a jump in revenue. Meanwhile, the company is still working towards its earlier goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s a week.
Tesla says its Model 3 production nightmare is nearly over
In 2016, Tesla managed to ship 83,992 vehicles, narrowly missing its target of pushing 90,000 cars out of its front door that year. Now, the company has revealed its 2017 figures, saying that it produced 101,312 Model S and Xs between January and December. That figure doesn't include the new mass-market Model 3, of which the company was able to crank out 2,425 in the fourth quarter. Which, itself, is a big bump from the meager 260 it made when production began in Q3.
Smart lock maker Otto folds before releasing its first product
On a landscape increasingly driven by smart devices, a digital smart lock seemed like an obvious addition to the raft of home automation products already on the market. But Otto, the company that came closer than any other to making the product a sellable reality, has now closed its doors -- just four months after showing off its device to the world.
Tesla’s Gigafactory might be behind a global battery shortage
Tesla has been besieged by reports of production delays and quality control issues lately, and now it's coming under fire for problems at its Gigafactory, which have led to a global shortage of cylindrical batteries. According to sources quoted by etnews, it's now "impossible" to purchase cylindrical batteries in Japan -- where most of the world's electronics manufacturing happens -- because Gigafactory has hoovered up the supplies needed to create them, but has failed to do so.
Nintendo reportedly plans to ramp up Switch production in 2018
The Switch, Nintendo's latest hybrid console is doing pretty well for the company, which expects it to outdo the Wii U's lifetime sales within a year. The company obviously thinks so, too, according to a new report at The Wall Street Journal, which says that Nintendo plans to ramp up production of the hardware itself, beginning in April 2018.
Ableton Live 10 will remember your riffs if you forget to press record
Ableton Live is popular with computer musicians thanks to its flexibility. As the name suggests, it enables live performance of electronic music, but it's also a robust music making tool in its own right. Fans of Live are long overdue an update, as the last full release (Live 9) was four years ago. Today Ableton revealed Live 10, which promises to make it even easier to translate ideas into anthems.
Apple denies reports that it altered Face ID specs (update)
Ever since the iPhone X was announced, there's been rumors that the handset will be a rarer commodity than gold dust and the Venus de Milo's arms, combined. That's because the components used to build the device's facial-recognition sensor are so complex that it's been nearly impossible to mass-produce. Now, a report from Bloomberg suggests that Apple has found a solution by "relaxing" the specifications for FaceID.
Tesla has only produced 260 Model 3s so far
Tesla delivered its first batch of Model 3s to their owners at the end of July and production was supposed to steadily ramp up during the following months. Elon Musk predicted that around 100 cars would be produced in August, 1,500 in September and 20,000 in December, with 10,000 cars per week being the production target in 2018. But so far that plan has failed. In a recap on third quarter vehicle production and deliveries, Tesla said that only 260 Model 3s were produced and just 220 were delivered.
See how Tesla’s Model 3 has changed since its debut
EV fans and some 400,000 buyers are excited about Tesla Model 3 production and upcoming first deliveries, largely because it's one of the first affordable, long-range electric cars. There's also the Tesla mystique -- with the comely Model S and X EVs, Musk & Co. showed they have serious design chops. However, some folks were underwhelmed with the Model 3 design, particularly the stubby front end.
Tesla will deliver the first 30 Model 3s on July 28th
Tesla will start delivering its much-anticipated Model 3 EV this month, as promised. CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company will have a "handover party for [the] first 30 customer Model 3s on the 28th." He added that production will grow exponentially, "so August should be 100 cars and September above 1,500." By December, the company will be building 20,000 Model 3s per month, he said in a subsequent tweet. The goal is to produce up to 10,000 Model 3 EVs per week by 2018.
Ableton's interactive lessons teach the basics of music production
It's incredibly easy to make a music track today with all the killer tools out there. You don't have to convince a bunch of musicians to show up in your garage to record a session, nor do you need to become a multi-instrumentalist like Prince. All you need is a decent digital audio workstation like GarageBand or Ableton Live, and you can put together your own version of a hit song in a surprisingly short amount of time. Not everyone is savvy about creating tunes with their computer, however. In order to help, the folks behind Ableton Live have a new website called Learning Music to help anyone with a web browser learn the basics of modern music production.
Akai brings its iMPC music production app to Android devices
Akai's iOS-friendly iMPC app has been giving musicians and producers a much more mobile version of its MPC (Music Production Center) hardware for a while now. During MWC this week, the company is announcing a version for Android devices. There's a catch though: For now, it's only available on Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets. Despite that caveat, you can expect the same 1,200 samples, 80 editable sequences and 50 editable programs the iOS version offers.
Boeing plans to build 3D-printed modular satellites
Boeing is known for building huge, high-end satellites that cost roughly $150 million each, but that could change in the future. The aerospace corporation plans to adopt new production practices that involve the use of modular 3D-printed parts and far fewer workers than it's used to, according to The Wall Street Journal. Its current procedures that require customized manual assembly cost too much and take far too long -- apparently, you can count the number of satellites it builds in a year on two hands. Boeing's satellite business chief Paul Rusnock told the WSJ that the company can't continue what it's been doing and remain competitive.
Apple's $200 education bundle includes apps like Final Cut Pro X
Companies usually give college students, teachers, faculty and staff some solid discounts on both hardware and software. Today, Apple is doing just that with a new audio and video education bundle. The software pack offers Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4 and MainStage 3 for $200. For reference, that's the price you would typically pay for Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X will set you back $300.
Nintendo kills the Wii U, at least in Japan
Nintendo has quietly updated its Japanese website to say that production of the Wii U, at least domestically, has ended. As spotted by Kotaku, the listings for the console now include the phrase "Production End (Within Japan.)" We've known since last November that executives were sharpening the axe, but not when they'd actually swing it. Either way, if you've been holding out on buying a Wii U, it's probably worth getting a wriggle on.
GarageBand on iOS is now a more capable music production suite
Apple's GarageBand is a good place to get started with recording, but it's useful for more advanced skill levels as well. The company just revealed an update to the iOS version of the app that gives the software a few more tools for tracking on the go. First, the powerful Alchemy synthesizer from Apple's pro-grade Logic software is now available as an instrument in the mobile version of GarageBand. It includes over 150 patches capable of producing sounds for a range of genres.
RZA's advice for starting out in music production
After a performance with electronic music duo Parisi here at CES, we sat down with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan to chat about Roli Blocks. The modular touch-sensitive pieces of tech snap together to create a user-friendly way to start making music in minutes. They're a fun option for beginners and pros alike, and the hip hop producer offered advice for people looking to dive into music for the first time, what makes Blocks unique and the types of sounds you can expect from the gear.