Toyota and Panasonic, two Japanese giants, will create a joint venture, named Prime Life Technologies Corporation, that will merge each companies' housing businesses in order to begin developing "connected" services related to urban development and housing. The company will be a 50-50 partnership between the two and will try to create value in cities and homes by harnessing the opportunities brought about by developments in connected vehicles, home applicants and other devices (also known as IoT - Internet of Things). 

Statements from both companies demonstrate their willingness to combine their respective competencies to create a new value proposition. Toyota is massive player in the mobility and connected vehicles field, while Panasonic's strengths lie in its connected home appliances and IoT business. 

The partnership is the latest venture between the two Japanese companies. Earlier this year, Toyota and Panasonic announced a joint venture that will pull manufacturing and R&D strengths of both companies to build EV (electric vehicle) batteries. 

Click here to read the full article. 

Microsoft is developing AI for its Word online software, called Ideas, that will use machine learning to help improve the clarity, concision, and inclusiveness of your writing. In addition to having features that help improve your writing, Ideas will also have features that assist in reading and styling documents. Test versions of Ideas will become available in June and the software is expected to roll out to everyday users in the fall of this year. 

Ideas will be able to not only suggest grammar changes but also provide recommendations for how to rewrite phrases. When it comes to reading assistance, Ideas will be able to use machine learning to estimate reading times  and explain acronyms and potentially even select the key points from a selected text. Microsoft has also revealed that Ideas will come with a designer feature that will assist users in styling parts of their documents (ex: tables). 

Google has also recently announced it's own AI-based writing assistance tool that will come its online Google Docs software. The tool, according to Google, will not only be able to identify grammar mistakes but will also detect "nuances" in language. 

Click here to read the full article. 

Three of the world's largest automakers announced today that they would be joining together to create a consortium along with SAE International, an automotive engineering group, to help establish "safety guiding principles to help inform standards development" for autonomous vehicles. The new group will be called the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium and will work together on data sharing, safe testing guidelines and vehicle interactions. While the world watches and waits, the United States has yet to successfully pass legislation in its ongoing attempt to discover how to properly regulate self-driving cars. The goal of the consortium will be to expedite standards development and facilitate rule making. 

Concerns about autonomous systems have increased following a fatal crash of an Uber self-driving vehicle in 2018  and two crashes of the highly automated Boeing 787 MAX. The crashes have put regulators' ability to assess the safety of autonomous systems into the spotlight.

The Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium cited a standards group which helped create close to 4,500 aerospace standards as a successful model. 

Click here to read the full article. 

Through a blog post on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained how Facebook's new vision for the future is to become a privacy focused social networking platform.  In the post, Facebook's CEO discussed how he believes Facebook's future will be centered around private, ephemeral, encrypted communication, which represents a large shift from the company's current, open platform news feed. According to Zuckerberg, these changes will occur over the next few years and should also open the way for new online commerce and payments services. ​

In Zuckerberg's Facebook post, he details Facebook's new privacy-focused platform will be built around the following principles:

• Secure data storage - "People should expect that we won't store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression in order to protect data from being improperly accessed."
• Interoperability - "People should be able to use any of our apps to reach their friends, and they should be able to communicate across networks easily and securely."
• Safety - "People should expect that we will do everything we can to keep them safe on our services within the limits of what's possible in an encrypted service."
• Reducing Permanence - "People should be comfortable being themselves, and should not have to worry about what they share coming back to hurt them later. So we won't keep messages or stories around for longer than necessary to deliver the service or longer than people want them."
• Encryption - "People's private communications should be secure. End-to-end encryption prevents anyone -- including us -- from seeing what people share on our services. "
• Private Interactions - "People should have simple, intimate places where they have clear control over who can communicate with them and confidence that no one else can access what they share."

This announcement comes at a time when Facebook is under increased scrutiny over the spread of "fake news," which has resulted in public pressure on the social network company to better moderate its customer content. The new privacy focused social network envisioned above may be designed to address some of these concerns as content will become private from even Facebook itself, reducing its vulnerability to privacy issues.  

A couple of the more concrete changes and policies outlined by Zuckerberg are listed below:

• Facebook will offer an opt-in option to its users that will enable them to send and receive messages across all its apps: Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook.
• Facebook will expand end-to-end encryption to all of its messaging apps while using non-content details and meta-data to identify criminals on its services. The retention of this meta-data will be limited to safety and spam considerations, after which it will be deleted. 
• Facebook will let users control how long messages and chats are visible and message threads will have auto-delete on by default bringing ephemeral characteristics to the communication on its platform. 

Facebook's Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp are all used by more than 1 billion people each. This shift to a more privacy focused social network will make it harder for Facebook to continue generating the level of revenue from targeted advertising that has allowed it to become one of the largest companies in the world. As it undergoes the changes identified above, there is no doubt that the company will have to develop new revenue generating tools, services and strategies. 

It is important to note that Mark Zuckerberg did admit that elements of the plan could still change as the company speaks to experts over the next year. 

Click here to read the full article. 

Tesla announced that it will shift away from physical stores to only having e-commerce, stating that clients will be able to buy a Tesla in North America on their mobile phones in close to 1 minute. Tesla stated that the decision to move away from physical retail locations was driven by the company's need to remain financially sustainable as the move to e-commerce will help Tesla cut operating expenses. Most of the Tesla's current stores will close and those that stay open will become Tesla information centers, galleries, or showcases. The company announced the move to e-commerce at the same time as it finally begins to make available its long awaited "Standard Range" Model 3.

Tesla also announced that in order to serve the needs of its growing customer base, they will be increasing the number of service centers by a significant amount with the goal of providing same day service to all Tesla owners. Current Tesla owners can currently order a mobile service truck through their Tesla mobile app. 

Tesla announced a company-wide restructuring in June of 2018. Although the company has had two back-to-back profitable quarters, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, reported that he isn't expecting Tesla to earn a profit in Q1 of 2019 in a call with reporters. 

Customers who buy a Tesla online will be able try out their vehicle for 1,000 miles or 7 days and still be able to return the car for a full refund. 

Click here to read the full article. 

Microsoft is partnering with Albertsons, the second largest grocery store chain in the United States, to create a "frictionless" customer experience inside their stores. As part of the deal, Microsoft will use their Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure services to apply data science, AI, and cognitive technologies to transform the shopping experience both in store and online. The partnership comes as Amazon is becoming increasingly more focused on the physical retail business with reports that it is planning to open several thousand Amazon Go stores in the United States by 2021. 

According to Microsoft, the two companies will work together to create this frictionless customer experience by helping employees track store inventory and restocking needs while also reducing waiting times and making it easier to find items. They will also work together to improve Albertsons' logistics and supply chain using data science. 

The two companies have already had two successful results from their partnership - Albertsons' eCommence platform and gas station app that allows customers to pay for gas using their phones both run on Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft also partnered with retail giant Walmart, last July, and and Kroger this January. Microsoft will be helping Kroger build high-tech grocery stores and bringing Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure to Walmart over the next 5 years. 

Click here to read the full article. ​

Apple and Goldman Sachs will partner to help iPhone users manage their money by providing them with a credit card that will pair with their iPhones, according to the Wall Street Journal. The credit card will be able to track spending and rewards as well as set spending goals through the iPhone's Wallet application. The card will also offer cash back on most purchases of about 2 percent, with potentially even more from purchases on Apple services and products. According to the report, the card will undergo a testing period with employees soon and will launch officially later in 2019. The partnership will benefit both companies as they look to tap into new revenue sources. 

Apple already gets a small portion of the purchases made through Apple Pay and use of this credit card will undoubtedly increase that amount. Apple is looking to increase its revenue from services as its iPhone sales dipped recently. The iPhone is Apple's largest contributor to company profits. 

Goldman Sachs is looking to offset decreases in its trading business by increasing consumer loans and has recently been making significant pushes into digital payments. The bank could also potentially offer more of its services to Apple customers in the future. 

The credit card will use Mastercard's payment network, according to the report.

Click here to read the full article. 

Audi is launching a new feature to its Traffic Light Information System (TLI), currently functioning with 4,600 intersections across 13 metropolitan areas, called the Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA). Audi's TLI was already able to give drivers an indication of how long they can expect a red light to last, but with GLOSA drivers will now be given information to help them avoid stopping at red lights altogether. GLOSA uses traffic light data and your car's position to calculate and recommend which speed you should travel at to avoid stopping at a red light ahead. Future applications could include see TLI being combined with the car's navigation system to recommend routes that minimize red lights or with the car's stop/start system to automatically turn the car on as the light is about to turn green. 

TLI is currently available on all Audi models except the A3 and TT. Audi is currently the only automaker that provides a traffic light information system in its vehicles, and the system only works with traffic signals that are wired for the service. Experts expect that cities will begin to install more smart traffic signals as more automakers begin to add the technology to their vehicles. 

TLI currently works in the following cities: 

• Dallas
• Denver
• Gainesville
• Houston
• Kansas City
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles 
• New York
• Orlando
• Phoenix 
• Portland
• San Francisco 
• Washington D.C

Click here to read the full article. 

LinkedIn will launch live video capabilities this week, only 18 months after the platform first started supporting video. The product, branded LinkedIn Live, will begin in the United States as an invite - only beta but is expected to eventually begin accepting sign ups through contact forms on LinkedIn. Pete Davis, Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, told TechCrunch that "Video is the fastest growing format on our platform right now, and the most likely to get people talking." LinkedIn Live is expected to focus on earnings calls, conferences, product announcements, Q&As and other professional subjects in line with what is already available on the platform today. LinkedIn reportedly has around 600 million users globally. 

Microsoft reported during its last quarterly earnings report that LinkedIn revenues were up 29 percent and LinkedIn sessions grew 30 percent to hit record levels of engagement. Much of this growth is attributed to LinkedIn's recent foray into video. At the moment LinkedIn's only form of monetization around video is video advertising, but there is a clear opportunity for LinkedIn Live to provide other ways of monetizing content. 

LinkedIn will partner with several third-party live streaming developers (Wirecast, Wowza, Media Systems, Socialive, Switcher Studio, Brandlive) to help creators put out more polished live videos and Microsoft, through its Azure Media Services, will provide the encoding needed. 

Click here to read the full article. 

CES 2019 is well underway and there have been some incredible technology and gadget announcements in the fields of smart homes and devices, AI assisted living, and driverless cars. Everything from flying taxis, intelligent toilets, and solar powered watches to a rollable OLED TV and a liquid/fluid detecting sensor for diapers have been on display. Check out some of our picks for the most interesting technology announcements so far. 
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Here's our list of the most interesting tech gear and gadgets from CES 2019 so far:

• LG Signature OLED TV R - a rollable OLED TV. 
• IBM Q System One - the world's first fully integrated, universal quantum system. 
• iTunes on Samsung Televisions- Samsung made a surprise announcement that Samsung TV owners will now be able to use Apple's iTunes service on their televisions.  
• Koler Numi 2.0 Intelligent Toliet - a connected toilet that brings Alexa, heated seats, speakers, and interactive lights to the bathroom.
• Royale Flexpai Folding Phone - the first foldable phone is being displayed by Royale. 
• Mercedes-Benz Vision Urbanetic Conecpt - an autonomous, modular concept vehicle from Mercedes. 
• Bell Nexus - a flying, hybrid electric air taxi. 
• Aftershokz Xtrainerz - bone conduction headphones with 4GB of storage that let swimmers listen to music underwater. $150
• Monit Smart Diaper Sensor - a sensor that attaches to the back of diapers and detects the presence of fluids or liquids. 
• Miracle Go Twelve - system that helps you grow indoor plants by sending you notifications about when water or other actions are required. $300  
• Harley-Davidson Livewire - the first electric motorcycle from the American company. ~$30,000
• Matrix PowerWatch 2 - a fitness watch that runs off of sunlight and body heat. The watch comes incredibly close to making a fitness device that never needs to be charged a reality. $200
• Y-Brush - a toothbrush that claims to let you brush your teeth in 10 seconds. $125

Click here and here to see more comprehensive lists of the gadgets on display.