The Musk Express

Yesterday, Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Paypal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors revealed a new idea that could use the power of the sun to transport people at supersonic speeds up to nine-hundred miles.

Called the Hyperloop, the elevated or subterranean train-in-a-tube is designed to be more cost-effective than modern mag-lev trains, costing only six-billion dollars to build the Los Angeles to San Francisco route, which when complete would reduce the commute down to thirty-minutes. According to a study by the US Railroad Administration, a similar route could cost nearly ten times as much using a magnetic-levitation train.

What makes the hyperloop different is its design, which is essentially a giant version of the pneumatic tubes often found in offices and drive through banks. By riding on pressurized air, and compressing air at the nose of the capsule, the vehicles are capable of accelerating up to seven-hundred and sixty miles per hour without creating a sonic boom.

Despite the speed, Musk insists that the ride would be quite comfortable, saying “It would feel like you were riding in an airplane, like you’re riding in a cushion of air.” Best of all for Musk, the service would pay for itself in only twenty years by charging passengers a reasonable twenty dollars for the thirty minute trip.

Turn Your iPhone to a DSLR

Last month, a report surfaced that Sony was set to release a new, powerful camera lens that would attach to smartphones.

More information has recently materialized about the device. Officially called the D-S-C-QX10 and QX100, the new devices will feature Carl Zeiss lenses with a twenty megapixel sensor, Bionz processors, and SD card slots.

The lenses won’t come with any of the normal screens or camera settings. Instead, users will control them using a smartphone or tablet. According to the report, which has not been verified by Sony, the attachment should work on both Android and iOS. The camera that uses the same lens and sensor sells for around seven-hundred-and-fifty dollars, so consumers can expect this gadget to cost a bit more than most camera lens attachments on the market today.

Group Up at Groupon

Plumfare, the latest in a string of apps used to help discover restaurants, has been acquired by Groupon in a deal struck over the weekend.

Unlike most mobile discovery apps, Plumfare works by letting users take pictures of what they ordered, and it allows them to gift that dish to their friends.

You’re able to gift the items through SMS, email or Facebook, and you won’t actually be charged until your friends redeem the gift. Plumfare makes its money by taking a cut of the transaction.The company reassured existing customers, saying that previously purchased gifts will be honored. According to a Plumfare representative, more gifts will be available in the future, and the team will be working with local merchants everywhere to expand the brand’s coverage.

Other strategic acquisitions, like Glassmap, bring with them valuable intellectual property, and much-needed talent for Groupon’s growing mobile development team.

Glass Update Shows Promise

Yesterday, Google announced the latest in their series of monthly updates regarding its Glass project.

Among the changes are new Google Now cards, voice commands for third-party apps, and the frequently requested video player controls. The Google Now cards will surely prove useful to people who need reminders, as it now provides them for their dinner reservations and hotel bookings.

Integration with other apps gives Now cards the ability to help you find movie showtimes, or even change plans on the fly to avoid a bad thunderstorm. Glass users now have the ability to issue voice commands from other services from the main menu, meaning Google is slowly expanding Glass to even more third-party options.

Google is introducing two new voice commands this month – “Post an update,” which will first be supported by Path, and “Take a note,” which will be supported by Evernote. Last, but certainly not least, the video player has finally put the user in control, letting them pause, play, fast forward and rewind, using nothing but gentle taps and swipes on the wearable computer.

Aim High, Shut Down Programs

Due to budget constraints from sequestration, the United States Air Force will be shutting down its space surveillance system that tracks satellites as well as other orbiting objects.

Deactivating the system by October first will save the Air Force fourteen million dollars a year. According to General William Shelton, the system, which was designed in nineteen-sixty-one, is obsolete and can be managed by newer, more accurate technology.

Speaking about possible alternatives, Shelton mentioned a new Space Fence that’s currently in development, which will become the most accurate radar in the Air Force’s space surveillance network.

Ending On A Brown Note

To those of you too young, or too old to remember, there was a time before smartphones, tablets and handheld gaming consoles.

A time when visiting the porcelain throne meant your entertainment was limited to the labels of the nearest shampoo, conditioner, or shower gel bottle, simply because there was nothing better to look at. Now, thanks to a new website called Backlabel, visits to the comfort station can be like a trip down memory lane.

The handy little site randomly generates the backside of a near infinite number of products and bottles, so you’ll never grow tired of reading pointless labels while you spend your quality time in the restroom. So now you can read the shampoo while you…you know.

And that’s all the news we have for today. Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to deliver any more of these stories in the future, and on behalf of all of us at NewsDesk with Kristin Feledy, we would like to thank you for being a loyal viewer, and as always, have a wonderful afternoon.

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