If you’re one of the over 400,000 people who put down a deposit on Tesla’s upcoming Model 3 “affordable” electric cars, we have some good news: Tesla boss Elon Musk says the car has passed all regulatory requirements for production two weeks ahead of schedule, and manufacturing of the all-electric sedan will commence immediately. The first 30 buyers will receive their cars on the 28th according to tweets Musk posted today.
The Model 3 starts at about $35,000 but Tesla said most buyers tacked on a few options, making the average price about $40,000. Musk says production of the cars will be a trickle at the start – just 100 cars by the end of August – but should ramp up quickly with 20,000 cars a month rolling off the robot assembly lines by December. Musk has said he plans to make 500,000 of the cars a year after 2018. So is the Model 3 the new Model T of electric cars? Let us know in our YouTube poll.
Maybe it’ll use 20 Questions
More iPhone 8 rumors now: Ming-Chi Kuo, the noted Apple products prognosticator who has been right more than wrong in the past, in now saying that the new iPhone may not have a fingerprint reader…. at all. Kuo says trouble integrating a reader into the rumored full-coverage front display has pushed Apple to use other identification methods, including new 3D sensing ability and facial recognition.
Despite a recent breakthrough on a thru-the-screen print reader, it looks like the tech is either too late or not mature enough for this version of the iPhone, which has been called everything from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone 10 to the “OLED iPhone” or the iPhone Edition. Kuo also says he expects Apple to show three new iPhone models in September, including a 7S and 7S Plus, but the new OLED model will like hit stores later due to production delays.
As always, Apple has confirmed nothing, so we’ll keep collecting the latest rumors and let you know what we hear about the next iPhone.
Lucky 7?
Forever proving that there really is no such thing as bad publicity, Samsung is getting ready to unveil their re-skinned Galaxy Note 7, which they’ve re-branded as the Galaxy Note “Fan Edition.” Because exploding batteries and all, the phone apparently has a lot of fans.
The phones that were the subject of an unprecedented recall last year has been “refurbished,” and by that we mean the old exploding batteries were taken out and fresh, safety-checked batteries were installed. The Fan Edition/Note 7 phones will only be available in South Korea to start, leaving many fans out in the cold.
It’s going to be a limited rollout anyway since Samsung is expected to debut the Note 8 in the next couple of months. But, if you really, really want one, there’s probably a way to get one. Personally, we’d avoid a phone with such a colorful history, but we know there are many Note 7 fans out there. Maybe wait for the Note 8?
DT Daily will return on July 5th!
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
