Skip to main content

Weekly Rewind: New MacBooks, Twitter layoffs, and Airbnb’s NYC struggle

airbnb trips launch airbnbtoronto office
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week. Everything from what happened at Apple’s big MacBook event to Hubble’s latest discovery, it’s all here.

Apple debuts new MacBook Pro, TV app, and more at today’s special event

wr_10_28_01
Image used with permission by copyright holder

On Thursday, Apple hosted one of its trademark special events — just a matter of hours after Microsoft’s rival briefing on the future of its Surface line and Windows 10. Tim Cook opened the show in understated style, presenting a slideshow of photographs taken by iPhone 7 users to attendees. However, it wouldn’t take long for the event to move on to the topic of the day: some big changes to the MacBook Pro line, and plenty of demonstrations highlighting how users will benefit.

Read the full story here.

Microsoft unveils pricey but powerful Surface Book update, Surface Studio at NY event

wr_10_28_02
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft’s event in New York on Wednesday was a lot more than just a Windows 10 showcase. The Surface lineup added two major products, a revised Surface Book and, yes, the Surface Studio. The hotly anticipated Surface Studio marries the success of the Surface lineup with an elegant and intuitive desktop experience. The Studio is, frankly, a gorgeous product. Here’s everything you need to know.

Read the full story here.

Want to sit courtside? The NBA will live-stream 25 games in VR this season

wr_10_28_03
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The idea of a courtside view of Kevin Durant and Steph Curry launching three-pointers in the same jersey is surreal enough if you’re watching on TV, let alone virtual reality. Today, the NBA has unveiled the full schedule for the 25 games it will live-stream with leading VR producer NextVR once a week in virtual reality for the 2016-17 season. All 30 teams will appear in at least one of the 25 games. One game will be live-streamed in VR every Tuesday via the free NextVR app’s NBA channel.

Read the full story here.

Honda’s Clarity Fuel Cell can drive 366 miles on a single tank of hydrogen

wr_10_28_04
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hydrogen-fueled vehicles remain a controversial subject, but proponents of the technology just picked up a serious feather for their zero-emission caps. Honda has announced that its upcoming Clarity Fuel Cell sedan will feature an Environmental Protection Agency driving range of 366 miles, which gives it the best rating of any electric vehicle without a combustion engine range extender. That means if you’re looking to take a road trip without spewing any additional carbon into the atmosphere, hydrogen might just be your best bet.

Read the full story here.

Hubble finds 10 times the number of galaxies in our universe, making Earth but a grain of sand

wr_10_28_05
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A recent census performed by NASA and the ESA have updated the number of galaxies in the observable universe and unsurprisingly, original estimations were very wrong. When the Hubble Deep Field telescope first began capturing images in the mid-1990’s, scientists determined the number of galaxies in the universe to sit between 100 to 200 billion. Now, an international team led by Christopher Conselice from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom just found those initial estimates to be roughly 10 times too low.

Read the full story here.

Amid losses, Twitter confirms that 9 percent of its workforce will be let go

wr_10_28_06
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Having released its earnings report for the third quarter of 2016, Twitter has now confirmed that it will be laying off 9 percent of its workforce, or around 350 employees. This is a slightly greater proportion than Bloomberg originally reported, as Twitter was expected to lay off around 8 percent of its employee base. This follows a similar move it made last year when current CEO Jack Dorsey took over the reins.

Read the full story here.

The Immotor Go electric scooter wheels you around in style

wr_10_28_07
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Segways. Ebikes. Hoverboards. The field of personal transportation is a booming one, and likely to remain one for some time: By some estimates, the personal transportation device market is forecast to grow to nearly 25 million owners by 2020. The problem? Supplying power to the devices on which all those folks will be riding, and doing so safely. But ambitious startup Immotor is proposing a solution: the Immotor Go scooter and its companion modular power cell, the Super Battery.

Read the full story here.

This killer Halloween blender blood recipe is to die for

wr_10_28_08
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Halloween is fast approaching and that means it’s time for all of those fun (albeit gory) costume projects your kids want to undertake for the spookiest night of the year. Among the most requested costume accessories will no doubt be fake blood, and we’ve got you covered on that. Many parents may be looking for an edible or at least safe-to-ingest fake blood recipe as an alternative to the products available in stores. The team over at Steve Spangler Science has put together this killer recipe for fake blood.

Read the full story here.

Using wood pulp and footsteps, a professor just found a new source of renewable energy

wr_10_28_09
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While thousands of people the world over continue to go solar to generate alternative energy, a lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison just made a major breakthrough on a completely unique new conductive material: wood pulp. While the mention of wood pulp mention leaves many scratching their head, the lab found a way to manufacture floorboards out of the commonly wasted material and did so in a manner that took advantage of its composition of cellulose nanofibers.

Read the full story here.

In New York, it’s now a crime to advertise short-term apartment listings on Airbnb

wr_10_28_10
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hoping to find a cheap pad to crash while drifting through the Big Apple? You probably won’t be doing it through Airbnb. On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that levies steep fines on property owners who advertise the short-term availability of their apartments and homes. The legislation, which the New York state legislature passed in June, effectively strengthens New York’s existing laws on short-term property listings.


Read the full story here.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Apple ‘Unleashed’ event: New MacBook Pros, M1 Pro/Max, AirPods 3, and more
Tim Cook Apple Unleashed

Nearly a year after the first M1-based MacBooks debuted, we're finally getting the sequel. Apple's prerecorded Unleashed event revealed updates to Apple Music and the Mac, including new processors and a redesign for the MacBook Pros.

Apple CEO Tim Cook opened the company's special Unleashed presentation to announce a new Apple Music plan, new MacBook Pro models with a notch, new M1 Pro and M1 Max processors, and new Home Pod Mini colors in time for the holidays.
The new MacBook Pros with a notch

Read more
Despite the notch, the new MacBook Pro looks like an amazing comeback
The new Macbook Pro being announced.

Apple launched major updates to the MacBook Pro at its October Unleashed event, putting to bed many months of speculation surrounding the device. The company revealed an all-new 14-inch model starting at $1,999, alongside a refreshed 16-inch model that starts at $2,499.

The update brings many features that have been long rumored to the 14-inch model. The most notable of them is the most obvious: The change in display size. The device’s bezels have been thinned down, allowing Apple to squeeze a 14-inch panel into the frame without increasing the laptop’s footprint. That should result in a more immersive experience while using the new MacBook Pro and bring it in line with other premium laptops.

Read more
New redesigned MacBook Pros might launch in September alongside the iPhone 13
Macbook

It has been a tough time recently to be a MacBook Pro fan. While rumors of an all-new MacBook Pro 14 and refreshed MacBook Pro 16 have been doing the rounds for what feels like an eternity, a series of potential launch dates have come and gone without so much as a glimpse of a shiny new Apple laptop. Now, another possible release date has reared its head.

According to a DigiTimes report, Apple is gearing up to announce its new MacBook Pro models late in the third quarter of this year. The third quarter runs from July 1 to September 30, so DigiTimes’ prediction seems to indicate a September launch date.

Read more