Skip to main content

Weekly Rewind: Driverless pizza delivery, defusing volcanos, a 707hp Jeep

A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top tech stories, from what to expect at IFA 2017 to Domino’s driverless pizza car  — it’s all here.

What to expect from IFA 2017, and how to watch major live-streamed announcements

top tech stories IFA
Image used with permission by copyright holder

IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) is a consumer tech show in Germany that’s widely considered the CES of Europe. This year, we’ll almost certainly be treated to great products including new smartphones, smart home and Internet of Things devices, laptops, and more.

The show runs from September 1 to September 6, but press conferences from major manufacturers, like Samsung, begin on August 30. Here’s everything we expect from the show.

Read: What to expect from IFA 2017, and how to watch major live-streamed announcements

LG V30 hands-on review

top tech stories LG V30
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

LG may have been one of the first smartphone manufacturers to release an edge-to-edge “bezel-less” phone in 2017, but the G6’s early release forced the company to use an older Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. Nearly all other flagship phones utilize the superior Snapdragon 835 chip. Sales of the G6 haven’t been stellar, but the latest LG V30 smartphone may finally put the company on the right track. It features hardware specifications that match other high-end 2017 phones, and it continues the design trend of minimizing edges around the screen. In our LG V30 hands-on review, we found it to be a great phone all-around, with plenty of nifty features to love.

Read: LG V30 hands-on review

An AI just beat George R.R. Martin to writing the latest ‘Game of Thrones’ novel

top tech stories AI Game of Thrones
Image used with permission by copyright holder

When it comes to information processing, computers tend to be way faster than we are. The same thing may be true when it comes to generating new plotlines for A Song of Ice and Fire, the series of novels better known to TV fans as Game of Thrones. After all, with six years having elapsed since his last book, 2011’s A Dance With Dragons, was published, author George R.R. Martin certainly appears to be in no rush to publish its follow-up. So it’s no surprise that the producers of the TV show are currently coming up with their own storylines.

That’s where the work of one computer science-savvy fantasy fan enters the picture. Colorado-based software engineer Zack Thoutt has trained a recurrent neural network (RNN) to predict events for the as-yet-unfinished sixth novel in the series, The Winds of Winter. As with the real-life writers on the TV show, the data set the RNN is gleaned from the roughly 5,000 pages of existing novels in the series. It was then set to generate chapters, with Thoutt kicking each one off by giving the AI a “prime word” to riff on, before letting it go off in its own direction.

Read: An AI just beat George R.R. Martin to writing the latest ‘Game of Thrones’ novel

Scientists detect strange repeating radio burst on the other side of the cosmos

top tech stories Radar
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It seems like every time we attempt to take a step toward better understanding our cosmos we are left with more questions than answers — a regular Bonini’s Paradox. Just a few years ago we didn’t even know that the cosmic phenomena known as fast radio bursts (FRB) — rare, bright, and inexplicable signals from beyond our galaxy — existed. And until recently, only one of these FRBs had been recorded on more than one occasion. However, last week, a team has recorded yet another repeating FRB.

The scientific community has been perplexed by these enigmatic signals for the past 10 years. Currently, the explanation behind these FRBs range from outbursts of neutron stars to some sort of propulsion system used by an alien civilization on the opposite side of the universe. Some have even suggested these signals are the result of dark matter — another space phenomenon we know very little about — smacking into black holes.

Read: Scientists detect strange repeating radio burst on the other side of the cosmos

How to use the Amazon trade-in program

top tech stories Amazon Trade-In
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Did you know you can trade-in products like smartphones and tablets to Amazon and get store credit? The Amazon Trade-in program has been around for some time, but if you haven’t heard about it before, here’s how to use it.

Through the program, you can trade in a slew of different items — but perhaps the most important these days is the smartphone. If you’re in the market for a new phone, Amazon will buy your old phone from you to help offset the cost. Interested in the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8? Amazon could pay you up to $170 for a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, which could go straight to helping you buy your new phone.

Read: How to use the Amazon trade-in program

Domino’s and Ford are working together on driverless pizza delivery

top tech stories Domino's driverless pizza
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Soon, you may not have to tip your pizza delivery driver anymore but not because the fast food industry is going tipless — rather, because it’s going driverless. That is right, your pies could soon be coming your way in autonomous delivery vehicles. That is, if you are ordering from Domino’s. According to The Verge, the pizza franchise partnered with Ford to test self-driving pizza delivery cars, hoping to gauge how well (or poorly) pizza enthusiasts respond to and engage with this newfangled technology.

Over the course of the next few weeks, some Domino’s customers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will have the option of getting their pizzas delivered in a Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicle. Alas, the car won’t be entirely without a driver (so you should probably still tip). All cars will be operated by a Ford safety engineer, and will actually have quite a few other passengers in the form of additional researchers who will be tasked with examining the last 50 feet of the drive and the customer experience.

Read: Domino’s and Ford are working together on driverless pizza delivery

Here’s how Amazon could change Whole Foods (and grocery shopping)

top tech stories Amazon Whole Foods
Image used with permission by copyright holder

What would the world be like if Amazon owned actual retail stores? We’re on the cusp of the answer to that question. Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market has been finalized. Amazon now owns 431 Whole Foods supermarkets. But don’t worry — Whole Foods will still operate under its own brand, and remain headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company also assures loyal shoppers that it will continue to grow its team and create jobs by opening new stores and expanding support of local farmers and artisans.

The deal between Amazon and Whole Foods Market was announced in June. Deciding that competitors won’t be harmed and people will still have plenty of places to buy food, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) blessed the merger in late August, according to Bloomberg. On the same day, Whole Foods Market shareholders approved the deal, Reuters reported.

Read: Here’s how Amazon could change Whole Foods (and grocery shopping)

2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk first drive review

top tech stories Jeep
2018 Jeep® Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Image used with permission by copyright holder

A 707-horsepower sport utility vehicle seems a bit out of step with a car industry that’s currently fixated on electrifying everything and even taking the driver out of the equation whenever possible. And to gas-mileage-be-damned enthusiasts, the concept of a high-riding SUV with super car-like capability is a bit of a curiosity. As we discovered in our 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk review, it’s a sentiment that hasn’t been lost on Jeep’s brass.

“You might be asking yourself the question, ‘Why make this vehicle?’” Jeep brand director Scott Tallon confessed to a room full of journalists before our test drive. With a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 under the hood, along with hardware from the likes of BremboBilstein, and other racing name plates — this track-focused machine seems out of step for a company that built its reputation on crawling over rocks. But Tallon assured us that the Trackhawk’s actions would speak louder than words.

Read: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk first drive review

NASA has a crazy plan to prevent the Yellowstone supervolcano from exploding

top tech stories Yellowstone
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Life on this little space rock of ours is delicate to say the least. Be it an asteroid impact, pandemic, or casual nuclear launch, there are dozens of unique ways in which we could easily too go the way of the Dodo. While we’ve spent boatloads of money preparing for a cataclysmic extinction-level asteroid impact event, there’s a much more imminent threat lurking just beneath our feet. The Yellowstone supervolcano is due for an eruption and could send us back to the Stone Ages in just a few fiery moments — but don’t worry, NASA has a plan.

A study by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory concluded that the Yellowstone supervolcano, a massive pool of magma beneath the national park, is a much graver existential threat to life on this planet than any potential large-scale asteroid impact event. There are 20 known supervolcanoes on Earth with a major eruption occurring every 100,000 years or so. Here’s the bad news: An eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano could bury the bulk of the United States under tons of ash and lava, change the climate of the Earth for centuries, and potentially kill millions in the process.

Read: NASA has a crazy plan to prevent the Yellowstone supervolcano from exploding

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…
The $999 iPad Pro M4 is discounted by $100 at select stores today
Writing in Arabic script using the ESR Geo Digital Pencil on the M4 iPad Pro.

If you want one of the best tablets, it is only natural to gravitate towards the iPad Pro line. It is the top of the iPad line, and we compare the iPad Pro M4 and Microsoft Surface Pro side by side. These are intense products. And right now you can get the 11-inch version of the iPad Pro M4 for just $899. That's $100 off its usual $999 price. Tap the appropriate button below to jump to this deal at the retailer of your choice or keep reading to see why we like it so much.

Why you should buy the iPad Pro M4
The basic stat line of the iPad Pro M4 is quite impressive. Its 11-inch OLED screen has a 2420 x 1668 pixel resolution that refreshes at 120Hz, and in our iPad Pro M4 review we noted that it has a noticeable "boost in saturation, contrast, and viewing angle" compared to previous iPads. The speakers are fantastic too, producing "enough thump that you can clearly feel the sonic vibrations if you're holding the slate in your hands." The M4 iPad Pro has 8GB of RAM and (this version) has 256GB of memory storage.

Read more
This Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra deal from Mint Mobile saves you $380
The screen on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

If you've been waiting for phone deals on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, here's your chance at a $200 discount. You can get its 256GB model for only $1,100 instead of $1,300, but there's a catch -- you have to sign up to a Mint Mobile subscription. That's not a negative though, as you can get the service's Unlimited plan for only $180 for 12 months instead of $360. All in all, it's the 256GB Samsung Galaxy Ultra with a 12-month Unlimited plan from Mint Mobile for $1,280 instead of $1,660, for total savings of $380. This is a limited-time offer though, so you have to act fast if you want to take advantage of it.

Why you should buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Read more
Latest iPhone Fold rumor tells us a little more about the camera
Semi-open state of a foldable iPhone concept

Foldable phones have been around for over five years now and there are several options available. It's not just Samsung and Google in the folding space, but Motorola, Huawei, Oppo, OnePlus and Honor too. There is one company notably missing however, and that's Apple. 

The company has long been rumoured to be working on a folding iPhone, and there's talk of a larger folding device too. Both are speculated to enter mass production in late 2026 with a launch then happening towards the end of next year or early 2027. 

Read more