This year's CES placed car tech front and center, leaving many to ask if it's become the world's best car show. Wired's Michael Calore joins Cheddar to wrap up the biggest trends and hottest gadgets from the Las Vegas electronics expo. The senior editor breaks down the latest advancements in autonomous driving and smart-assistant integrations.
Google took its battle with Amazon for voice supremacy to a new level at CES. The tech giant revealed a number of exciting developments in its smart assistant technology, including third-party smart displays from JBL and Lenovo. Calore reveals whether he thinks Google has closed the gap with Amazon's Alexa suite.
Finally, Peloton unveiled the newest addition to its line of smart exercise equipment. Peloton Tread is a nearly $4,000 treadmill that hopes to generate the same success as the company's interactive bikes. Calore is optimistic about people shelling out big bucks for this new device.
Shankar Chandran, managing director of Samsung Catalyst Fund, told Cheddar at the Web Summit that Samsung is always looking for the next "trillion-dollar opportunity." The gold rush in Silicon Valley is all about data and A.I. now, he said.
Photo-editing app VSCO has already hit 2 million paid subscribers after crossing the 1 million subscribers threshold just in the first quarter of 2018. “It’s really a testament to how consumer-driven we are,” VSCO CEO Joel Flory told Cheddar. VSCO charges $20 per year for its subscription, and the business is now operating at break-even, Flory said.
Disney unveiled the name of its streaming service, Disney +, and some we're less than impressed. Rich Greenfield, analyst at BTIG, said that may be just fine for Disney.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Disney announced earnings for its latest quarter on Thursday, posting better than expected earnings and revenue as the company gets ready to launch its own streaming service to compete with Netflix and Amazon. Disney is also focused on closing its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
OkCupid is getting political. The popular dating app is finding that millennials are prioritizing politics more than ever when looking for a partner in love. Melissa Hobley, CMO of OkCupid, said the app has been asking its users more questions about their political views and using that information to improve their matches.
Despite losing a significant amount in market cap after reporting platform revenue earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates, Roku CEO Anthony Wood said he isn't worried about the company's long-term prospects. "Our business is just fundamentally strong," Wood said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar.
Americans seem to agree on at least one thing: no one likes a traffic jam — and congestion is at its all-time worst. Transportation was a prominent subject of this year's midterm elections. Election Day hosted over 300 transportation and infrastructure initiatives on the ballot, and on both the state and local levels, a number of newly-elected officials are now faced with the task of shaping that legislation and policy.
Bitmain’s Vice President of BTC.com, Alejandro De La Torre, addressed many of the controversies confronting the world's largest crypto mining company in a rare interview with Cheddar. He also said Bitmain is observing more people mining, even as the price of Bitcoin has decreased.
Gillian Tans, the CEO of Booking.com, spoke with Cheddar's Alex Heath at the Web Summit about how the the platform known for hotel deals is transitioning into a full service travel concierge.
