In its year-and-a-half on the market, Pokémon GO is changing the way gamers interact with technology. The game's global marketing lead Archit Bhargava joins us to discuss the app's unprecedented success in bringing augmented reality to the mainstream. Bhargava says the app is more than a game, citing how it is inspiring people to get out of the house more and explore their communities.
He gives an update on the game's new launch of over fifty new Pokémon in the virtual environment. Bhargava also tells us how Pokémon GO is incorporating real-world elements into its latest version. He tells how weather conditions will determine what sorts of Pokémon will appear on screen.
Finally, we take a look back at the game's partnership with Sprint hitting its one-year anniversary. A new promotion offers users $100 in free PokéCoins for anyone who signs up for the carrier's Unlimited plans. The partnership also turned Sprint's stores into virtual gyms in the landscape of the game.
David Ewalt, Editor-in-Chief at Gizmodo joins Cheddar News to discuss a TikTok moderator suing the platform over mental trauma caused by graphic videos
The pandemic has supercharged the creator economy, and there are no signs of it slowing down no matter when the pandemic officially ends. Creators prove to be a key factor in driving purchasing decisions and retail sales, and an increasing amount of platforms are taking advantage of the social influence. Karissa Bell, senior editor at Engadget, joins cheddar news to discuss the creator economy boom.
The E-V maker Tesla has had a wild year. The company managed to continue to dominate the U.S. electric vehicle space despite growing competition and production delays. As the end comes to an end, Tesla finds itself growing richer and richer. Author of Risk Ritual Newsletter Richard Smith, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Venture capitalists and CEOs are clashing over the future of the internet. Web3 is the tech world's name for a decentralized, blockchain-based internet that runs on cryptocurrency. It was recently the topic of a tweet from Block CEO and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey who wrote that Web3 will not actually be owned by users, and instead be controlled by rich venture capitalists. Dorsey later shared that he was blocked on Twitter by Marc Andreesen, co-founder of VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, which has invested billions of dollars into Web3 and crypto projects. Correspondent for DealBook from the New York Times, Ephrat Livni, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what this could mean for the future of Web3.
Prices at the pump this year reached a seven-year high, and a new forecast from GasBuddy shared with CNN predicts that gas prices will only continue to rise in 2022 and that the national average could even reach $4.00 a gallon; however, analysts at GasBuddy say anything could happen when it comes to gas prices in the future, as the pandemic has made it difficult to make any predictions about the economy. Consumer Energy Alliance federal policy advisor Michael Zehr joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
