The drone won’t be landing on your yard with your food in tow. After a restaurant loads the machine with your order, it’ll fly to a drop-off point where an Uber driver will be taking over the delivery process. Uber’s Elevate Cloud Systems, its airspace management system, will be tracking the drone and notifying the driver when the order is ready and where to pick it up. So, you’ll still be dealing with a delivery personnel — you may just get your meals faster than before.
Back in 2018, company chief Dara Khosrowshahi talked about the possibility of starting a drone-based food delivery service by 2021. Uber might beat that timeline if all goes well, though: it’s planning to start drone deliveries in San Diego, where is has already made a few test deliveries in partnership with McDonald’s, in the summer of 2020.
That new trailer for The Mandalorian isn’t the only Star Wars news to come out tonight, as Disney has announced that a planned feature film trilogy from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss is now off. The deal was announced with much fanfare about a year and a half ago with plans to release the first movie in 2022, but in the time since, Lucasfilm released Solo: A Star Wars Story to disappointing results, Benioff and Weiss signed a huge overall deal with Netflix worth a reported $200 million and the Game of Thrones finale happened — some of us have different feelings about that.
According to the pair in statements released to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, the problem is just one of those things: “there are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects.”
Other things that have changed include the details around Disney+, and that Marvel boss Kevin Feige is working on a Star Wars project, in addition to the planned trilogy helmed by Rian Johnson. While this trilogy may be on ice, we’ll see even more in that world over the next few years, even after The Mandalorian debuts on November 12th, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theater screens on December 20th.
At the moment the tool focuses on tests related to heart disease and cancer, the top two leading causes of death in the US, and on flu that affects millions each year. You’ll be able to set a reminder for your checkup if you scheduled one for a particular recommended test, or mark it as done.
Facebook says the tests the tool recommends are free of charge with insurance coverage, but it can also point you to low-cost options if you need them. If your phone’s Location Services are switched on, you’ll be able to use the tool to find Federally Qualified Health Centers near you. It can also point you to convenient locations where you can get flu shots, such as grocery stores, pharmacies and urgent care clinics.
Finally, since Facebook’s history is marred by numerous privacyissues, the company is trying to preempt concerns by stressing that Preventive Health doesn’t provide the company access to your test results. It also says that it won’t share your activity within the tool with third parties, including health organizations and insurance companies. Finally, the company claims it won’t show ads based on the info you provide, such as what tests you choose to take.
Need a reason to stay interested in Disney+? Between Netflix’s content assault, an HBO Max event tomorrow and Apple TV+ launching this week, Disney’s plan to stand out is apparently this new trailer for its live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian. Fortunately, in contrast with early reviews for Apple’s TV shows, the one minute 45 second preview delivers, with action showing not only star Pedro Pascal’s character, but much more of the world than earlier teasers.
Disney+ launches November 12th with its price set at $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually.
This week Apple TV+ debuts with new series like The Morning Show, See and For All Mankind. So far, reviews are uneven, but if you have Apple’s hardware then you’ll get a free trial to decide for yourself. There’s also the World Series, F1 action in the US and an NFL game in London. For gamers, Afterpartyis ready on multiple platforms, while Nintendo is releasing Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the Switch.
On streaming, Amazon Prime is back with season two of its Tom Clancy series Jack Ryan, while Netflix has an Arsenio Hall comedy special, Atypical, Queer Eye and We Are the Wave. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
The rationale for the proposal won’t surprise you. Pai argued in an opinion piece that Chinese companies are beholden to demands from the country’s intelligence agencies, and that companies like Huawei could theoretically be forced to install backdoors or otherwise cooperate with surveillance on “sensitive” American communications. The Chairman claimed that vulnerabilities in Huawei software “confirm the risk,” although he didn’t provide any evidence that Huawei’s equipment had been used for spying.
FCC commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal in two parts at its November 19th meeting. If it went forward, it could have significant ramifications for carriers. Some providers, particularly smaller rural ones, have chosen networking hardware from Chinese providers due to lower prices. The technology can sometimes cost half as much as equivalents from Ericsson and Nokia. The FCC may have to pay hefty sums just to make the ‘safe’ equipment viable for rural telecoms, and those companies would still have to deal with lengthy replacement schedules and possible service disruptions.
The new software also introduces audio Handoffs with iPhones. You can bring your iPhone close to put calls on speaker, take your home listening on the road or otherwise listen where you see fit.
Other additions? You can listen to ambient sounds to relax, and set sleep timers with either those sounds or music to help you fall asleep. And if you’d like music to play on your HomePod when the lights come on, you can add music to HomeKit scenes.
The update should arrive automatically through the Home app on your iPhone, but you can force it to arrive by pressing the house icon in the Home app and choosing Software Update. While the upgrade won’t make you forget rivals like Amazon’s Echo Studio or the Google Home Max, Apple is clearly bent on eliminating some of the hurdles that would keep you from getting a HomePod.
The balloon wasn’t small or simple. The entire apparatus spanned half the size of a basketball court and was meant to float about 65,000 feet above the Earth (not technically in space, we’d add), collecting selfies from the ground, superimposing them on live photos of the planet and returning them to the sender. It was supposed to continue floating until October 31st, but clearly fell a few days short of that goal.
Samsung’s balloon builder (Raven Industries) has picked up the payload, and the tech giant itself has apologized for “any inconvenience this may have caused.” It’s ultimately a mild embarrassment that won’t ding Samsung’s reputation. However, it’s also clear that things could have gone much worse — Samsung may be thankful that it’s not cutting a check for house repairs.
The company’s flagship series also appears to be its most divisive. What consensus there is suggests The Morning Show doesn’t get off to a great start, nor does it do justice to its #MeToo inspiration. Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall was particularly down on the first three episodes, saying The Morning Show is “Sorkin without Sorkin, lacking the snappy dialogue, the soaring rhetoric, or any attempt whatsoever to argue for why anyone should care about the future of this show-within-the-show.” Ouch.
However, the show features strong performances. In particular, critics liked Jennifer Aniston, noting she delivers one of her best performances in years. “Her Alex Levy is vulnerable, calculating, naive, arrogant, controlling, and messy all at once, a wonderfully freewheeling bundle of emotions and ruthless business savvy that jockey for dominance in her personality and in her constantly changing expressions,” writes the AV Club‘s Alex McLevy.
See
It might not come as a surprise, but of all the shows launching with Apple TV+, See is the one critics from Variety and the AV Club say is least worth your time. In short, they say the dystopian tale is derivative of other, much better sci-fi series. Similarly, beyond stars Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard, the rest of the cast is uninspiring. The last of the three episodes reviewers saw ends on a cliffhanger, which suggests See could turn into a more interesting show. However, neither website was confident the show will deliver, as that would require See striking out in a new, more original direction.
Dickinson
Critics aren’t sure exactly what to think of Dickinson yet. Part of the problem here is that the series, which is a retelling of poet Emily Dickinson’s life, dances between multiple genres and not always successfully. However, one thing that has stood out for several reviewers is rapper Wiz Khalifa’s performance as the personification of death (Dickinson wrote more than 500 poems on the subject). Likewise, much of the female cast, including lead Hailee Steinfeld and co-star Anna Baryshnikov, is compelling.
For All Mankind
Thankfully for fans of alternate history and the work of Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore, it looks like For All Mankind is the one gem in Apple TV+’s initial catalog. According to the reviews we’ve read, the series isn’t always successful, particularly as it attempts to give screentime to all of its sprawling ensemble cast, but where it does succeed, it soars. Cinematography and direction, particularly in space scenes, are two obvious highlights, according to reviews from Variety and the AV Club, as is the attention to historical details.
If there’s a throughline to the reviews, it’s that it is not worth jumping on Apple TV+ at launch. Yes, the service is more affordable than Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other competing streaming platforms, but with no blockbuster third-party content, and underwhelming originals, you’re getting a lot less for your money.
At the beginning of the month, Waymo said it was close to offering autonomous rides with no backup driver. This announcement suggests that it’s plans are on schedule. Unfortunately, Waymo has not confirmed when it will open the driverless rides to all customers in Phoenix, and users who have signed up for the service have signed non-disclosure agreements.
Krafcik noted that Waymo has opened the world’s first factory dedicated to L4 autonomous driver integration. The company is also testing its automated driver technology on Peterbilt trucks, as it looks to expand into trucking and commercial deliveries, Reuters reports. “We think trucking is a really interesting application of the Waymo driver,” Krafcik said.
“In the heart of Detroit, MI we’ve opened the world’s first factory 100% dedicated to L4 autonomous Driver integration. Our factory recently completed 30 I-PACES that are now in CA for development and testing.” –@johnkrafcik@Forbes#30Under30Summitpic.twitter.com/MmntZLiVX4
