Sprint Is the First to Offer a Free iPhone With Trade In
Sprint Corp. came out with the most aggressive offer yet on Apple Inc. iPhone prices by offering a free phone with a trade-in, challenging its larger peers to follow suit or face subscriber losses with bargain-hunting customers. Sprint Is the First to Offer a Free iPhone With Trade In.
Starting Monday, new and existing Sprint customers can get an iPhone 8 if they trade in an iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Note 8. People with older iPhones, and recent models from Samsung, Motorola, Google Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. can qualify for half-off prices on the iPhone 8, according to a Sprint statement.
After vowing to avoid a repeat of the blistering iPhone price war of last year, Sprint set the lowest price yet this time around. Last week, AT&T Inc. started the battle by offering a buy-one-get-one-free iPhone deal for customers who also subscribe to its DirecTV satellite service.
AT&T’s promotion started Friday and applies to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, among other phones. Neither Sprint nor At&T have said whether their deals will be extended to Apple’s most expensive phone ever -- the $999 iPhone X, aka 10 -- which marks a decade since the company entered the phone business.
With almost every person in the U.S. having at least one phone, the carriers are under pressure to find new customers. Last year, the wireless companies got tangled in cut-throat pricing on the iPhone, an episode the top four carriers didn’t want to repeat. The giveaways took a toll on margins, costing about $200 per subscriber in the second half of 2016, according to Jefferies Group LLC.
“We led the way with free iPhones last year and within a few days, everybody had copied it and we looked at ourselves and said, OK, well, what exactly did that accomplish? Not a lot,” T-Mobile US Inc. Chief Operating Officer Mike Sievert said Thursday at an investor conference.
So far this year, T-Mobile has stayed true to its vow and steered clear of giveaways. Instead, the company offers a $300 trade-in credit for customers buying the iPhone X, as well as the new 8 and 8 Plus. The trade-in must be an iPhone 6 or newer.
Sprint fell 1.3 percent to $7.59 at 11:30 a.m. in New York, while T-Mobile slid 0.3 percent to $61.01.
More Deals
The other top carriers have been relatively restrained so far. Verizon is offering a $300 credit on the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus with trade-in. The company’s list price for the iPhone 8 is $699.99 or $29.17 a month for 24 months, and $799.99 for the 8 Plus or 24 monthly payments of $33.33. AT&T customers who purchase an iPhone can also get an iPad for $99.99. The deal requires a two-year wireless service contract. All the carriers sell the connected Apple Watch. The device needs a $10-a-month data plan. As part of the deals, carriers are giving away the first three months of wireless service.
China Blocks WhatsApp in Latest App Crackdown NY
Bloomberg's Stephen Engle reports on the latest developments in China's app crackdown. He speaks with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Technology. about China Blocks WhatsApp in Latest App Crackdown NY (Source: Bloomberg)
PIA, Audi’s Personal Intelligent Assistant
PIA, Audi’s Personal Intelligent Assistant, is a completely new kind of operating concept. It adapts itself to the driver and handles a large number of routine tasks for him/her.
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Intelligent assistant –
in the Audi Elaine concept vehicle, PIA makes suggestions for navigation destinations independently.
The best operating concept is the one that is ideally adapted to the driver, the one that relieves him/her of as many actions as possible and that autonomously carries out routine operational inputs. PIA, the personal intelligent assistant, follows precisely this principle. Using artificial intelligence methods, PIA combines data intelligently with one another – data from the car, data about the driver, traffic jam reports and traffic projections, as well as information from the internet. PIA also responds to voice inputs and uses tailored algorithms to communicate autonomously and adaptively with the user.
PIA gets to know the driver by observing their behavior patterns. This opens it up to use for a broad range of applications: navigation, selection of music, selection of the desired Audi connect service, climate control, suggestion of a parking space or maintaining the regular distance to vehicles ahead on the highway. PIA applies machine learning methods to gain insights and adapts the car’s functions to the behaviors and needs of the driver. It also makes active recommendations.
A server in the secure Audi cloud hosts and processes the PIA data. Customers can view and manage this data at any time via their myAudi account. They can delete or edit this data, for instance in the case of a move. What’s more, they can be automatically transferred to other cars. The car identifies the individual user, loads their user profile, and PIA then adapts the car and its interactive behavior accordingly.
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Attentive companion –
PIA assists its user in every situation, be it in the car or on the smartphone.
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Forward looking –
the Audi Elaine technology study from the Frankfurt Motor Show is equipped with the PIA operating system.
400 km/h
Video 1:
World record for the BUGATTI Chiron: the 1,500 PS super car has accelerated from a standing start to 400 km/h (249 mph) and braked back to a standstill in just 42 seconds (41.96). This is the fastest time ever reached and officially measured for this driving manoeuvre for a production vehicle throughout the world. The Chiron completed the manoeuvre in a distance of only 3.112 kilometres. This underscores the supercar’s unique position in the extreme performance range. The world record was set by Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, two-time winner of the Indy 500 and three-time winner of the 24 hours of Daytona. The 0-400-0 manoeuvre is the first step on the way to a new world speed record for production vehicles which Bugatti intends to set in 2018 and a further highlight in the success story of the Chiron.
Please note: The video shows the actual 0-400-0 run in real time, so it is 41.96 seconds long.
Fuel consumption, l/100km: urban 35.2 /extra urban 15.2 /combined 22.5; CO2 emissions, combined, g/km: 516; efficiency class: G
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Production Bike World Record - 0-400 km/h in 26 sec
Kenan Sofuoglu / Osman Gazi Bridge -TURKEY 30.06.2016
Kawasaki Ninja H2R
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Ghost Rider 2011 goin 400 km/h
Audi's new luxury SUV has a virtual cockpit
This is the new 2018 Audi SQ5 powered by a 3-liter, turbocharged V-6 engine with 354 horse power, 0-60 mph in 5,1 seconds. Top speed: 155 mph.
This Audi's new luxury SUV has a virtual cockpit. This virtual cockpit features maps from Google Earth, a large infotainment display and the car has raising and lowering technology. which can help when loading cargo. Sport steering wheel, quilted top-stitched leather seats,
20 miles -per-gallon might be a disappoinment for some but it's best known as a performance SUV. The SQ5 starts at $54.300 .
