Driving may be getting even more dangerous come 2014.Rogers Communications Inc. is partnering with Sprint Corp. to provide Wifi-enabled cars. This service, which Sprint already introduced in the United States last year, could be available in Canada as soon as 2014.

The “connected car” wireless service will provide Canadians high-speed internet access while on the road. However, only cars which include the Sprint Velocity System such as Chrysler will be able access this service. Users will have access to news, sports scores, weather alerts, driving directions and vehicle diagnostics via an in-dash touch screen. Also, the system enables drivers to use their smartphones to start their engines. This all is made possible by built in wireless modems and SIM cards in cars using this system.

With over 20 million vehicles on the road in Canada Rogers see this as a major opportunity for themselves as they look to capitalize on the need for Canadians to be constantly connected to the internet. The price for the WIFI has not yet been disclosed but Rogers is suggesting that users will be able to connect a car as part of their family plans with the company. The phenomenon of Wifi-enabled cars seems to be a large one, as it is estimated that there will be over 100 million connected cars globally  by 2016.

Article Links:

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/9/26/WiFi-enabled-vehicles-coming-to-Canada.aspx

http://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/wi-fi-enabled-cars-coming-to-canada-in-2014-1.1471524

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a vision of transporting people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just 30 minutes. The “Hyperloop” received positive feedback after running some simulated tests a few weeks ago.

The idea of the Hyperloop involves shooting passengers 800mph in a pressurized tunnel linking San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, this is far from being a reality as the Hyperloop would need years of testing to ensure that it is safe. Nonetheless the idea of the Hyperloop is very intriguing and could very well be seen in our lifetime.

Musk initially released the idea of the Hyperloop as an alternative to California’s high speed rail system which has been brought up recently. Musk suggests that the Hyperloop is a better, faster, and cheaper way of transportation. It would cost passengers $40 round trip and would cost $6 billion to make, much less than the $70 billion it would cost to produce the high speedrail system.

Although it is his idea, Musk says he isn’t really interested on working on the project as of yet due to his commitment to Tesla and SpaceX. He hopes someone else will take the idea and run with it. However, if no one does try to produce the Hyperloop, Musk may take on the challenge and develop it into a viable service himself in a couple of years.

Article Links:

http://www.plugincars.com/teslas-elon-musk-proposes-half-hour-tube-ride-between-sf-and-la-127974.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/elon-musk-hyperloop-work-computer-simulation-finds-article-1.1461898

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/12/elon-musks-hyperloop-explained-a-technically-possible-sci-fi-dream-hes-to-busy-to-work-on-right-now/

Hyperloop Video:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/-hyperloop-life-in-the-fast-lane-WgWIHSm9Rv6mFPUqF6LfWg.html

Twitter’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) filing was made public Thursday, as the social media company looks to go public. Twitter representatives also shared that they would like to raise $1 billion from a share sale.

Twitter has been growing rapidly recently, revenue in 2012 was up 198% to $316.9m. There has also been a large increase in the amount of users as the number increased from 151.4m last year to 218.3m this year. Twitter’s IPO is the most anticipated technology IPO since that of Facebook in 2012 which proved to be a disaster.

However, it isn’t all good news for the seven year old social media company as Twitter advertisers stated that Twitter needs to increase its user base. Though 218.3m users may seem like a tremendous amount, Facebook has more than five times the user base. Advertising made up 85% of Twitter’s total revenue and a failure to increase its user base could be a gigantic problem for the company.

Advertisers still prefer Facebook for advertising opposed to Twitter largely due to its larger user base. However, there are other reasons why I Facebook is preferred, one being that Twitter has yet to become a daily habit for users. Twitter usage spikes up when a major event takes place and this inconsistency is a problem for advertisers. If Twitter wants to take the next step up and challenge Facebook it must find a way to increase its user base.

Article Links:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/03/twitter-ipo-share-sale

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303492504579115753167390832.html

Twitter S-1 Filing:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513390321/d564001ds1.htm