By Trey Leslie I Everyday California Head Writer & Resident DJ
As if summer isn’t crazy enough already. It’s the best time of the year, and with all that’s going on in the world, it seems like we’re in for a wild ride:
1. You Can Go UberCRAZY While Traveling
Just because you can’t fly or go island hopping in a car doesn’t mean that Uber isn’t interested in your business. Uber has a couple new options beyond what you’re used to seeing on the app:
UberBOAT. Jumping on board the private boat ship, Uber is now available in select locations with a “boat” button. In Croatia, Uber “Captains” will be able transfer you to a variety of locations via boat-sharing, or you and your crew can request the whole boat for an island hopping adventure. The feature is also available in Istanbul, where you can hail a speedboat across the Bosphorus strait, which divides the city into Europe and Asia.
UberCOPTER. If cars and boats aren’t really your style, fear not: you can use your smartphone to call a helicopter in France from Nice to Cannes this summer. No, it can’t land exactly at your location, but a private car will pick you up and take you to the helicopter. Perfect if you hate traffic and have 160 euros to spend.
“I’m too tired to drive, honey. Let’s take an UberROCKET”
2. Robots Will Be Calling Restaurants...
Remember this demonstration of Google’s new AI assistant, a very human-sounding bot that can make restaurant reservations and make hair appointments? It was more than just CEO Sundar Pichai showing off, testing of Duplex, the technology behind the assistant, will continue this summer.
Fortunately, Google isn’t simple opening the floodgates by allowing the general public access to the new feature. The introduction of the assistant into our daily lives will be put into the hands of a small set of “trusted tester users,” who will first use Duplex to ask for holiday hours, its simplest function, then make restaurant reservations, and finally hair appointments.
Next stop, Uncanny Valley
3. And Restaurants Will Be Using Robots
In San Francisco, of course. Tech startup Creator has been quietly making a machine that will build your next burger, human-free. The machine, labeled a “culinary instrument,” will take your order through a burger-y gauntlet, squirting your meal with sauces and slapping add-ons to each burger all up to your own custom desires.
And the burger flippers?
They’re a dying breed, but possibly for the best. Taking patty preppers and putting them in a more customer service oriented role has the potential to be good for business. Creator, for example, will be using the money saved with their automation to invest in better ingredients (like “umami dust”) making the restaurant price competitive with your local hoity-toity craft burger joint.
Presses ‘Extra smoked oyster aioli’ button
4. The Future Is Beginning to Startup
Beggars can’t be choosers, but venture capitalists have their pick of the litter this summer. With the investment economy looking strong, startups are asking everyone and their mother to help them raise money in a flurry of IPOs (initial public offering).
Startup funding has the ability to lead to really interesting developments and ideas, including applications, technology, and software that will make our lives easier (or terribly complicated, depending on your point of view). Here’s some interesting IPOs from this week, and a look at what’s coming for the rest of 2018, ranging from Uber to Ancestry.com.
Does asking mom for money count as startup funding?
Hooray For Summer
The beginning of summer is always an exciting time, although sometimes the heat (actual and metaphoric) is overwhelming. We get it. To help out, here’s some resources to have the best summer ever:
For the cookout: Tacos > Burgers
For your sunburn: Heal quickly
For your freetime: Quizzes on quizzes
For your closet: California apparel ;)
