Good morning! Here’s the tech news you need to know this Friday.
1. Apple officially announced the new MacBook Pro. Prices in the UK start from £1,449.
2. Twitter is shutting down Vine. The news came on the same day Twitter announced it would lay off more than 300 workers, or 9% of the company’s global workforce.
3. Amazon’s share price tumbled as it missed profit expectations in its Q3 results. The company has rising expenses.
4. Google’s Alphabet saw a 20% rise in revenues in Q3, topping Wall Street financial targets. Revenues were up to $18.3 billion (£15 billion).
5. Uber's "Elevate" project aims to bring flying electric cars to cities by 2026. The company published a white paper outlining its plans.
6. Qualcomm has agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors for $47 billion (£39 billion) in an all-cash deal. The deal is the largest in the history of the semiconductor industry.
7. Tech companies looking to go public are worried about Britain's post-Brexit "market conditions." UK software firm Misys abandoned plans for a £500 million IPO citing "market conditions," while telecoms company O2 publicly suggested that it might also call off a planned IPO.
8. A huge new £15 million innovation centre in the London Olympic Park has been named Plexal. It opens next May.
9. Mysterious startup Magic Leap, valued at $4.5 billion (£3.7 billion), is starting to manufacture its first product, potentially for a launch next year. The product will be a pair of glasses that use cutting-edge optics to superimpose computer graphics into the real word.
10. Abba are planning to reunite for a new "entertainment experience" that utilises VR and AI. Few other details have been provided at this stage.
