The Internet of Things (IoT) has shown us how almost every item in a household can be connected to offer smart features, from appliances to toothbrushes, to light bulbs and speakers. If you’re not sold on it yet – sometimes in Africa we don’t always have a choice – one of the more useful IoT cases is smart luggage.
For the frequent traveler, smart luggage is genius; and is set to revolutionize the way we travel. What makes luggage ‘smart’ are core features like GPS tracking, built-in batteries with USB charging ports, app or fingerprint locking, and weight scales.
The all-important GPS tracking feature will let you track your bags through a smartphone app. It’s the most accurate way to confirm your luggage was loaded onto the plane, and arrived at your final destination; more efficient than an airline attempting to provide you with the same information.
According to 2017’s The Baggage Report, published by SITA, the global IT and telecoms company that services the air transport industry, approximately six bags per 1,000 passengers were mishandled in 2016, down 12.5% from the previous year; and 47% of all delayed bags occurred during transfers.
The company expects these figures to drop further in 2018, due to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Resolution 753 that will come into effect in June this year. Cross-industry luggage tracking between airports, airlines and ground handlers are expected to be in place, which aims to reduce lost or delayed baggage from drop-off to pick-up.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2018/02/08/5-ai-innovations-need-aware/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: 5 AI Innovations You Need To Be Aware Of</a>
Smart luggage has already empowered travelers to keep track of their luggage instead of waiting for airlines to improve; and have now gone a step further with next-generation features showcased at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January 2018.
If you don’t want to be ‘that’ adult riding their suitcase across the airport to reach the boarding gate even faster (Modobag came up with the ‘world’s first motorized, rideable luggage), you can now get smart luggage that follows you around, like a dog.
Chinese company 90Fun worked with Segway to create a prototype called the Puppy 1, a suitcase that follows you around the airport using a remote control. It makes use of Segway’s self-balancing technology so the suitcase won’t fall over while navigating, and is bi-directional. A demonstration at CES showed that the suitcase can drive around by itself, or be controlled by a person. There’s no word when it will hit production or what it will cost.
In the meantime, you can pick something up from the world’s largest suitcase manufacturer, Samsonite, who came up with what they call the first “web connected” travel bag. The company says that each year, over 30 million lost luggage claims are filed, and their partnership with LugLoc provides users the technology to track their bags. Each bag is fitted with a GeoTrakR, which lasts 15 days when fully charged, and can be accessed via a smartphone app. A Bluetooth proximity sensor will let your app know once bags have reached the carousel. It won’t interfere with aviation rules as the device shuts off when the plane takes off, and powers back on upon landing.
Rival Delsey also has a smart range called Pluggage. The French luggage manufacturer crowd-sourced the top six features that travelers wanted most via an online campaign. The most sought-after features were a dedicated mobile app; fingerprint opening; international tracking; digital scale; device charger; and carousel alert mode. They are available in small, medium and large, all within airline specifications.
However, there are numerous brands with smart features out there, some of which you may not have heard of but appeared on crowd-sourcing platforms; all trying to outdo each other with design, battery capacity, built-in chat support, or notifications when your luggage has been opened out of sight. Ultimately, it boils down to buying a trusted brand versus a new one with nifty tech features.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/09/13/tech-can-close-gap-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How Tech Can Close The Gap In Africa</a>
The downside to buying smart luggage with built-in batteries is that, at the time of writing this article, three airlines in the United States have banned smart luggage that don’t have removable batteries, namely American, Delta, and Alaskan Airlines. American Airlines says “smart bags contain lithium battery power banks, which pose a risk when they are placed in the cargo hold of an aircraft”.
Subsequent to this announcement, smart luggage manufacturers are reportedly trying to comply with the new rules. Until then, we suggest purchasing smart luggage with removable batteries only. Two brands worth looking at that sell airline compliant bags are Away and Raden.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is the first airline to comply with Resolution 753 a year ahead of schedule by allowing passengers to track their luggage in real-time via its Track My Bags feature on the web and its mobile app. It also provides real-time notifications relating to checked-in luggage for all passengers.
Similarly, Delta has introduced RFID-embedded luggage tags that go onto all bags, a $50 million investment covering 344 airports, and 4,600 scanners. With sensors in place at various stages of handling, passengers are able to track their luggage via the free Delta app, available on Android, and iOS.
In a hyper-connected world, it is completely normal to check the status of your car, electricity at home, appliances, coffee-machine or luggage from a smartphone app. The only time you should be truly concerned is if you can’t adapt to your steadily-changing surroundings, or you run out of power. &#8211; Written by Nafisa Akabor

Luggage That Can Check Itself In?

Elon Musk wowed millions of people who watched the livestream of a flawless first <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2018/02/06/spacex-successfully-launched-its-falcon-heavy-rocket-sent-a-car-to-space-and-landed-boosters/#3cfcebd47076" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket</a>, which carried a Tesla roadster into space, capped by the elegant, simultaneous landing of two boosters. Musk’s euphoria was undiminished as he shifted gears on Wednesday to Tesla, pointing to a silver lining for the high-flying carmaker that capped a year of big losses and production headaches for its critical Model 3 sedan.
The company reported a whopping $675.4 million net loss for the final quarter of 2017 and a $1.96 billion deficit for the year, the most ever on both counts. Loss per share was $4.01 on a GAAP basis, or $3.04 per share excluding some items. That was better than consensus estimates for adjusted EPS losses of $3.10 to $3.19, and likely the result of bigger than expected sales of <a href="https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/zevprog.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emissions credits</a>. Tesla shares plunged 8.6% to $315.23 on Thursday.
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Musk</a> and Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja acknowledged 2017’s challenges in a letter to investors but also said the table was set for a much better year in 2018. Notably, they predict operating income will become “sustainably positive” at some point this year and that production of Model 3, as well as the S and X crossover, will continue to grow.
“2018 will be a transformative year for Tesla, with a high level of operational scaling,” the two said. “As we ramp production of both Model 3 and our energy products while keeping tight control of operating expenses, our quarterly operating income should turn sustainably positive at some point in 2018.”
The company stuck with its production guidance for the Model 3, nominally priced from $35,000, to reach 2,500 units a week by the end of the first quarter, and then 5,000 a week at the end of the second quarter. The Palo Alto, California-based company didn&#8217;t say when it will hit its ultimate target of 10,000 Model 3s a week, enough to hit Musk’s goal of 500,000 a year.
“Even this Tesla realist and Model 3 deposit holder has doubts about Tesla ramping up to 10,000 units/week, essentially promising production levels of over 250,000 units in 2018,&#8221; said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book’s <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/PSAxCDkwn3sOzLgBhle12n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KBB.com</a>. &#8220;I think they’ll be lucky to get 150,000 units out the door in 2018, and even that would be an incredibly impressive feat, requiring an average weekly rate of over 3,000 units for every single week left in 2018 with no breaks. Elon Musk needs a team of forecasters that he’ll listen to so he can finally provide Wall Street and depositors with achievable targets.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/11/03/roadblock-elon-musks-net-worth-drops-800-million-day-amid-tesla-woes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Roadblock: Elon Musk&#8217;s Net Worth Drops $800 Million In A Day</a>
Last month, Tesla cut its Model 3 production target for a second time after building just 2,425 in the fourth quarter. Total production, including the higher-priced Model S and Model X, was 101,027 units in 2017.
Still, the fact that the company affirmed its production goals, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2018/01/03/tesla-on-a-slow-road-out-of-hell-as-model-3-quarterly-output-inches-up/#713c96427173" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">which were revised down in January</a>, was the best news in the report, said Jeff Reeves, analyst and executive editor of <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/bev6CNk7A3sM8P55uzPiXt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InvestorPlace.com</a>.
“There are never any guarantees, but Elon Musk hasn’t been shy about cutting back forecasts in recent months so he certainly would have pulled back on the reins if Tesla wasn’t confident,” Reeves told Forbes. The company also managed to burn far less cash in the fourth quarter, trimming it to $276.8 million in the quarter, compared with $1.42 billion in the third quarter and $969.8 million a year ago, he said.
“It’s always about growth with Tesla, not the bottom line,” Reeves said. “But it’s also encouraging to see a smaller-than-expected loss and a cash burn that dropped significantly from Q3 to Q4.”
Tesla&#8217;s sales of zero-emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits to other automakers that need them to comply with California&#8217;s tough emissions rules, were up significantly from a year earlier, to $179 million compared with $20 million in the final quarter of 2016. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson predicted $10 million for the quarter. Exceeding the forecast provided Tesla an adjusted net loss that was slightly better than expected.
Tesla completed the integration of SolarCity into its operations in 2017 and aims to significantly boost shipments of solar panels and power storage units this year.
“We expect energy storage products to experience significant growth, with our aim to at least triple our sales this year,” Musk and Ahuja said. “We expect energy generation and storage gross margin to improve significantly in 2018 as we enter the year with a backlog of higher-margin commercial solar projects and a more profitable energy storage business due to manufacturing efficiencies from scaling.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2018/01/24/musks-multi-billion-dollar-tesla-comp-plan-shrewd-marketing-amid-rocky-patch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Musk&#8217;s Multi-Billion-Dollar Tesla Comp Plan Is Shrewd Marketing Amid Rocky Patch</a>
Capital expenditures will continue to rise in 2018, to expand output at the Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada and continued investment in production capacity at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant, the company said. Tesla will also start investing this year to add production of the Model Y, a small electric crossover that will be the next vehicle in its lineup.
&#8220;We are going, as you suspect, to need to make some capital investments in the second half of this year, in late Q3, Q4, for Model Y. We want to wait probably three to six months before announcing any definitive plans on production location or details associated with that,&#8221; Musk said in a conference call with analysts.
His expectations for Model Y, which hasn&#8217;t yet been unveiled, are enormous.
&#8220;To give you some flavor for optimism for Model Y&#8230; we might aim for something like maybe capacity of a million units a year, just for Model Y alone. I think we&#8217;ll be able to do that for capex that is less than Model 3 capex at the half-million-unit level&#8221;, Musk said.
Notably, customer deposits for Model 3, as well as the recently announced Semi and Roadster became a major balance sheet item for Tesla, totaling $858 million at the end of 2017, up from $663 million a year earlier. While most of those funds are from the nearly half-million reservations Tesla has for the Model 3, a growing portion comes from the battery-powered Class 8 truck and high-end sports car.
Separately, Musk said that Jon McNeill, who had been head of the company&#8217;s sales and service group, had left the company. Musk said he&#8217;ll oversee those functions himself. Lyft said it hired McNeil as its chief operating officer.
“Jon is a world-class leader who brings deep experience as a highly successful entrepreneur and executive,&#8221; Lyft CEO Logan Green said in an emailed statement. &#8220;Last year, the Lyft community experienced more growth than in all previous years combined, growing rides by 2.3x and increasing market share by more than 50%. Jon is the right leader to build upon this momentum with his unique background of starting companies from scratch and managing at scale.” &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Alan Ohnsman</a>, FORBES STAFF

Tesla’s $675 Million Loss Pulls Elon Musk Back To Earth After Stellar SpaceX Launch

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been at the forefront of innovators minds for decades and as the technology makes breakthroughs, the public is becoming more aware of its implications.
The scientist, innovators, and entrepreneurs who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of high-level artificial intelligence are pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished every day.
We are seeing the direct result of their breakthroughs in the forms of automation and autopilot. Through this pursuit one thing becomes clear: AI will change our lives dramatically in the coming years. That is why it is not only fascinating, but also imperative that we stay abreast of the current climate in the world of AI. These innovations are doing amazing things in the world of AI that could affect the planet for decades to come.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/01/25/four-skills-make-robot-recession-proof/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Four Skills To Make Yourself Robot And Recession Proof</a>
<ol>
<li> Self-Driving Cars</li>
</ol>
The most popular innovation, as well as the most exciting, is the advent of autonomous vehicles. For the last 50 years people have imagined a world where driving would no longer be necessary to enjoy personal and private transportation.
Driving in the United States has been a leading cause of death among youth for a number of years. One of the primary goals of autonomous vehicles is to reduce the number of casualties, while simultaneously increasing the efficacy of transportation services across the globe. With safety and value in mind, autonomous vehicles ranks as one of the most ambitious and exciting innovations to come.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/07/21/push-self-driving-car-rules-overlooks-lack-federal-expertise-ai-tech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Push For Self-Driving Car Rules Overlooks Lack Of Federal Expertise In AI Tech</a>
<ol start="2">
<li> Natural Language Processing</li>
</ol>
A main goal of AI in the future is to create machines that can reason and write with the lexical skill of a human being. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the software that will hopefully achieve one such future that’s being developed primarily in <a href="https://www.python.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Python</a>.
Companies, like Attivio and Alphabet, are working constantly to replicate human thought and speech patterns. The goal of this is to ultimately create machines that can communicate with us, and us to them. This would fabricate a new type of machine with unlimited possibilities of growth. This could lead to machines replacing lawyers, doctors, or even therapists. The projected future of this technology is endless. This makes NLP one of the most intriguing innovations to watch.
<ol start="3">
<li> Virtual Agents</li>
</ol>
Virtual Agents (VA) have a simple but profound goal: to create AI that can guide us through customer service effectively and quickly. As of now the AI is mostly used for automated chat resources but with enough progress and innovation, businesses hope to replicate the experience of human customer service. Fused with the efficiency of a machine, this would also eliminate the wait time problem that we all have been through.
Companies like Apple and Amazon have put themselves on the cutting edge of this technology with the view that great customer service would help their brands exponentially. This technology, however, is closer than we imagined due to programs like deep learning in which a program can watch and learn from humans interacting. This innovation will most likely be affecting us, and easing tension, very soon.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/09/13/apple-not-google-facebook-will-define-future-augmented-reality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Apple, Not Google Or Facebook, Will Define The Future Of Augmented Reality</a>
<ol start="4">
<li> Robotic Process Automation</li>
</ol>
One technology that businesses are particularly keen on is the Robotic Processing Automation (RPA) AI software. RPA is simple in its conception and seeks to automate more complex human tasks, like filing reports or reading mail. This, however, has some obvious concerns for workers in the middle classes as they may get replaced, but the impact of such a comprehensive technology could change the nature of work forever.
The company Automation Anywhere is one such business that is seeking to change work for the better. This could alleviate issues that arise from companies with too few employees or too tight a budget to hire who they need. Still in larval stages, this AI platform won’t hit full stride just yet, but it is on its way.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2017/09/11/battling-giants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Battling Giants</a>
<ol start="5">
<li> Machine Learning</li>
</ol>
Machine learning is the process whereby a program can analyze a system and replicate its functions automatically. This could consolidate machine usage and create more efficient algorithms. It helps with predictions and forecasting by synthesizing data and outputting a report which streamlines the data gathering process.
Amazon and Fractal Analytics are in full swing on developing this software as it could help businesses operate at lower cost with higher efficiency. For all intents and purposes, machine learning is here and is advancing at an astronomical rate. Keep your eyes peeled because your company may be involved in machine learning before you know it.
Whether we like it or not AI is here. With it comes fears and hopes, but most importantly change. Some of these technologies are right around the corner, some are far off. Keep your eyes on the future.

5 AI Innovations You Need To Be Aware Of

The incessant pace of technology has birthed powerful tools for self-education and enrichment. At the same time, the perilous pace of progress renders some skillsets outmoded. In a recent Oxford study entitled <a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Future of Employment</a>, researchers found that 47% of jobs are at risk of becoming computerized, including formerly secure careers in transportation, administration, and law.
Securing employment will become an exceedingly arduous task as we move into the future. As automation looms before us, so does economic uncertainty. In order to weather both, a wide array of skills must be attained. Luckily, there are some skills you can acquire to steel yourself against the ups and downs of a changing society. There are evergreen skills that once learned, may shield you from robot and recession alike.
Here are four skills that may help you brace yourself for the next wave of automation:
<ol>
<li> Social intelligence</li>
</ol>
Over the past few decades, automation has claimed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/30/were-so-unprepared-for-the-robot-apocalypse/?utm_term=.7b0f5668ae4b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of jobs</a>. Advancements in artificial intelligence could claim many more, as machines gain the ability to perform a broader range of complex tasks. While we have endowed machines with the ability to perform a variety of tasks, we have been unsuccessful in passing down human perceptiveness. What composes human perception and social intuition is somewhat uncertain to us, and therefore, impossible for us to mimic in software.
Smart software is far from being able to replicate human emotion or interact with genuine warmth, caring, or consideration. In other words, <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/02/the-rise-of-ai-makes-emotional-intelligence-more-important" target="_blank" rel="noopener">robots can’t relate</a>. Therefore, to stay relevant in one’s profession in the coming decade, hone your persuasive speaking skills, speaking candidly with civility, empathy, and grace.
<ol start="2">
<li> Creative thinking</li>
</ol>
Creativity is at the core of innovation, and innovation is always in demand. Creative thinking is the process by which we connect seemingly disparate information and synthesize solutions. This sounds simple enough, but it remains a distinctly human activity. Machines are able to produce reports and predictions; these predictions aren’t of much use without humans creating plans and strategies based on them. Collaboration and creativity are intricate tasks that <a href="https://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2017/05/24/cios-hold-out-hope-for-humans-as-automation-powers-more-it-processes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">humans will still perform better than robots</a> in the near future.
<ol start="3">
<li> Software development</li>
</ol>
Instead of fighting automation, help usher it in. Machine and <a href="https://www.toptal.com/machine-learning" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deep learning software applications</a> are booming and, at the moment, the complex software that powers advanced machines needs to be created, tweaked, and maintained by humans. Assist in building the next application for creating smart machines, utilizing open courseware and learning everything you can about the latest in data analysis and artificial intelligence.
<ol start="4">
<li> Adaptability</li>
</ol>
Recessions, depressions, and waves of automations can all be survived if you are devoted to maximizing your adaptability. There’s no clear trajectory of the global economy or artificial intelligence, therefore the most useful skill to acquire is the ability to use the environment to your advantage, whatever that environment may be.
In order to adapt, you must be willing to be open to any and all things, pivoting when necessary. When a recession hits, you must search for the options available to you and pursue them as vigorously as you possibly can. The same can be said for automation. If your job is in danger of being absorbed by automation, you will do well to respond quickly to the threat.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/06/13/create-jobs-age-robots-low-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How To Create Jobs In The Age Of Robots And Low Growth</a>
Advancing in one’s career requires constant learning. In the digital age, keeping your skills sharp is both incredibly easy and unnervingly difficult. Social intelligence and creative problem solving are still very much in demand, and almost impossible, at the present moment for artificial intelligence to mimic. Skills that complement development in artificial intelligence, such as software engineering and machine learning, should continue to have a healthy job market as these jobs will help usher in the next wave of automation. More valuable than any of these skills is adaptability. Responding to change in a logical manner, using all the tools available to you, will ensure the highest chance of success, regardless of economic conditions.

Four Skills to Make Yourself Robot and Recession-Proof

The only centi-billionaire on the planet just got another couple billion dollars richer. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, saw his fortune rise $2.8 billion on Tuesday as the stock of his e-commerce giant climbed 2.5% &#8211; a day after the launch of its first cashier-less store garnered much buzz around the industry.
Bezos now boasts a net worth of $113.5 billion, according to Forbes&#8217; calculations &#8211; his highest ever. It&#8217;s a significant lead over the world’s second and third richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who have net worths of $92.5 billion and $92.3 billion, respectively. Bezos’ 12-figure-fortune nominally makes him the wealthiest person since Forbes started tracking fortunes in 1982. If we factor in inflation, Bill Gates was richer back in 1999, when he briefly passed $100 billion &#8211; worth roughly $150 billion in today&#8217;s dollars.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2018/01/10/heres-jeff-bezos-not-truly-richest-person-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Here&#8217;s Why Jeff Bezos Is Not Truly The Richest Man In History</a>
The Microsoft founder has also given away a large chunk of his wealth &#8211; his lifetime giving stands at over $36 billion. His Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, run by Gates and his wife, is the world’s largest private philanthropic foundation.
Bezos has only recently begun to give away bits of his fortune. The son of a Cuban immigrant, Bezos asked his 400,000 Twitter followers in June 2017 for philanthropic ideas, and recently <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2018/01/12/jeff-bezos-son-of-cuban-immigrant-gives-33-million-to-nonprofit-helping-dreamers-pay-for-college/#4c47acc148eb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated $33 million to fund college scholarships</a> for undocumented high school students.
Bezos derives the majority of his wealth from his 16% stake in Amazon. He is also the owner of The Washington Post and the founder of rocket start-up Blue Origin. Business has been good for The Post; it was reported earlier in January that the storied newspaper more than doubled its digital subscriptions in 2017 and will be profitable for the second year straight.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/31/besides-jeff-bezos-6-people-whove-also-worlds-richest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Besides Jeff Bezos: 6 People Who&#8217;ve Also Been The World&#8217;s Richest</a>
On Jan. 18, Amazon announced a list of 20 finalists for its second headquarters, which received 238 proposals from all over North America. Just four days later, the much anticipated Amazon Go store opened in its hometown of Seattle. The shop, which was previously accessible to employees only, sells a limited selection of groceries, meal kits, and prepared foods. Customers swipe into the store with the Amazon Go app, pick items off the shelves, then walk out with the goods &#8211; without ever needing to wait for a cashier. Cameras line the store to keep track of each shopper’s purchases, and the bill is charged to their Amazon accounts.
It remains unclear where Amazon intends to go with Amazon Go next, though it has been expanding its brick and mortar exposure, both with its bookstores and with the acquisition of organic grocery retailer Whole Foods.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/08/25/amazon-lays-whole-foods-strategy-shakes-wall-street-anew/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Amazon Lays Out Its Whole Foods Strategy And Shakes Up Wall Street Anew</a>
Bezos got his start on Wall Street, where he worked for famed quantitative hedge fund D.E. Shaw after graduating from Princeton with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. After climbing up the ladder at D.E. Shaw, Bezos quit and drove across the country to Seattle in 1994. He founded Amazon in the garage of his home and started selling books online, personally driving the packages to the post office in his 1987 Chevy Blazer. The online retailer is now one of the world’s most valuable companies, active in cloud computing, online streaming and smart devices, and has a market capitalization of over $650 billion. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Jennifer Wang</a>, FORBES STAFF

Jeff Bezos Gains $2.8 Billion, Reaches Highest Net Worth Ever

Everything about <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elon Musk</a> is larger than life these days, so it’s fitting that the <a href="http://ir.tesla.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1054948" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new compensation package</a> for Tesla’s visionary billionaire leader is equally audacious. It may also help should the company move to raise more funds this year to pay for Musk’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/11/17/elon-musks-10-ton-challenge-turning-tesla-into-a-semi-truck-powerhouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ever-expanding list of aspirations</a>.
The package locks up Musk as either CEO or executive chairman and chief product officer for 10 years, with the sole compensation consisting of stock options that would be granted only if the company meets a series of performance goals. Among the most ambitious of them: Tesla’s market capitalization would have to ultimately swell to $650 billion, or about 11 times its current $59.4 billion level. Over the next decade, revenue from Tesla’s electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has to reach an annual $175 billion, more than 10 times the likely level in 2017. There are no production volume goals, as was the case with his previous 2012 long-term compensation plan, though pre-tax earnings excluding certain items have to reach $14 billion to receive the maximum benefit.
Should all of that happen, Musk would be compensated with stock options equal to 1% of Tesla&#8217;s current outstanding shares, delivered over 12 tranches. It would expand his wealth by tens of billions of dollars, from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes’ estimate of $21 billion</a> currently. The plan needs approval from Tesla shareholders, though given the faith so many of them place in Musk’s leadership, that seems likely to be a formality.
Certainly, if all the targets are met, it will be a remarkable accomplishment and worthy of remarkable compensation. A review of the package by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/dealbook/tesla-elon-musk-pay.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=business&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a> called it the “boldest pay plan in corporate history.” Not to be outdone, Musk himself told the paper: “I actually see the potential for Tesla to become a trillion-dollar company within a 10-year period.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/11/03/roadblock-elon-musks-net-worth-drops-800-million-day-amid-tesla-woes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Roadblock: Elon Musk&#8217;s Net Worth Drops $800 Million In A Day</a>
When Musk&#8217;s previous compensation plan was approved in 2012, the goals for the young company looked similarly audacious. At the time, it was not a foregone conclusion that the company that was just beginning to roll out its Model S sedan would be able to grow its market cap at the time from just over $3 billion by annual $4 billion increments. In fact, that happened even faster than anticipated, with its value swelling to nearly $60 billion. And of the targets Musk was to achieve in the original comp plan, including launching the Model X crossover and Model 3 sedan and aggregate production of 300,000 vehicles, at least nine of 10 have been met, according to the company.
So what’s the significance of this announcement right now, particularly given that Musk has given no indications that he’s considering stepping away from Tesla? Certainly, the news that he’s staying put, even in the event that he opts to relinquish CEO duties to a handpicked successor, will cheer his remarkably loyal owners and long-term investors. It also helps the company compete for talent, particularly as the role of technology companies in the area of next-generation transportation expands.
“The timing precedes what we expect to be an unprecedented era in the battle for capital and human talent,” Adam Jonas, an equity analyst for Morgan Stanley, said in a research note about the compensation plan.
“For much of Tesla&#8217;s history as a public company, the company has all but monopolized the OEM investment debate for Auto 2.0,” Jonas said. “Over the next 12 months, we anticipate that Tesla&#8217;s scarcity value amongst entities vying for supremacy in the new ecosystem will be challenged.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/homepage/2017/07/07/tesla-loses-valuable-u-s-carmaker-crown-stock-takes-12-billion-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Tesla Loses &#8216;Most Valuable US Carmaker&#8217; Crown</a>
And much like Musk’s over-the-top Tesla Semi and Roadster debuts late last year, turning attention to hopes for the future and away from current challenges – namely the struggle to achieve high-volume production of Tesla’s first (almost) mass-market car, the Model 3 – the sky-high performance goals keep the excitement for the brand very high. That’s important right now as soon-to-be-announced financial results for 2017’s fourth quarter, much like Tesla’s production results this month, may hold less to cheer about.
And if, as some analysts expect, Tesla issues new debt or stock for the ongoing expansion of its vehicle and manufacturing operations, development of new cars and trucks, an ever-larger global network of electric charging and vehicle maintenance facilities, it helps to have the brand’s symbol staying put.
Barclays equity analyst Brian Johnson estimated this month that Tesla will likely raise a further $2.5 billion this year, though probably not until the second half when, presumably, Model 3 production headaches are resolved or on their way to being solved.
Ultimately, the compensation package shows that eight years into its life as a public company that has become iconic, if not profitable, Tesla has no shortage of astonishing aspirations. And, of course, that the person who embodies, sets and guides those aspirations is sticking around for many years to come. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Alan Ohnsman</a>, FORBES STAFF

Musk’s Multi-Billion-Dollar Tesla Comp Plan Is Shrewd Marketing Amid Rocky Patch

Dropbox has filed confidentially to go public, setting in motion what could be one of the most closely-watched tech IPOs of the year.
The company valued by private investors at $10 billion has tapped Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to lead the listing process, a source with knowledge of the company has confirmed to Forbes. Dropbox declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-11/dropbox-is-said-to-file-confidentially-for-initial-offering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.
According to that report, Dropbox reportedly aims to list within the first half of 2018. That timeline is disputed by Forbes&#8216; source, who declined to provide an alternative target date.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/09/13/tech-can-close-gap-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How Tech Can Close The Gap In Africa</a>
One of tech&#8217;s youngest billionaires at 34-years-old, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced in January 2017 that the company had passed $1 billion in annual revenue run rate, meaning that its quarterly revenue at that time, if extrapolated across a one-year interval, would produce revenue of $1 billion. At the time, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2017/01/30/dropbox-hits-1-billion-revenue-run-rate/#43eafb6db6bb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the company said</a> it was the fastest software-as-a-service company to reach that milestone. Dropbox had about 500 million users and 200,000 paying business customers on its books a year ago.
In June 2016, Houston, who cofounded Dropbox with Arash Ferdowsi in 2007, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-flow-positive-in-no-rush-to-ipo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> a tech conference in San Francisco that the company was cash flow positive. In April 2017, the company <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-10/dropbox-has-whipped-itself-into-shape-but-going-public-won-t-be-easy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it was profitable on an EBITDA basis, which would include its stock-based compensation.
In what may prove to have been anticipation of the IPO process, Dropbox announced in September 2017 that it was appointing Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman to its board of directors. Then in December, the company beefed up the board&#8217;s financial makeup by adding former Nike CFO Don Blair.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/11/22/billionaire-meg-whitman-will-step-ceo-hpe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Billionaire Meg Whitman Will Step Down As CEO Of HPE</a>
How Dropbox fares on the public markets will provide a prominent beacon for tech &#8220;unicorns&#8221; valued at $1 billion or more who have watched Blue Apron and Snap struggle with their public debuts in recent months and remained on the sidelines. Other high-profile companies that could follow Dropbox in upcoming months include Airbnb, WeWork and Uber, as well as companies without quite the same buzz but with the financials to go public, such as Qualtrics.
While Dropbox has faced concerns about its ability to grow new products and the struggles that have beset some of its closest peers, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-10/dropbox-has-whipped-itself-into-shape-but-going-public-won-t-be-easy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sources told Bloomberg</a> in August that the company was growing its revenue at a healthy clip of about 30%. For comparison, Salesforce reported 32% annual growth for its fiscal 2015 on revenue of $5.37 billion.
In July 2017, Dropbox featured as No. 2 on the Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/cloud100/#467fd7615f94" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloud 100</a> list of top private cloud companies. Should it go public, its exit would dwarf cloud&#8217;s most recent biggest, AppDynamics&#8217; acquisition <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/24/why-the-3-7-billion-appdynamics-acquisition-happened-right-before-ipo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for $3.7 billion</a> in January 2017. A successful IPO would mean a windfall for early venture capital investors Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures as well as a slew of firms with smaller stakes in the longtime Silicon Valley favorite. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Alex Konrad</a>, FORBES STAFF

Dropbox Just Confidentially Filed To Go Public, Setting Up A Bellwether IPO

It is estimated that one in 10 women have already experienced some form of cyber violence since the age of 15.
Research also suggests women are disproportionately the targets of certain forms of online harassment and cyber stalking. This is according to a report complied by the European Institute for Gender Equality titled Cyber Violence Against Women And Girls in June 2017. It defines online harassment as – but not limited to – unwanted, explicit online messages; hate speech, insults or threats; and inappropriate or offensive advances on social networks.
In South Africa, the Protection from Harassment Act covers both online and physical harassment. For those who think they can hide behind the anonymity of sending emails or SMSes, the act requires service providers to give the addresses and ID numbers of perpetrators to the courts.
Social media law specialist Emma Sadleir of The Digital Law Company says if someone is sending you threatening messages, you should block them immediately.
“Don’t feed the trolls, don’t give them the airtime they seek.”
Sadleir stresses the importance of using privacy settings; and the ‘block and report’ functions across social media.
“You can take legal action by getting a protection order; sending a letter of demand; or a cease and desist letter,” explains Sadleir.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/11/20/when-it-pays-to-be-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: When It Pays To Be Online</a>
A local journalist and author Shubnum Khan was a victim of stalking and online harassment. It started off innocently through a primary school friend who wanted to catch up after 18 years.
But, he wanted more from Khan and claimed she was giving him mixed messages. “If I sent a message to tell him to leave me alone because I wasn’t interested, he would say I made a typo,” says Khan.
The messages became intense when he spoke about their wedding, and referred to Khan as his wife.
When I stopped replying to his messages or calls and eventually blocked him, he took to harassing me on Twitter, says Khan. “I think social media became a platform where he felt he could force himself on to me because it was in a public space and I was active there.”
“I considered police action when he came to my house. I was so afraid to leave home because I thought he might be waiting somewhere – to this day, I get nervous every time I see a black BMW,” says Khan.
The turning point came when he posted photos of her house on Twitter.
“A few people tweeted at SAPS when he posted photos of the front of my house, but my father managed to phone his family and it died down from there.
“I consulted with a police officer as to what my next steps should be and I was considering taking out a restraining order just before it died down.
“I think having a profession where you’re in the public eye doesn’t help. Sometimes, people read my personal essays or novel and think they &#8216;know&#8217; me and understand what I need or want.
“I’m more careful about what I post now, but due to the nature of my work it’s a difficult place to negotiate,” says Khan.
“Twitter suspended the account and I feel better about it but things can quickly spiral out of control so I would suggest finding a balance in what you post in public.”
Sadleir thinks social media companies are failing their users, and should be better and quicker at responding.
“For me the problem lies in the anonymity, they are not very good at providing information about who started the account, with what device, and the IP address, which is information they have.”
“The truth is they don’t give a damn about South African laws, or any laws,” concludes Sadleir. &#8211; Written by Nafisa Akabor

The Dark Side Of Social Media

The Instagram influencer marketing industry is expected to exceed $1 billion by the end of 2017, and more than double by 2019. A Santa Monica-based influencer marketing industry Mediakix forecast these figures by studying the #spon #sp and #ad hashtags on the platform, which saw over 9.7 million posts tagged in 2016, with 14.5 million expected for 2017.
While South Africa may be late to the party for most things digital, there are a fair amount of influencers making waves locally. No matter the niche, there are bloggers and influencers who, through their combined digital platforms, are regarded just as important as journalists when it comes to making an invite list; or taking part in a campaign best aligned with their brand. It is predominant with fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers in South Africa where some have quit their full-time jobs to focus on being an ‘influencer’.
<div id="attachment_34458" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34458" class=" wp-image-34458" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Aqeelah-Harron-Ally-200x300.jpg" alt="Aqeelah Harron Ally" width="300" height="450" />Aqeelah Harron Ally (Photo supplied)</div>
Aqeelah Harron Ally, a 27-year-old fashion, beauty, and travel blogger at <a href="http://fashionbreed.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FashionBreed</a>, from Cape Town, worked full-time for five years before quitting her job, and tells us she could have afforded to leave sooner, but didn’t have the courage.
Ally, who has been blogging for seven years, initially started her blog so she could work for a magazine to ultimately become a fashion editor. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film, Media &amp; Writing, and Drama from the University of Cape Town; and a Diploma in Make Up Artistry.
The decision to quit her job has worked out well for Ally, who says she is much happier now, even though being her own boss can be stressful at times.
“I’ve been lucky because for the last two years, I’ve landed many contracts which span over four, six, or even eight months; this helps a lot with stability, however I’m also fine without those kinds of jobs.”
She has other once-off campaigns that are booked a month or two in advance, and out of the events she attends, about 60% are paid attendance, which is generally tied to a campaign she is already creating content for.
“I seldom get paid just to attend an event and cover it, but I have done it in the past.”
Another digital content creator who quit her full-time job after five years is 26-year-old Anna-Belle Durrant from Parktown North in Johannesburg. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of the Witwatersrand. She started her blog <a href="https://shesaid.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SheSaid</a> back in 2013 initially to share her love for Johannesburg, but it has blossomed into stories about travel, fashion, healthy living and design.
“So far it’s worked out incredibly well; I love that I am the master of my own time and creations, and I’m still very fortunate to work closely with agencies like Cerebra [previous employer],” says Durrant.
To her, blogging is like freelancing; work comes in when it comes in and you just have to go with the flow. “However, I do work with brands on a retainer basis to create content around their offerings; and my campaigns run across all my social channels and blog. When you become a blogger, your mind-set changes completely, what you earn is in line with how much you work… so work hard and you should be ok,” she says.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/10/06/sharing-economy-400000-guests-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Sharing Economy: 400,000 Guests At Home</a>
However, the industry has been marred by a fake follower problem where users deceive brands into paying them for being an influencer. Mediakix ran an experiment on two accounts proving how easy it is by purchasing fake followers from as little as $3 for 1,000 followers and $4 for 1,000 likes. Once these accounts reached a threshold of 10,000 followers, they signed up for campaigns – and got accepted for two paying jobs each.
The onus of this falls on PR companies or marketing agencies who need to ensure they’ve done thorough research before approaching an influencer. A quick search on Memeburn.com for an article titled Fake followers are a massive problem, as SA duo proves shows the extent of it in South Africa.
Ally says what they’re doing is illegal.
“It is straight-up fraud because you’re telling a brand to pay you for something you can only pretend to offer. Buying followers is selfish and entitled, but more than anything it’s a charade they won’t be able to keep up with because there are so many tell-tale signs that reveal the cracks in the lie.”
<div id="attachment_34459" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34459" class=" wp-image-34459" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Anna-Belle-Durrant-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="450" />Anna-Belle Durrant (Photo supplied)</div>
Durrant on the other hand feels that while you can cheat anything in life, rather focus on your own content and what you need to do to build your brand as the truth always comes out in the end.
Both Ally and Durrant work extremely hard at being full-time bloggers and share similar sentiments that it’s not all freebies, fame, travel and parties. “You’re a stylist, photographer, writer, curator, art director, model, negotiator/businesswoman, social media manager, video maker; the ultimate definition of a jack-of-all-trades,” says Ally.
Durrant compares it to running a magazine that needs to be published constantly except she’s the CEO, photographer, stylist and janitor, all while fighting for invoices to be paid. “It’s a lifestyle of work hard, play hard.”
Ultimately, both find it very rewarding. For Ally, it’s all about the relationships with her readers, and stresses on how much she values it. “YouTube really extended my reach in this sense which has been so great. It’s also been rewarding growing as a content creator and actually getting paid for it. I’m really thankful for this because creatives don’t often get to say that. It’s really special being able to work for brands I grew up loving and respecting, even more so when their international teams fly to South Africa and get closely involved in what we do.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/07/11/workplace-future-now/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Workplace Of The Future &#8211; Or Now?</a>
Durrant loves that she gets to do things and go to places she could only have dreamed of.
“A highlight was exploring a music festival on the coast of Wales last year. Traveling makes me happy, I get to do that for my job; I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more. I also get to meet really incredible people and work with truly inspiring charities and brands, I have inspiration around me 24/7.” &#8211; Written by Nafisa Akabor

When It Pays To Be Online

Flying taxis sound like a futuristic idea, but Uber wants to test the idea in Los Angeles by 2020. The traffic-laden city is the second city in the US, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2017/04/25/flying-cars-by-2020-uber-wants-you-to-push-button-g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">following Dallas-Fort Worth</a>, to be selected as a test bed for UberAir&#8217;s network of air taxis.
Uber&#8217;s plan is to string together a network of electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles, commonly called eVTOL, and make them available on-demand. Similar to helicopters, the eVTOL aircraft would take off and land on the tops of buildings and be able to cover distances more quickly and directly compared to cars stuck in traffic on Los Angeles congested roads.
According to Uber&#8217;s own analysis, a 200-mph all electric ride across Los Angeles would be &#8220;price competitive&#8221; to an UberX ride of the same distance. It will also be much faster than a car ride on the ground, Uber claims. In one example, Uber&#8217;s research predicts that an UberAir ride from Los Angeles International Airport to the Staples Center would take less than 30 minutes using UberAir. An UberX ride between the same distances generally lasts closer to an hour and a half.
&#8220;Just as skyscrapers allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently, urban air transportation will use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate transportation congestion on the ground,&#8221; Uber wrote in its <a href="https://www.uber.com/info/elevate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">white-paper on Uber Elevate</a>, its name for the overall network, which it unveiled in October 2016.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/08/29/ubers-ceo-pick-adds-pressure-resolve-boardroom-brawl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Uber&#8217;s CEO Pick Adds Pressure To Resolve Boardroom Brawl</a>
In Los Angeles, Uber plans to partner with Sandstone Properties to develop take-off and landing hubs for its network of eVTOL planes and plans to bring on additional real estate partners ahead of the anticipated launch, the company said. In addition to Los Angeles, Uber is working to launch similar tests in Dallas-Fort Worth and Dubai.
By the time the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028, Uber&#8217;s Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said in a press release that he expects the service to be commercially available and already in &#8220;heavy use&#8221; by Los Angeles residents. At scale, the company envisions tens of thousands of flights happening in Los Angeles each day, according to Holden.
In April, Uber first announced that it had already signed on partners to produce the eVTOL aircraft to be used on the network, including <a href="http://www.aurora.aero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aurora Flight Sciences</a>,<a href="http://www.pipistrel-usa.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pipistrel Aircraft</a>, <a href="http://www.embraer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Embraer</a>, <a href="http://www.mooney.com/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mooney</a>, and <a href="http://www.bellhelicopter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bell Helicopter</a>.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/11/03/roadblock-elon-musks-net-worth-drops-800-million-day-amid-tesla-woes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Elon Musk&#8217;s Net Worth Drops $800 Million In A Day Amid Tesla Woes</a>
But the choice of Los Angeles also means Uber will be working in what&#8217;s also a hotbed for next-generation aerospace activity. Along with Elon Musk’s <a href="http://www.spacex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SpaceX</a>, Burt Rutan’s <a href="http://www.scaled.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scaled Composites</a> that’s developing Paul Allen’s massive <a href="http://www.stratolaunch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stratolaunch</a> plane and Richard Branson’s new <a href="https://virginorbit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virgin Orbit</a> operation in Long Beach, the region is home to growing cluster of startups. These include <a href="https://www.rocketlabusa.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rocket Lab</a>, <a href="http://www.phasefour.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Phase Four</a>, <a href="https://www.relativityspace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relativity</a>, <a href="http://whittinghillaerospace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Whitinghill Aerospace</a>, <a href="http://masten.aero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Masten Space Systems</a> and <a href="http://www.interorbital.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Interorbital Systems</a>. While Uber will be a new entrant into the already vibrant aerospace community, it&#8217;s already planning on holding its next aviation summit in Los Angeles in 2018.
&#8220;We are bringing UberAir to Los Angeles in no small part because Mayor Garcetti has embraced technology and innovation, making L.A. a hub for the future,&#8221; Holden said in the release. &#8220;In this case, technology will allow L.A. residents to literally fly over the city&#8217;s historically bad traffic, giving them time back to use in far more productive ways, whether more leisure time with friends and family or more time to work.&#8221; &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bizcarson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Biz Carson </a>, FORBES STAFF

Uber Wants To Bring Its Flying Taxis To Traffic-Congested Los Angeles

Monty Munford , CONTRIBUTOR
Africa is heating up and on fire.
That statement, for once, has nothing to do with climate change, but with investor interest and technology momentum.
This modern-day scramble for Africa also has nothing to do with the colonization of African territory by European powers between 1881 and 1914, but is rather about the hunt for the Next Big Thing.
No longer the Dark Continent, life expectancy in Africa has increased by an astonishing eight years over the past decade and this burst of life is being replicated in its tech ecosystems.
From Cairo to Kigali, Cape Town to Lagos, Nairobi to Accra and Kampala to Dakar, tech hubs are rising faster than the cities that contain them.
By way of example, earlier this week, African software company <a href="https://andela.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Andela</a> raised $40 million to connect Africa’s engineering talent into the global technology ecosystem.
<div id="inread"> This financial round marks one of the largest investments ever led by an African venture firm into an Africa-based company and brings Andela’s total venture funding to more than $80 million.</div>
Deals such as these are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg and in the UK others are realizing the opportunity.
Early next month in Brussels and backed by the European Commision, London-based accelerator <a href="https://wayra.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Wayra UK</a> will launch a trade delegation that will visit South Africa and Cape Town as part of the <a href="http://www.startupeuropeafrica.eu/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Startup Europe Comes to Africa</a> (SEC2A) Road Trip, a new initiative that seeks to bring the African and European tech ecosystems closer together.
So, the interest is there, what about the startups themselves. What will be the Next Big Thing from Africa?
Naturally, lists are always subjective and contentious; Africa is a huge continent, but the companies mentioned all represent the best of African talent and a future that will shine far from its continental borders.
<a href="http://www.vconnect.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">VConnect</a> (Nigeria)
Previously described by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/07/18/vconnect-com-is-one-of-africas-hottest-tech-startups/#3fc33e11450e" target="_self">Forbes</a> as one of African&#8217;s hottest tech startups, the Lagos-based company continues to transform the services industry in Nigeria. Its platform matches customer needs with available suppliers.
In a country with a large population, scattered markets and lack of basic infrastructure, even the relatively simple task (in the West)  of finding a plumber or somebody to fix a roof is a major problem.
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The company says 70% of the population take five days to find a service provider and still run the risk of bad quality of service or paying exorbitant prices. VConnect brings that time down from days to minutes and now logs more than one million businesses.
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<div class="article-body-image"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-1200" src="https://blogs-images.forbes.com/montymunford/files/2017/08/Deepankar-Rustagi-vconnect-gm.jpg?width=960" alt="" data-height="700" data-width="1050" />VConnect</div>
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<div class="caption-container">
Deepankar Rustagi is the CEO of VConnect.
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<a href="http://meqasa.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">MeQasa</a> (Ghana)
Featured previously in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2015/10/28/meqasa-com-of-ghana-raises-500000-investment/#7702ee786dc1" target="_self">Forbes</a> after raising $500,000 in 2015, MeQasa goes from strength to strength in Ghana&#8217;s real estate market.
Its platform provides a free service for landlords, brokers and real estate industry professionals by making the search experience for prospective tenants and buyers fast and easy through which was previously a difficult user journey.
MeQasa showcases thousands of property available for rent or purchase &#8211; both residential and commercial &#8211; from across Ghana. It matches trusted real estate agents with serious home seekers with details on current property listings. Currently based in Ghana, it aims to replicate this all over Africa and the world.
<a href="https://www.flutterwave.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Flutterwave</a> (Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria)
Flutterwave provides smart developer- and customer-friendly payments infrastructure. It provides a range of services that allow its global merchants, PSPs and financial institutions to accept various payment types including Mastercard, Visa, mobile money, bank accounts and more.
The company says this democratises the payments ecosystem by removing the barriers to receiving payments and bringing all payment types into one point. This ensures easy payments and collections for business across Africa regardless of location.
Since inception, Flutterwave has provided the infrastructure for companies across Africa to receive payments from multiple payment sources. An excess of $200 million of transactions across Africa have been facilitated by Flutterwave&#8217;s technology.
<a href="http://www.sliideairtime.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sliide Airtime</a>
Sliide Airtime is a mobile advertising startup that gives people free airtime in return for engaging with news and branded content delivered to the lock screen of their mobile devices.
Sliide Airtime uses 65% of its advertising revenues to buy mobile data for its users so they can spend more time online for free. It’s wildly popular in Nigeria and currently fundraising to expand into additional markets in Africa and Asia.
It was named Most Innovative App at the 2017 Mobile World Congress awards, Africa’s Best App at the 2016 Apps Africa awards and its CEO and co-founder Corbyn Munnik was named as one of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2016/06/06/africas-most-promising-entrepreneurs-forbes-africas-30-under-30-for-2016/#7863df211f43" target="_self">Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30</a>.
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Sliide is one of Africa&#8217;s most interesting young companies.
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<a href="https://printivo.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Printivo</a> (Nigeria)
Founded in 2014 by Ayodeji Adeogun, Oluyomi Ojo, Ibukun Oloyede, Printivo ships printed material express orders across Nigeria and helps Nigerian SMEs with print marketing.
It works with companies such as Samsung, Google and Uber and has been through two rounds of funding to date.
Last year, the company was voted &#8216;The Most Investable in Nigeria after beating 31 other Nigerian startups at the Nigerian Startup Matchup competition run by business platform Starta.
<a href="http://www.lifeq.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">LIfeQ</a> &#8211; South Africa
LIfeQ is on a mission to maximise people&#8217;s health. It brings together knowledge and understanding of human physiology and systems biology to extract and deliver person-specific digital biomarkers from multitudinous curated data channels.
Founded in Stellenbosch, the company launched in 2015 at the Las Vegas CES show. Its complex combination of sensors and bio-mathematical modeling help its customers better understand their body and fitness.
It plans to grab a significant share of the global £1 trillion healthcare market.
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Other notable African startups to watch out are the finalists in the <a href="https://www.appsafrica.com/finalists-announced-for-the-appsafrica-com-awards-2017/?utm_source=Appsafrica+Tech+In+Africa+Mailing+List&amp;utm_campaign=175aa97a3c-Awards+shortlist%2C+Africa+Tech+Summit+Kigali+Andela&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_20e785a327-175aa97a3c-254180921" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Appsafrica.com Awards 2017</a> that were recently announced in sectors such as m-commerce, apps, enterprise and &#8216;Changing Africa&#8217;.
Whether the companies posited in this article change Africa remain to be seen, but Africa is hot right now and if cautious investors decide to hold back, it may be them that will be feeling the heat as Africa surges.
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These Are The Top African Tech Startups You Need To Know About

Tesla’s fleet of electric vehicles are known for their smooth ride; production at the company plant has been markedly choppier.
On Wednesday afternoon, the carmaker unveiled its third-quarter earnings. It posted revenue slightly higher than analyst estimates, but also an adjusted loss of $2.92 per share, 30% greater than predicted. Moreover, production bottlenecks have delayed shipments of the company’s new Model 3 vehicle, rendering it unlikely that Tesla will achieve its target delivery pace of 500,000 cars per year by the end of 2018. (Read more on that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2017/11/01/tesla-pins-model-3-production-snag-on-battery-packs-as-quarterly-loss-widens/#25b2b4905488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)
In light of that news, investors sent Tesla shares tumbling 7% through 11:15 Eastern Time on Thursday. The stock is now trading below $300 per share for the first time since May.
That decline impacted no person as much as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>, Tesla’s CEO and largest individual shareholder. His net worth slumped $800 million in response to the bad news. He is now worth an estimated $19.1 billion, according to Forbes’ <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real-time</a> rankings of the World’s Billionaires, and is the 23rd richest person in America. His net worth is down $1.7 billion since the annual <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/#400d61287e2f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes 400</a> ranking was published last month.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/08/24/elon-musks-net-worth-eclipses-20-billion-first-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Elon Musk&#8217;s Net Worth Eclipses $20 Billion For The First Time</a>
Fortunately for the South African native, his wealth is somewhat diversified. Roughly half of his fortune is tied up in Tesla shares. The bulk of the rest is comprised of his stake in rocket maker SpaceX, which <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/08/23/elon-musks-net-worth-eclipses-20-billion-for-first-time/#45cdd0c86ac7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised $350 million</a> in July at a valuation of about $21 billion. He owns approximately 50% of the business.
Musk, 46, has a long track record of entrepreneurial success. His first major exit came in 1999, when he sold software firm Zip2, which he cofounded, to Compaq for a reported price of over $300 million. He then earned an even more lucrative payout in 2002 after Paypal, which he also cofounded, was acquired by eBay for $1.4 billion.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2015/10/01/teslas-secret-formula/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Tesla&#8217;s Secret Formula</a>
He joined Tesla in 2004 as a major investor and took the helm in 2008. At the time, the company’s future looked dire, as credit markets were drying up during the global financial crisis and development was severely behind schedule.
Eventually, the company began churning out cars, beginning with its sleek Roadster vehicle. Even with this week’s decline, the business has been an overall colossal success. It now boasts a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Noah Kirsch</a>, FORBES STAFF

Roadblock: Elon Musk’s Net Worth Drops $800 Million In A Day Amid Tesla Woes

Off Kampala’s chaotic arterial streets, we are on a dirt road with speed bumps that are large mounds of red earth. The red leads to a yellow building up a slope with awkward barbed wire fencing on its compound walls.
We are at Kiira Motors Corporation’s offices in Ntinda, in northeastern Kampala, home to what the company calls ‘Africa’s first electric car’ and ‘Africa’s first solar-powered bus’.
Outside the main building, a large white bus is parked under a makeshift shed. A scaled-down model of the same is placed under the stairway leading up to the offices. In the distance, a profusion of plantain trees; and a searing sun at 9:30AM.
The bumpy roads to Kiira are in a way akin to the journey ahead for this automobile start-up, ever since the green transportation initiative it kick-started in a little corner of Uganda.
“It’s an uphill task but we are working round-the-clock to deliver on our promises to our nation and the world,” says Allan Muhumuza, Vice-President, Marketing &amp; Sales of Kiira, on the company’s mission to build eco-friendly mobility solutions for urban masses in a country of about 40 million.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/homepage/2017/10/09/power-woes-stall-ugandas-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Power Woes Stall Uganda&#8217;s Rise</a>
It all started in 2007 as an extra-curricular activity by a group of students and teachers of the Department of Engineering and Mathematics led by Professor Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa and Paul Isaac Musasizi, currently CEO of Kiira, at Uganda’s Makerere University.
Tickodri-Togboa was head of the department and, together with Musasizi, decided “the paradigm for training university students should be changed, as by the time they graduated, they didn’t have the skills for a working world”.
So they decided to start various extra-curricular projects for students after normal class hours.
Along the way, they were invited to be part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) initiative with the aim of designing and producing a five-passenger plug-in hybrid electric vehicle targeting the Indian market.
Makerere was “the only participant from Africa”, and as part of the project, eventually developed the two-seater Kiira EV, aptly the color green.
The financing came from the Presidential Initiative Fund for Science and Technology Innovations, and the electric car designed and built in Uganda for the first time was launched by President Yoweri Museveni in 2011.
“The original idea was to use the electric car in the Makerere University campus,” recalls Tickodri-Togboa.
In 2014, the team built Kiira EV SMACK, a sedan its makers say is ‘Africa’s first electric hybrid vehicle’; and thereafter in 2016, the 35-seater Kayoola Solar Bus, again ‘a first in Africa’.
“That we have talent in Uganda has been demonstrated with minimum resources… and we also have very good natural resources,” says Musasizi, the engineer-entrepreneur behind Kiira.
<div id="attachment_34060" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34060" class=" wp-image-34060" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Uganda-electric-car-e1509349192781-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" />A prototype hybrid sedan is being ripped apart at the Kiira headquarters. (Photo supplied)</div>
The government of Uganda, acting through the Uganda Investment Authority, has now allocated 100 acres of land for a vehicle assembly plant expected to open in Jinja, a town in the eastern region of Uganda, in 2018.
In contrast to the used expensive imported vehicles on Uganda’s roads, these will be factory-fresh vehicles made in Uganda.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2017/10/27/missionary-built-business-empire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Missionary That Built A Business Empire</a>
Right now, Kiira has the three prototypes, and is looking at 305 units in the first year of production. These will mostly be pick-up trucks and buses.
The idea is to also convert the masses using public transport – mostly the ubiquitous matatus and boda bodas.
“We want to shift the market from 14-seater matatus to this. But most of all we want to reduce traffic and congestion. Our buses will be bigger to seat more people,” says Muhumuza, also an engineer.
“We realized that if we are to solve Africa’s traffic woes, the biggest need was to address public mass mobility, as that’s where the volumes and problems were. But also at the same time provide sustainable green solutions… Our emphasis was on the technology, to show that Africa can build solutions for Africa and these can be futuristic as well.”
At the time it was built, the solar bus cost an estimated $150,000 – it has solar panels on the top that powers lithium-ion batteries. If mass-produced, costs will come down.
“It’s a capital-intensive project and we are open to get tech and financing partners,” says Muhumuza, adding Kiira is in advanced talks with some technological partners.
“We are seeing a niche, a special place in public mobility in urban spaces that can be addressed by green buses,” says Musasizi.
East Africa’s automobile sector seems on track for more news. In neighboring Rwanda, there are reportedly plans to set up a Volkswagen manufacturing plant.
Outside the offices of Kiira, the prototype hybrid sedan is being ripped apart by men in blue overalls and being re-engineered. The car is a mere skeleton of its former self, but its journey on Uganda’s bustling streets, powered by an African sun, may just be about to begin.

On The Road To A Green Future

Google Launchpad Accelerator is a six-month acceleration program designed to rapidly accelerate the best start-ups from emerging markets. The program starts with a two-week all-expense-paid program in the Launchpad space in San Francisco.
The start-ups face an unrelenting barrage of mentorship sessions, presentations from Googlers and mentors, and topics spanning from goal-setting to artificial intelligence.
I had the chance to be one of the mentors for these start-ups, being in daily contact and observing their progress. The air in the Launchpad space is filled with the wanting to learn new things. The start-ups are picked as the best from their region and immediately subject to questioning everything about their business. The first two days are the most brutal; as a mentor I could see some of the start-ups being deconstructed and having to start again from the beginning.
The one thing that separates all the start-ups in Launchpad from all the others is their drive to solve problems and learn new things. By the third and fourth day of the first week, the teams are already adjusting their strategies and measurable improvements can be seen.
What’s clear from the whole experience is that start-ups, around the whole world, face similar challenges. The camaraderie and connection you see among the start-ups stems from the entrepreneurs being very similar people.
Launchpad is primarily a two-week onsite activity in San Francisco and the following half year support. Launchpad is not asking for any equity in the start-ups. Other accelerator programs, such as Y Combinator and 500 Startups, are longer-term programs which focus on getting investment after going through the acceleration process and connects the start-ups with more external partners. Launchpad picks the best start-ups from emerging markets with existing traction and functioning product and tries to expose them to the Silicon Valley approach as well as the access to Google directly.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/08/07/google-ceos-visit-nigeria-means-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What The Google CEO&#8217;s Visit To Nigeria Means For Africa</a>
For African start-ups, this is invaluable.
“The biggest struggle for our business is in getting the resources needed for business success &#8211; people, finances, and enabling infrastructure,” says Lanre Oyedotun, Co-Founder and CEO of Delivery Science, the start-up that developed FieldInsight, an app that helps organizations obtain data, visibility, and control over everything going on in the field.
“It’s a big struggle to build the right partnerships needed to start and grow the business. When you’re small, it’s quite difficult to partner with bigger organizations,” says Shola Akinlade, Co-Founder and CEO of Paystack, which helps businesses accept payments, from all channels, from their customers.
Organizations don’t get much bigger than Google.
“Google is an iconic company and it has managed to build a reputation for solid technology tools and infrastructure, while maintaining world-class people operations. No organization in the world epitomizes scale more than Google. We want to learn how Google did that, how they managed rapid scaling and how we can apply those lessons to our organization,” says Iyinioluwa Aboyeji, the Managing Director and CEO of Flutterwave, a technology and infrastructure platform for processing payments across Africa.
A large proportion of Africa’s recent economic growth comes from investment in technology. Tech start-ups are important for the development of the continent.
“By 2025 Africa will have 800 million people below the age of 25. Humanity is faced with a potential catastrophe of epic proportions unless they receive adequate capacity development,” says Adetunji Adegbesan, the Founder and CEO of Gidi Mobile, a start-up that uses mastery learning to connect Africans to economic opportunity at scale.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/09/13/tech-can-close-gap-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How Tech Can Close The Gap In Africa</a>
To help Africans make the most of this economic opportunity is JUMO, the largest scale, lowest cost financial services platform for emerging markets.
“In the emerging markets, the vast majority of people have no access to good financial choices. We are creating access at an unprecedented rate. We help people to borrow and save at the lowest price and with products that help them improve their lives. JUMO is a multi-bank marketplace where banks compete to give customer the best deal on their phone using only behavioral data,” says Andrew Watkins-Ball, the CEO and Founder of JUMO.
“Launchpad is an incredible opportunity to work with hugely experienced people from a broad array of disciplines, helping us to solve the big challenges that we are experiencing as we scale our company. We are being given incredible access to the Valley eco-system of investors, large businesses and potential mentors. It is great to connect with start-ups from all over the world that are solving really big problems,” says Watkins-Ball.
Africa has many problems to solve and, with the help of Launchpad, these start-ups are doing their bit to provide some of the solutions. &#8211; Written by Jan Beránek, Google Launchpad mentor

African Start-Ups Boosted By Google Launchpad Accelerator

Google hosted a much-anticipated hardware event on Wednesday in San Francisco to refresh its premium Pixel line of phones. The company, which is fresh from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/miguelhelft/2017/09/20/google-pays-1-1-billion-for-htc-team-behind-pixel-phones/#284786db67e3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buying the HTC unit that made the original Pixel</a>, introduced Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL models. In a major push into hardware, Google also announced new versions of Google Home, its smart speaker, including a low-cost model that could be priced below $50. Google also unveiled a new version of Daydream, its VR headset, as well as a new high-end (and very pricey) Chromebook.
Forbes reported the announcements live:
9:05 am Google CEO Sundar Pichai takes the stage and begins by touting Google’s commitment to AI. &#8220;It is radically rethinking how computing should work,&#8221; Pichai said. &#8220;Computers should adapt to how people live their lives,&#8221; not the other way around, he adds. Computing will be conversational, ambient and contextual. It&#8217;s a unique moment in time, when Google can bring AI, software and hardware together, Pichai says, to lead the way forward. &#8220;The rate at which we are seeing progress in AI is amazing,&#8221; Pichai adds, highlighting how Google&#8217;s latest vision algorithms outperform human vision.
9:20 am Hardware SVP Rick Osterloh takes the stage. He says it’s, you guessed it, “early days” for Google hardware, but the company is off to a good start. “Pixel had a great year,” he says, acknowledging Google didn’t make enough phones to meet demand. But here&#8217;s the catch. “The playing field for hardware components is leveling off,” he says. That makes it harder and harder to develop new products each year, and that’s why Google is taking a different approach, he says. “Innovation will happen at the intersection of hardware, software and AI,” he says. &#8220;That&#8217;s where the big leaps forward will happen in the next 10 years.&#8221;
9:30 am Rishi Chandra, head of home products, takes the stage to update Google’s smart speaker line, claims Google has the best voice recognition in the market, in part because it has the most data. That’s allowed Google to create Voice Match, which recognizes the voices of different people in a family, Chandra says. He then introduces Isabelle Olsson, lead designer for Google Home. She introduces Home Mini, a small round speaker that comes in 3 colors. It costs $49 and is available for pre-order today.
9:35 am Yoki Matsuoka, CTO of Nest, is up next to talk about how Google and the Alphabet subsidiary are working together on smart home tech. Here’s one example, the Google assistant can activate a smart TV to show you what’s happening on a Nest smart camera, say to monitor your fromt door. Here&#8217;s another. with a single command, “Hey Google, Goodnight” arms the security system, tells you what’s on your agenda tomorrow and sets your alarm. “This really simplifies my life,” Matsuoka says.
9:45 am Chandra introduces Google Home Max, a high end smart speaker that&#8217;s clearly aimed at competing with Apple&#8217;s upcoming smart speaker. It comes equipped with Smart Sound, a new tech that adapts the sound to fit your context, for instance, raising the volume when the dishwasher is running. &#8220;It&#8217;s about delivering consistent, crisp sound experiences. Available in December, for $399. Watch out Apple.
9:55 am As expected, Google introduces a high end Chromebook called Pixelbook, with a 13.2-inch screen. Thin, convertible into tablet mode, 16GB RAM and 10 hours of battery life. If there is no wifi, it instantly tethers through your phone. Google Assistant comes built-in. It comes with a pen/stylus &#8212; circle a photo of an artist, and the Google Assistant will tell you who it is. Google Play smartphone apps run on the Pixelbook. Snap is working with Google to bring a &#8220;large screen&#8221; experience to the Pixelbook. Here&#8217;s the catch. It&#8217;s not cheap. Available in 3 configurations, starting at $999, with the pen for an extra $99. Available in the US, Canada and the UK. Pre-orders start today and in stores on Halloween.
10:05 am Mario Queiroz, head of Pixel phones, is now on stage for the main act, the Google Pixel 2, which comes in 5-inch and 6-inch XL versions. Lots of goodies: OLED display in the small version, which comes in 3 colors, including Kind of Blue, black and white. Larger version comes with a slightly curved display that goes all the way to the edges, in black or black and white. Here&#8217;s the obligatory dig at Apple. Both devices have the same capabilities. &#8220;We don&#8217;t set aside feature for the larger device,&#8221; Queiroz says.
10:18 am Google execs demo a bunch of software/hardware updates that work with the Pixel 2. You can squeeze the phone to invoke the Google Assistant. The Assistant integrates between the Pixel and Home, so you can send messages like &#8220;I&#8217;ll be home in 10 minutes&#8221; that will get played on your Google Home. Finally Google has notification dots on its apps. Google Lens help you understand the world. It can &#8220;read&#8221; emails, addresses and phone numbers; it can give you a movie or book review by &#8220;looking&#8221; at a poster or cover; it recognizes historic monuments. A preview of Lens is coming to Pixel users. Google Lens also comes with AR capabilities that let you bring virtual objects into real places through the screen; or virtual characters into real scenes.
10:30 am Queiroz is back to tout the Pixel 2&#8217;s camera. The excellent camera from the Pixel 1 had a <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/About/Lens-scores/DxOMark-Score" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DXO score</a> (an industry standard for the amount of information captured by a camera&#8217;s lens and how well the lens and camera perform together) of 89. The <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/category/mobile-reviews/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new one has a score of 98</a> &#8212; the highest score of any smartphone camera. It&#8217;s a 12 MP, f 1.8 camera. It comes with a portrait mode that creates depth of field effects on both the main and selfie cameras. A new thing called &#8220;fused image stabilization&#8221; that improves the stability of videos. Pixel 2 users get free storage for all their photos and videos in the highest resolution. The results look pretty amazing, but we&#8217;ll have to test it in real life to know for sure. Pixel 2 starts at $649 and Pixel 2 XL $849, available in six countries in Australia, Canada, Germany India UK and US with preorder today. For a limited time, Google will throw in a Google Home Mini for free.
10:40 am After introducing updates to Google Daydream, the VR headset, Google moves quickly to its latest shot at Apple: A set of premium wireless headphones Google Pixel Buds designed to work and pair easily with the Pixel. Google&#8217;s AI is built in, you can speak to the headset in one language, like Swedish, and the phone will translate in real time into English. The demo worked flawlessly. It works in 40 languages. Available in 3 colors, for $159, with preorders starting today and availability in November.
10:45 am Google pulls a &#8220;one more thing.&#8221; Google Clips, a small, clippable/wearable camera that could well portend the end of struggling action camera maker GoPro. It&#8217;s packed with AI to make cool images. It will sell for $249 and will be available soon. Osterloh comes back on stage for a wrap up of the #MadeByGoogle line of products.
&#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/miguelhelft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Miguel Helft</a>, FORBES STAFF

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