Technology

Bloomberg The world’s first all-electric vertical takeoff and landing passenger jet has been unveiled after completing its first flight. German startup Lilium aims to have a fleet of the five-seat aircraft — which can operate with a pilot or in drone mode — flying in cities worldwide by 2025, providing a pay-per-ride service that will be emission-free, five times faster ...

Bloomberg Robots are taking over farms faster than anyone saw coming. The first fully autonomous farm equipment is becoming commercially available, which means machines will be able to completely take over a multitude of tasks. Tractors will drive with no farmer in the cab, and specialised equipment will be able to spray, plant, plow and weed cropland. And it’s all ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc is planning to unleash a slew of new apps, features and development tools at its annual software conference next month. To improve its devices and strengthen its connection to customers, the consumer technology giant will continue to walk a fine line between wooing outside app makers while also competing against them. The Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, ...

Bloomberg Dyson Ltd’s electric car may have a long wheel base, an interior cabin with reclining seats and an aerodynamic design, according to patents awarded to the company. The patents, filed about 18 months ago and made public, are the first glimpse of the car being built by the UK-based company known for pricey vacuums, hair dryers and air purifiers. ...

Bloomberg Google unveiled cheaper Pixel smartphones after the company’s line of premium handsets failed to sell in large numbers. Slower processors and cheaper materials helped Google price the Pixel 3a with a 5.6-inch screen at $399. The larger Pixel 3a XL has a 6-inch screen and costs $479. That’s roughly half the price of the company’s existing Pixel phones, before ...

Bloomberg As FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc beef up automation to keep pace with surging e-commerce and a potential threat from Amazon.com Inc, they’ve been stumped at a crucial stage: loading and unloading trucks. Robot makers are getting close to solving part of that puzzle. Siemens AG and Honeywell International Inc have built machines that pull packages from ...

Bloomberg Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp launched its 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station for longtime customer NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon space capsule rumbled aloft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Dragon will deliver almost 5,500 pounds of science, supplies and hardware, according to NASA, and is slated to attach to ...

Bloomberg A drone developed with the backing of UK defense giant BAE Systems Plc has become the first plane since the dawn of aviation to be maneuvered without the aid of wing flaps. The Magma model is flown by blowing air from its engine at supersonic speeds through slots in the wings. The technology is lighter, more reliable and cheaper ...

Bloomberg One of the most improbable ideas from Google’s eccentric co-founders — using high-altitude balloons to provide internet connections — is getting a boost from another unconventional technology mogul. An affiliate of Masayoshi Son’s telecom company SoftBank Corp is investing $125 million in Loon, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet Inc. The SoftBank unit and Loon will share technology and ...

Bloomberg US venture capitalists Sequoia Capital Operations LLC and Andreessen Horowitz are backing a tech startup that says it’s the world’s largest medical drone delivery service, sending 148 types of medicine to areas around Ghana. San Francisco-based Zipline International Inc struck a deal with the West African nation’s government to make on-demand deliveries of vaccines, blood products and other treatments, ...