It’s the last Thursday of May. Today is the 73rd day of shelter-in-place during the pandemic. While much of the country is opening back up, the county I live in has kept the policy in place until June 1st. Today is the day for technology talk and news with Mark Starling on First News 570. You can listen to us LIVE, point, laugh, and talk trash about tech every Thursday morning at 643am Eastern.
It’s too bad, but yesterday’s launch for scrubbed, but is back on for May 30th. Make sure you tune in.
BOEING RESUMES 737 MAX MANUFACTURING
After more than a 2-year grounding, Boeing says that it is restarting 737 Max manufacturing. Boeing has put in place more than a dozen quality improvements and workforce safety initiatives. Manufacturing has been on hiatus for 5 months since two fatal crashes grounded the plane. The FAA hasn’t cleared the for airworthiness after investigators found bugs in the flight control system software. Aviation software and how it gets reviewed by regulators were the causes of the 737 Max’s problems and I’m hoping it gets fixed.
DRONES DELIVER PPE AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO HOSPITALS
Last year, we reported on a medical team using a drone to deliver an organ transplant between two Baltimore hospitals. Yesterday, the FAA has granted drone firm, Zipline, an emergency waiver to deliver PPE and other medical supplies on predetermined flights to hospitals in North Carolina. The FAA granted Zipline the ability to fly supplies from a fulfillment center to sites on a 30 mile round trip. The drones will drop the supplies via parachute over a drop zone and then return to the fulfillment center. We continue to see interesting and amazing uses of technology during this pandemic.
14 MONTHS LATER: SAMSUNG SHOWS THE MONEY
It took a while, but Samsung has copied another Apple product with Samsung Money. Samsung Money is its branded MasterCard debit card. Financial services are provided by SoFi an online personal finance company. The account is FDIC insured and has no account fees. Unlike the super cool, rare metallic card Apple is offering, Samsung’s practical and plastic card is in dark mode. Like the Apple Card, you’ll need an app to get your credit card number and CVV, but all of that and more will be accessible. Samsung intends to launch Samsung Money in the US sometime this summer.
As I mentioned, it’s now Day 73 since living-in-place with my kids and wife. Although many parts of the country have opened up, many data points in the largest metropolitan areas are plateauing versus dipping. Please follow guidelines set by medical officials and use your best judgment. Be safe, and stay healthy.