DJI dreams up potential drone perfection, SpaceX hung up on the government shut down and Uber Eats teases a possible new direction. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for January 22, 2018. 1. DJI's new drone looks like a portable powerhouse Consumer drones have come a long way since their introduction, and the just-leaked DJI Mavic Air looks like a pretty near-perfect balance of power, performance and portability. Aerial photography that can go with you anywhere is a pretty awesome proposition. Officially, this isn't going to be announced until tomorrow, but when it is revealed, I bet DJI will sell quite a few. 2. SpaceX needs the government shutdown to end SpaceX can't launch from its Florida facilities while the U.S. government shutdown continues, and that means its Falcon Heavy test flight is on hold, too. SpaceX probably wants this to wrap up quickly, but on the bright side, it's now looking at delays that are beyond its control for once. 3. Uber Eats acquires a delivery startup that makes its own food Uber's food delivery business might not rely on external restaurants exclusively for long – it just acquired David Chang's Ando, which is a dedicated delivery restaurant producing food for on-demand consumption. 4. Sphero hit with significant layoffs The smartphone-controlled robot ball company received a lifeline when it created the BB-8 drone for Disney, but it's in trouble again now that the shine has worn off that particular novelty. 5. Atlanta is a strong contender for Amazon's HQ2, apparently This firm predicted 15 of Amazon's top 20 HQ2 finalists, and now it's saying Atlanta could be a shoe-in for the win. Take this with a grain of salt, however; predicting those top 15 wasn't exactly challenging given the long list. 6. Blockchain's diversity gap Blockchain is everywhere, and I still don't know what to make of it. But as Megan Rose Dickey and Maiden co-founder Raine Revere points out, it's lagging significantly in diversity, even in the generally weak tech space. 7. Your next Uber could have a mobile convenience store on board This is the kind of stuff that smart companies should be building out now so that they're ready to roll when automakers begin deploying their autonomous ride hailing fleets. The car of the future is the retail Main Street of old. |