Erik Sass writes in Media Daily News, “Bloomberg has launched a new online flagship site, Bloomberg Business, combining and replacing two previously separate Web destinations, Bloomberg.com and Businessweek.com.” He says the purpose of the move is to expand Bloomberg’s global reach beyond financial to the business audience in general. . . . . Tech News says Verizon is launching a competitor to GM’s OnStar that is compatible with “nearly every vehicle made since 1996” and it will be available directly to consumers, regardless of their wireless carrier, according to Pete Sucia. Labeled Verizon Vehicle, it can be pre-ordered now; pricing is US $14.99 a month with a two-year contract. Additional vehicles can be added to the plan for $12.99 per month.
Not all of Elon Musk’s eggs are in Tesla and SpaceX commutes. He is reportedly funding a five-mile-long test track in Texas for his envisioned Hyperloop high-speed transportation system, writes Richard Adhikari in TechNewsWorld.com. He says it is for companies, students, universities and others to test and develop. Musk’s believes a closed, nearly air-tight system – much like the old vacuum tubes used in some department stores and today in drive-in banks to safely and quickly transfer cash and receipts to a central cashier, would be much cheaper to build between Los Angeles and San Francisco, for example, than the high-speed train link now underway between the two cities.
Veteran journalist Victor E. Sasson apparently is enjoying the independence of his freelance blog, Shocking Car News. He recently derided auto writers and AP for circulating stories suggesting Chevy’s Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3 would compete for the same buyers. “If you treat an auto writer to an espresso and pastry before a splashy press conference, he or she will write almost anything.” . . . . In explaining why Telematics Update is now TU-Automotive, the company’s marketing manager wrote, “We are witnessing automakers evolve from heavy manufacturers into nimble technology companies and the self-driving car move from the realms of science fiction onto the reality of our highways. The car as we know it is soon to be extinct.”
Google Readies U.S. Auto Insurance Comparison Site – And It’s Just The Beginning is the headline for Laurie Sullivan’s story in Search Marketing Daily that links several signs and reasons why the company is about to enter this market. . . . Autoproyecto.com, will expand its video content distribution to national television and IPTV in a partnership with MiCasa Network (MCBN) starting March 1, 2015.