With diamond-finish wheels, this Ferrari car packs a 720-horsepower punch

Today on the Pebble Beach Golf Course in California, Ferrari unveiled the 50th convertible model it has ever made, the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider.

This 488 Pista Spider is the continuation of Ferrari’s top-selling 488 line. It has the most powerful Ferrari V8 engine ever—720 horsepower on twin-turbos—and a unique barking rev sound thanks to the fact that it now packs a retractable rooftop. The Pista Spider can go to 62mph in 2.8 seconds; top speed is 211mph. (Pista is Italian for “track,” after all, which signifies just where this car is best suited to live.)

But there’s not much to see here that is new from the 488 Pista, except for that folding roof.

Besides the bold blue racing stripe down the front of the car, the most notable changes to this 488 Pista Spider are its new diamond-finish 20-inch alloy wheels with a novel 10-spoke star-effect and the optional one-piece carbon-fiber wheels that offer a 20-percent weight reduction over the forged alloys that come standard with the car. Launch control is still there, actuated by a button on the LaFerrari-like carbon-fiber outcropping, as are the dynamic traction control settings and a chassis firm enough to make you feel like a true speedracer—even on your way to Malibu Kitchen.

Ex-SoftBank COO Nikesh Arora awarded $128 mn to lead Palo Alto networks

Nikesh Arora could become one of the highest-paid U.S. executives after being named to lead Palo Alto Networks Inc., which granted him a pay package worth about $128 million. Arora, 50, is entitled to equity awards worth as much as $126 million when he takes over as chief executive officer on June 6, the Santa Clara, California-based company said Monday in a regulatory filing. 

About half of it will vest only if the firm’s shares more than double, while the rest is tied to his remaining on the job. Arora, who spent two years at SoftBank Group Corp. as founder Masayoshi Son’s No. 2, became Japan’s best-compensated public company executive in 2015. Regulatory filings show that the tech giant dished out 31.5 billion yen ($290 million) in compensation and related expenses during his tenure, a sum that rivals Silicon Valley’s richest pay packages.

Former Google exec Nikesh Arora named CEO of Palo Alto Networks

Former Chief Business Officer at Google, Nikesh Arora has been named the CEO and Chairman of the US-based security firm Palo Alto Networks. After leaving Google in mid-2014, the high-profile executive became president of SoftBank and was heir apparent to its charismatic founder Masayoshi Son. But Arora left two years later amid some controversy, recode.net reported on Friday. Arora has replaced Mark McLaughlin, who will now serve the cybersecurity company as Vice Chairman. Arora said that while he had long wanted to become a CEO, he would be working closely with McLaughlin and also co-founder and CTO Nir Zuk, the report said. "I may not have a background in security, but with my background as an engineer, I can sit down with Zuk to help guide the next generation of products we can offer," recode.net quoted Arora as saying. McLaughlin said that the decade-old Palo Alto Networks now serves 50,000 companies globally and has 5,000 employees.

Waymo and Uber settle trade secrets dispute, Uber CEO expresses 'regret'

Alphabet Inc's Waymo self-driving vehicle unit and ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc settled a bitter legal dispute, allowing Uber's new chief executive to move past one of the company's many public controversies.
The settlement announcement was made just before the fifth day of testimony was about to begin at a jury trial in San Francisco federal court.
Uber agreed to pay equity valued at about $245 million as part of the deal between the rival technology companies, a Waymo representative said.

The settlement also includes an agreement "to ensure that any Waymo confidential information is not being incorporated inUber Advanced Technologies Group hardware and software," a Waymo representative said.

Apple may price iPhone X at a hefty $1,000

Apple is expected to sell its fanciest iPhone yet for $1,000, crossing into a new financial frontier that will test how much consumers are willing to pay for a device that's become an indispensable part of modern life.

The unveiling of a dramatically redesigned iPhone will likely be the marquee moment tomorrow when Apple hosts its first product event at its new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California.

True to its secretive ways, Apple won't confirm that it will be introducing a new iPhone, though a financial forecast issued last month telegraphed something significant is in the pipeline.

In addition to several new features, a souped-up "anniversary" iPhone -- coming a decade after Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first version -- could also debut at an attention-getting $999 price tag, twice what the original iPhone cost. It would set a new price threshold for any smartphone intended to appeal to a mass market.

Various leaks have indicated the new phone will feature a sharper display, a so-called OLED screen that will extend from edge to edge of the device, thus eliminating the exterior gap, or "bezel," that currently surrounds most phone screens.
READ MORE

NASA uploads hundreds of early test flight videos on YouTube

If you are a space buff get ready to watch videos of rare historic test flight, launch and landing footages on YouTube, media reports said.

NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Centre in California was currently in the process of uploading hundreds of archival videos, including those of hypersonic jet takeoffs and shuttle landings, the Verge reported on Wednesday.

The project is part of the space agency's continued effort to better open access to its archives, as well as help inform the public about the types of research and record-setting milestones the agency achieves each year across various fields of aerospace engineering.

Out of a total 500 clips, nearly 300 have been uploaded to YouTube thus far, with some footage going back many decades, the report added.

The clips include everything from the assembly of the D-558 Skystreak aircraft back in 1947 to a 1991 takeoff of a Lockheed Martin SR-71 stealth jet to hypersonic test flights of the unmanned NASA X-43A in 2004.

Previously, the AFRC's video library was available only through the Dryden Aircraft Movie Collection on the website of the Dryden Flight Research Centre, which was the name of the Armstrong facility before a 2014 change.

Now that it's all on YouTube, it will be indexed by Google and more easily available through the company's search engine.
READ MORE