🔗 The iPhone 7 Had Better Be Spectacular | The Verge

Walt Mossberg outlines the 7 things he’d like to see in the next iPhone, and his list looks a lot like mine. Especially better battery life, durability, and fast charging. I’d love it if I didn’t need a phone case, either for protection or added battery life. Just add wireless charging to this list and you’d have a near-perfect device.

“First of all — and this is very tough scientifically — Apple could make a big leap in battery life. The company has long done a decent job for people who are moderate users, or who, like me, have great cell tower proximity, which keeps the phone from battery-draining tower searches. But I know too many iPhone users who are forced to recharge their phones multiple times a day or carry around bulky extra-battery cases or portable chargers. Apple even brought out such a case itself recently. Fixing battery life would be a huge win.”

Mossberg: the iPhone 7 had better be spectacular | The Verge

🔗 Nintendo's First Smartphone App | The Verge

The year is 2016 and Nintendo just released their first smartphone app. Swell.

Nintendo's first smartphone app is this surreal social network | The Verge

🔗 Lyft and GM Start a Car Rental Service | FastCompany

Really interesting new developments from the Lyft / GM partnership. It may not work for the average driver, but it's definitely a new direction for ride sharing.

The rental program is a partnership between Lyft and GM, which has invested $500 million in Lyft. GM will maintain a fleet of Chevy Equinoxes in the Chicago area for the rental program, while both companies will cover the cost of insurance together. Lyft drivers will be be able to rent a vehicle based on a three-tiered pricing structure based on how many rides they complete each week.

Lyft And GM Are Starting A Car Rental Service Together - FastCompany

🔗 McDonald’s Happy Meals get a Virtual Reality Makeover | Newsweek

If you've had your eye on a Google Cardboard VR headset, you can pick one up at your nearest McDonald's starting this weekend.

“From Friday, the fast food chain will begin selling Happy Meal boxes that transform into VR headsets through a series of simple folds and tears.”

Visit http://www.happygoggles.se/en for more information. Meet Happy Goggles, the Happy Meal evolution! Introducing Happy Goggles - a virtual reality headset made from a Happy Meal Box. Enjoy! ----- Säg hej till Happy Goggles - VR-glasögon gjorda av en Happy Meal-box. På McDonald's är vi fast beslutna om att världens kanske mest kända box ska fortsätta vara relevant.

McDonald’s Happy Meals get a virtual reality makeover | Newsweek

🔗 Some Users Can Now Easily Switch Between Instagram Accounts on iOS | Latergramme

We learned in November that Instagram was testing multiple account switching on Android. This week, reports have surfaced that the same feature being tested on iOS as well. I'm really eager to test it out and switch easily between my @FrankRamblings and @BostonPolaroid accounts, but I don't seem to have it yet. Latergramme posted a quick and easy way to check if you're one of the chosen few. If you're reading this and you've been able to test it out, comment below!

To see if you have access to this feature, navigate to your Instagram profile page and click on “Settings.” Near the bottom, you will have the option to “Add Account.”

After adding an account, you’ll easily be able to switch between multiple Instagram accounts, accessing separate photo feeds, comments, and messages without logging out of the Instagram iOS app. When you receive likes or comments, your push notifications notify you of which account you’re receiving them on.

Instagram Rolls Out Multiple Account Switching for Some iOS Users | Latergramme

🔗 Why Self-Driving Cars Won't Replace Human Drivers for at Least a Decade | Robert Scoble

Some interesting observations from Robert Scoble. His 10 reasons are too much to go into detail here, so I encourage you to go ahead and read the full post. It's a quick but thought-provoking read.

Don’t worry Uber/Lyft drivers: self-driving cars won’t take your job for at least a decade | Medium

86 Years of Pluto

Today in 1930,  Clyde Tombaugh took the first set of plates that led to the discover of Pluto. Based on its unusual orbit, astronomers were able to track its movement against the relatively static field of stars and determine that it was a part of our solar system. 

The naked eye can hardly notice the difference between these images that were pivotal to such a major discovery. By 1994, the Hubble Space Telescope had been launched and was beaming images back to Earth. Here is the best image of Pluto as of 1994.

Nothing but a blob of pixels. And yet, this remained one of the best images we had of Pluto until 2015, when NASA's New Horizons finally made its closest approach to our most distant neighbor after more than nine years and three billion miles. That's when the now-famous image below was released to the world.

How far we've come. As New Horizons heads further out into space, I look forward to even newer and better discoveries that enlighten us the way this photo has.