Tesla opened its first factory for electric Semi trucks in Sparks, Nevada, designed to produce 50,000 units a year, and announced the start of deliveries - almost nine years after unveiling the model in 2017. Depending on the version, the Semi has a range of 325 or 500 miles at full load, and on a Megacharger it recovers 60 percent of its range in half an hour. Tesla did not disclose the price or the number of orders. Customers include PepsiCo and DHL, and the ZET SCALE carrier alliance picked Tesla as the main supplier of 2,500 trucks.
Apple will introduce its smart home hub, code-named HomePad, on October 13, Bloomberg reports. The device is expected to have a 6-inch screen and a design inspired by the iMac G4, and to debut alongside a HomePod mini in new colors and a new Apple TV 4K with Siri AI support.
Amazon introduced three Alexa tablets: the Tablet 8 from $229.99, the Tablet 11 from $329.99 and the Tablet 12 Pro from $499.99. All have an aluminum body, full Android with the Google Play Store and built-in Alexa+, which can see what's on the screen on request. The 12 Pro has a 12-inch 120 Hz screen, and the version from $549.99 has a Nanomatte screen with a texture etched into the glass using a photolithography process developed with Corning, designed to cut glare without losing sharpness and color. Sales started on October 8, with shipping in the US, Canada and Mexico from October 14, and the tablets will be available in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK from October 19.
SpaceX announced a deal to buy nationwide 800 MHz spectrum licenses (up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum). This band is meant to let the Starlink Mobile network reach inside buildings. Once the FCC approves, the company wants to combine satellites that connect directly to phones with a terrestrial network and compete with T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. The same week, the FCC approved the Gen2 constellation: 15,000 V2 Starlink Mobile satellites, which according to SpaceX will provide more than 100 times the capacity of the current generation.