July Tech News Overview

The hot July summer in 2021 brought a lot of breakthrough news. Space can already be mastered simply by buying a ticket, return to the Red Planet, the revolution in the world of finance and banking, the Visa’s purchase of Currencycloud – we’ll talk about all this in the digest.

Space travel with Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and of course, Elon Musk!

The last two weeks of July marked the beginning of a new era of space travel. Yes, futuristic stories are becoming a reality of our time, but only for those who can afford such a luxury. Jeff Bezos’s firm Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic have launched powerful marketing campaigns to attract wealthy adventurers to suborbital space. The first one offers flights on a vertical launch rocket with a height of 60 feet, the second one – on an air-launched rocket-powered spaceplane.

The cost of tickets can be valued based on rumors that at least one ticket was sold at the auction for $ 28 million. It is also known that the new owner was supposed to fly with Bezos but refused at the last minute, referring to “scheduling conflicts.” The buyer is expected to cash out the ticket at a later date.

And if the owner of Amazon is used to radical solutions, then Virgin Galactic plans to make another test flight before 600 people board. The price for tickets varies between 200-250,000 dollars, equal to the average cost for a house.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which develops more powerful rockets than the previous two companies, will make its first tourist mission at the end of this year. Multi-day visits to Earth’s orbit are planned for $ 55 million per seat.

And if three entrepreneurs hope to conquer the world with their inventions while giving them the chance to live on Mars, work in space inside massive space stations, or transport passengers in a split second around the world using hypersound, then such a futuristic future is now being rebuffed. Critics denounce the enormous ambition of billionaires who do little to solve the myriad of pressing problems while evading taxes. For example, Amazon employees called on Jeff Bezos to celebrate his journey into space due to their hard work and low wages. By the way, tweets accusing entrepreneurs of meaningless and vain projects have received over 100,000 likes.

The new acquisition of Visa promises new opportunities for clients

Visa announced the purchase of Currencycloud, a company that raised $ 80 million in a round that included Visa. It is a London-based developer of APIs that provides money transfer services. 500 clients in 180 countries also use the API with multi currency wallets and exchange services.

Visa will use the startup’s technology to strengthen its position in providing a broader range of services. It is expected to increase consumer value for businesses that transfer money across borders.

Visa’s move with the purchase of a flexible startup will be marked by the introduction of innovation and new services – often, it is difficult for such large financial centers to advance to the next generation of financial services, which will facilitate the global movement of money.

How humanity makes Mars habitable

NASA’s Perseverance rover or simply Percy, has landed on Earth’s space neighbor Mars. Another active probe will be operating on the Red Planet, which is about to take its first sample. That’s an opportunity to gain new knowledge about the rock by discovering its geological counterpart. A grinding crown will be used to do this, which will scrape off the top layers of the stone. Further, gas dust will be removed and deeper layers – exposed. The analysis will be done in situ, and the sample will be sent to the rover’s adaptive caching node for further research on Earth. The device will measure the volume, photograph, hermetically seal and store the test tube with the rock.

Percy’s work will be influenced by many factors: extreme temperatures, dust storms, atmosphere, and of course, daylight hours. For example, the ability to charge the battery will depend on the last one.

According to NASA, the first collection of lunar samples by Neil Armstrong lasted 3 minutes 35 seconds and took place 52 years ago. Compared to him, Percy is slower but more stable. The persistence of the robot to reach the target on the Red Planet will take about 11 days due to the logistical delays of the collection method.

The first Perseverance specimen from the Jezero crater and those that follow it have every chance of ushering in an era of planetary science and discovery.

Revolut has become the most expensive financial and technology startup in the UK

London-based digital banking startup founded by Nikolay Storonsky has raised $ 800 million from investors. The company is currently valued at $ 33 billion. Vision Fund 2 Softbank and Tiger Global have funded Revolut to create a “global financial super application.” That will enable clients to manage their finances on a single platform that has the potential to ensure more value, better service, and security. The rapidly growing customer base reflects Revolut’s steady growth in an expanding portfolio of innovative services. The use of new funding is predicted to support expanding its offering to U.S. customers and its entry to other countries, including India.

It should be reminded, that since February 2020, the company’s value has grown by 500%. However, the company was at first in losses, which rose to 57% on revenue of $ 307 million. Now the company continues to burn money in customer growth pursuit.

In 2020, as soon as Revolut received a banking license in Lithuania and Poland, it made it possible to expand its influence in Europe. Such a successful company also has weaknesses: for example, in 2020, personnel costs accounted for 74% of revenue, and the company’s profitability is not as high as its cost estimate. Whatever it is, analysts are predicting the monetization of Neobank’s huge client base.

Summary

In July, the tech giants decided to improve the user experience and finally reduce pain points with cross-border payments and flights. Of course, it was not without condemnation of the huge ambitions of entrepreneurs, but everything is changing, and perhaps in a month, we will receive long-awaited answers and solutions.

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