The BYTE

THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into. Our easy to digest stories include an unexpected rise in the new and a drop in the old, the Jetson-esque feature that some think every home should have, a country getting creative with homes when land is tight, and new video technology that will truly move you. We hope you enjoy this week’s BYTE!

Generally

Out With The Old, In With The New
U.S. new home sales randomly jumped up in July to the highest level in almost nine years. Which made everyone happy except those trying to sell the “gently used” homes,whose sales dropped significantly.

Where Did This Come From? What a great question! The new home surge was largely driven by homes sold in the south, low interest rates, and lower unemployment rates.

New home sales reach 9 year high http://ow.ly/3VPy303IHZy Click To Tweet

Dron’t Forget About Me

Apparently Drones Are Here To Stay
WIRED Magazine thinks so at least. They say it is about time for our abodes to have landing pads for drones. Whether it be for package delivery or down the line for our personal transportation. Drones are quickly changing the world around us, from photography, to package, and meal delivery, with the applications updating and growing every day. So maybe it does make sense to embrace our inner George or Jane Jetson and install a place for these drones to land in our lives.

It's time to make a place for drones in our lives http://ow.ly/l5RZ303IIaY Click To Tweet

Take Notes

Tiny Trend Or Way Of Life?
In smaller countries where there isn’t much land to expand, people have to get creative about where everyone is going to live. Japan is doing just that. Japanese Micro Homes are all over because of the lack of land, high prices for homes, and overall propensity towards a minimalist lifestyle. The homes are built in many shapes and forms to fit the small plot of land. As metro areas grow across the globe it will be interesting to see if the rest of the world takes a page from Japan’s book or not.

Japan is truly embracing the tiny homes http://ow.ly/v5Gm303IIpV Click To Tweet
Truly Moving Videos
MIT is at it again. As they continue to show how smart they are, we end up with some pretty spectacular innovations. This program for example takes video from a normal camera and analyzes the tiniest movements. It then analyzes this footage and allows you to manipulate the object on the computer and have it respond the same way as it would in the real world. As tech like this becomes more readily available there will be fewer and fewer reasons to ever leave the couch.

Amazing new video tech from MIT http://ow.ly/ns34303IIsD Click To Tweet
Happy 100
And while many of our articles in The BYTE focus on cool tech stuff, we also love getting out and enjoying the great outdoors. So Happy Birthday to the National Park Service (NPS)  — they turned 100 this last week. Although the Parks Service started in 1916 the first national park was Yellowstone and was deemed such in 1872, basically because Ulysses S. Grant went there and said, “We HAVE to keep this safe.” Here’s to another 100 years NPS!

The National Park Service turned 100! http://ow.ly/ZlvA303IICT Click To Tweet

THE BYTE

The BYTE is our weekly newsletter designed to recap interesting and relevant home industry and tech news in a digest that is quick and fun to read. Enjoy!

The byte from last week’s news includes a foreign neighbor doubling down on their American meal, a whole new world being presented right before our eyes, a search for something new, a ride where you’re the passenger while sitting in the driver seat, a fellow co-worker who is more athletic than us, and something too adorable to pass up.

Generally

The Chinese Love Their Homes Twice As Much This Year

Especially if their homes aren’t in China. Chinese real estate investment abroad has doubled compared to last year. Chinese people invested more in US real estate than any other country.

O.K. So What?

Well in just the first six months of 2016 there was $16.1 billion invested in real estate outside of China. So if you like money, this is kind of a big deal because they are spending a lot. With the Chinese housing market being in a little bit of disarray, the investment outside of China isn’t expected to be much different in the second half of the year. This is not a good sign for China and their economy as the country is trying to attract investors from all parts of the globe. As money keeps shifting it will be interesting to see if and how things settle.

An (Intel)ligent, Fully Connected World

At Least That Is One Company’s Goal

Intel announced this week at the Intel Developer Forum that they plan on building an entire world that “we can’t experience today.” Intel unveiled plans for the future at this convention that could affect many aspects of everyday life. There is a new VR Headset that lets you interact in the digital world with physical objects. So if you ever wanted to sculpt a gold statue out of your hundred dollar bill, your time has finally come! There were new super computer chips, full virtual work spaces, advanced add-ons to drones (or any robot for that matter), and much more. This is the latest installment in “Tech Companies Trying To One Up Other Tech Companies.”

Take Notes

Searching For The Right Answer

Google is officially rethinking its Fiber internet solution. They figured out that it is pretty expensive and time consuming to tear up the ground and install wires. Naturally the next step for them would be for them to switch gears to WIFI. They are even buying other companies to get this done. Google is also reaching out to cities to install on preexisting power lines. Google is “Feeling Lucky” on this endeavor.

Steer Clear

Ford announce this week that they will have a completely self-driving car in mass production by 2021, sans steering wheel. They plan on selling this car to ride share companies such as Uber or Lyft then to the general public. They believe this is the next step and are diving in head first. The real test will be whether people are willing to get in a car with 0 control or if people will just start naming their cars the Bat-Mobile or KITT.

Just Another Day In The Office

In a classic case of my co-workers are more in shape than I am, a realtor from Arizona took home bronze on the pommel horse at some big sporting events that have been happening lately. No word yet on how he plans on incorporating the routine into his home tours.

Totally Unrelated

I Can See It In Your Eyes…

A new found friend in the deep sea known as a Stubby Squid might just have the best eyes out there. The googly-eyed animal has stolen the hearts of the internet and ours as well.