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The Mobile Service Tower rolls back from the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-44 mission on Wednesday, September 30. [credit: United Launch Alliance ]
Late on Wednesday night, United Launch Alliance's large Delta IV Heavy rocket again came within seconds of lifting off from its Florida launch pad. But once again, the launch was scrubbed.
Following the automated abort of the rocket at T-7 seconds, both the booster and its valuable National Reconnaissance Office payload were said to be safe. Because the abort was triggered just before the rocket's main RS-68 engines had begun to ignite, the delay before the next launch attempt may be less than a week.
"The terminal countdown sequencer rack identified an unexpected condition prior to the engine start sequence," the company stated about an hour after the scrub. "The TCSR, which controls the final 10 seconds of the countdown, performed as intended and safely initiated a hold at T-7 seconds. The team is currently reviewing all data and will determine the path forward."
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As people spend less time out in the world and more time daydreaming about when a vaccine will arrive, lifestyle shoes are only gaining traction.
One obvious beneficiary is Allbirds, the San Francisco-based maker of comfortable, sustainable kicks that launched in 2016 and quickly became a favorite in Silicon Valley circles before taking off elsewhere.
Though the company saw its business slow this year because of the pandemic, its products are now available to purchase in 35 countries and its 20 brick-and-mortar stores are sprinkled throughout the U.S. and Europe, with another outpost in Tokyo and several shops in China.
Investors clearly see room for more growth. Allbirds just closed on $100 million in Series E funding at roughly the same $1.6 billion valuation it was assigned after closing on $27 million in Series D funding earlier this year, and blank-check companies have been calling, says cofounder and CEO Joey Zwillinger. He talked with us earlier this week in a chat that has been edited for length and clarity.
TC: Your shoes are sold worldwide. What are your biggest markets?
JZ: The biggest market by far is the U.S., and the same day that we started here in 2016, we also launched in New Zealand, so that’s been very good to us over the last four years, too. But we’ve seen growth in Japan and Korea and China and Canada and Australia. We have a network of warehouses globally that lets us reach 2.5 billion people [who], if they were so inclined, could get their product in three days. We’re proud of the infrastructure we’ve set up.
TC: We’ve all worn shoes a lot less than we might have expected in 2020. How has that impacted your business?
JZ: We’re growing but definitely not at the same pace we would be had the pandemic not occurred. We’re predominantly digital in terms of how we reach people, but stores are important for us. And we had to switch [those] off completely and lost a portion of our sales for a long time.
TC: Did you have to lay off your retail employees?
JZ: A large portion of our retail force was unable to work, but we were luckily able to keep them fully paid for four months, plus [some received] government benefits if they got that. And now all of our 20 stores are up and running again in a way that’s totally safe and everyone feels really comfortable.
We also donated shoes to frontline workers — 10,000 pairs or around a million dollars’ worth.
TC: What does Allbirds have up its sleeve, in terms of new offerings?
JZ: We just launched our native mobile app, and through it we’re able to give our more loyal fans exclusives. It’s a really cool experience that blends technology with fashion. You can try on shoes in a virtual mirror; you’re given information [about different looks] that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
We also launched wool-based weather-proofed running shoes in April that have blown away our expectations but [were fast discovered by] people who haven’t really been running for 10 to 15 years and are running again [because of gym closures]. It’s a super high-stakes category and one that’s hard to break into because people buy on repeat. But we spent two years making it. It’s not like we launched it because of the pandemic. It’s a shoe for 5K to 10K distances — it’s not a marathon shoe or a trail shoe — and that we’ve been able to clearly articulate that speaks to its success, I think.
TC: What about clothing?
We launched underwear and socks last year in a small launch. We developed a textile that hasn’t been used before — it’s a blend of tree fiber and merino wool because our view is that nature can unlock magic. Underwear is typically synthetic — it’s made from plastics — or cotton, which isn’t a great material for a whole bunch of reasons. [Meanwhile] ours is phenomenal for temperature control; it also feels like cashmere.
TC: Patagonia really advertises its social and environmental values. Do you see Allbirds evolving in a similar way, with a growing spate of offerings?
JZ: I’m incredibly humbled by [the comparison]. Given their environmental stewardship of the retail sector, we hope we’re compared to them. But they are much more of an outdoor brand — not a competitor so to speak. And we’d love to share more of the retail world with them so we can do our environmental thing together.
TC: You just raised funding. Are you profitable and, if not, is profitability in sight?
JZ: We’ve been profitable for most of our existence. Having some discipline as we grow is good. We’re not close to the profitability that we’ll eventually have, but we’re still a small company in investment mode. After we emerge from the pandemic, we’ll enter a ramping-up phase.
TC: Everyone and their brother is raising money for a blank-check company, or SPAC, which can make it a lot faster for a private company to go public. Have you been approached, and might this option interest you?
JZ: Yes and no. Yes we’ve been approached, and no, we’re [not interested]. We want to build a great company and being public might be something that helps enable that for a whole bunch of reasons. But we want to do it at the right time, in a way that helps the business grow in the most durable and sustainable fashion. Just jumping at the opportunity of a SPAC without doing the rigorous prep the way we want to, we’re not super focused on that
Google Pixel 4a is confirmed to launch in India on October 17, the company has confirmed after it launched the Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) globally on Wednesday. The Pixel 4a was announced in India on August 3 with a launch date set for sometime in October. The Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) won’t be launched in India, Google confirmed previously and the Pixel 4a is the only phone by the company for India.
As per a post by the official Twitter handle of Google, the company confirmed that the Pixel 4a is set to launch on October 17 in India and will go on sale on Flipkart. The price of the phone has not been revealed yet and it is expected to be announced closer to the day of the availability. The Pixel 4a is already listed on Flipkart as its specifications and features have been revealed during the last announcement.
Hi Roger, we appreciate your interest in our Pixel devices. The Pixel 4a launches in India on October 17th and will be available for purchase on Flipkart. To learn more about the Pixel 4a check out the official blog post here: https://t.co/EOgWtQ7NMg Appreciate it.
— Made By Google (@madebygoogle) October 1, 2020 Google Pixel 4a expected pricing in IndiaGoogle Pixel 4a is priced at $349 in the US which roughly translates to around Rs 25,000 by direct conversion. The India pricing is expected to be around the same ballpark figure and it will go up against the likes of OnePlus Nord, Apple iPhone SE 2020, Realme X3 and more.
Google Pixel 4a specifications
Google Pixel 4a has a new design with a soft-to-touch plastic back but without the dual-tone style as on the Pixel 3a. It measures 8.2 millimetres in thickness and is fairly lightweight, weighing 143 grams, due to the polycarbonate built. There is a square camera module on the back with the fingerprint reader placed in the middle for faster unlock speeds. The phone doesn’t go for an in-display sensor as is the trend these days likely to keep the price down.
The 4a features a 5.8-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an OLED panel. The screen has a punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner for housing the selfie camera and has minimal bezels on the sides. This gives it a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Additionally, the display is HDR+ certified which should enhance the video-viewing experience on the phone while the audio is expected to be decent with stereo speakers.
The Pixel 4a is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G with an octa-core CPU clocked at upto 2.2GHz and Adreno 618 GPU. This is paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Being a Pixel phone, Google offers unlimited photo and video storage in Google Photos in high quality for free. The Pixel 4a is a slightly toned-down version of the Pixel 4 that debuted late last year. It doesn’t come with the Soli radar chip or Pixel Neural Core but does come with the Titan M security chip which helps in keeping your data safe along with assured updates for three years.
Google Pixel 4a comes with a single 12MP camera which uses the same Sony IMX363 sensor as the Pixel 4 with support for OIS and EIS. Google claims that the camera of the Pixel 4a is capable of producing Pixel 4-like images from its camera with features like Live HDR+, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Super Res Zoom and more. The phone’s rear camera is capable of recording in 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30/60/120fps and 720p at up to 240fps while the selfie camera can shoot Full HD videos at 30fps. The front camera on the phone is the same as the Pixel 3a with an 8MP camera with an 84-degree field-of-view.
The 4a does not lose out on the 3.5mm headphone jack and comes pre-loaded with Google Assistant along with a slew of new features like the new Recorder app which transcribes speech to text using AI and machine learning algorithms. In addition, the phone has accessibility features like live Transcribe and Live Caption as well.
The Pixel 4a is equipped with a 3,140mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Google claims that the 4a can provide a 24-hour battery backup and comes with Adaptive Battery feature that manages the battery life based on how you use your phone.
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