10 things in tech you need to know today
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1. Apple unveiled a bunch of new tech yesterday. The company announced its new iPhones (including an iPhone Mini!) with better camera features and battery life. Plus, it released a new Apple Watch with a slew of updates (including that it can tell if you fall off your bike). Here's what you might have missed about the new Apple products.
2. SpaceX is launching four civilians into space today. For the first time ever, a spaceship carrying only civilians will launch into orbit - with no professional astronauts on board. Watch them lift off here.
3. Uber's chief technical officer is stepping down. Insiders say Sukumar Rathnam will resign amid tensions with the company's product chief. We detail the tension in our exclusive report. Plus, read Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's memo to staff outlining what's next after the shakeup.
4. Some delivery riders have formed patrol groups to protect each other from armed robberies. Attempted robberies of delivery workers surged 65% in 2020, causing groups of New York City couriers to band together to fend off assailants. Read some of their stories here.
5. Amazon plans to hire 125,000 workers across the US. The company said it'd be filling transportation and warehouse roles, and paying up to $22.50 an hour - and some recruits will get sign-on bonuses up to $3,000. Get the details on the new jobs.
6. Facebook knows just how bad Instagram is for teens' mental health. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook researchers found that Instagram makes teen girls feel worse about themselves, with some attributing suicidal thoughts directly to the platform. More on that here.
7. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak is starting a mysterious space company. He didn't say what the company - called Privateer - would do, but a press release said it will clean up space debris. Everything we know about the aerospace company.
8. A massive study of Microsoft workers suggests remote work hinders communication between different teams. Analysis of 61,000 employees found remote workers communicate less with people outside their team and are slow to engage new staffers. Here's what else the study found.
9. A software engineer who was fired from Google shares what he wishes he'd done sooner. Grigory Yakushev was fired after his productivity dropped off from what he thought was burnout. While it benefited his mental health and career, he explains what he should've done sooner - and what people in a similar situation can do.
10. Databricks and Confluent are proving open source can thrive - even against Amazon's and Microsoft's clouds. The two open-source-software companies have had a blockbuster summer, showing it's still possible to compete in a market dominated by cloud giants. Get the rundown on the companies' success.
Compiled by Jordan Erb. Tips/comments? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @JordanParkerErb.
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