The BYTE [5/15]

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.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of a batch of some new tech including: raising the roof, the latest in spray paint, smart home advancements, less delinquents, and a look at the age breakout. Dig in!

Generally

New Tech Everywhere
Each week tech seems to get better and better. This past week was no exception with Tesla trying to change the solar panel market, Carnegie Mellon getting a feel for spray paint, and smart homes everywhere.

Tesla
Tesla has officially started taking preorders for its solar roof. For now Tesla only is releasing two of its four tiles (with the other two expected later this year) and the average price is going to be around $21.85 per square foot. They launched the orders by having a calculator to estimate how much it would cost when it is all said and done and also how much you will save. The price includes the Tesla Powerwall 2. They also launched hail at the tiles to show how tough the new tiles are.

Carnegie Mellon
They have essentially created a sprayable touchscreen. The new tech, Electrick, takes a conductive spray paint and attaches a series of electrodes and then any surface is able to sense the position of your finger. Imagine just swiping right on your wall to turn everything off in your home. Making everything a touchscreen makes the possibilities for this endless.

Smart Homes
A new study shows that one in four U.S. households now have at least one piece of smart home gear. The furthest reaching of those IoT devices is the smart speaker, with smart thermostats coming in second. Weirdly though, smart speakers were everyone’s favorite smart product and also their least favorite smart product. Basically people are most excited about the idea of smart speakers, but expect much more from them.

Take Notes

Delinquents
Mortgage delinquency is at its lowest since the recession. Only 5% of homeowners were behind on their mortgage payments by 30 days or more. The last time it was this low was September 2007. This is a good sign for the health of the mortgage market. Not everywhere is doing so well with the mid-Atlantic and northeast states still having a high serious delinquency rate, but overall things are looking up. Good news for a Monday.

Looking Back
CoreLogic took a look at the population, young adult homeownership rates, and living arrangements for young adults. Their charts put the population sizes into perspective with 24-26 year olds outnumbering everybody in the U.S. They also compared the living arrangements for 18-34 years olds in 2016 to 1975 and found that 30% less live with a spouse, 11% more people are living with unmarried partners, and 5% more live with parents.

Totally Unrelated

Ouch
Ever wondered what 1000 mouse traps on a trampoline looks like going off at the same time in slow motion? Wonder no more.