As the holiday season rapidly approaches, it may seem like the recent tech news is all about gift deals and Black Friday madness; but there are some very important stories out there you may have missed. Fret not, because we gathered up all the important tech related happenings that you need to know before you chow down on Thanksgiving.

New Twitter Character Limit

All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button#280characters

— SEMPER (@Sushimibelle) November 8, 2017

Time and time again, the BIGteam has sighed in frustration about Twitter’s 140 character rule because we have a lot to say! Luckily, Twitter has doubled its character limit to 280. For a lot of people, this is a long time coming. CEO and founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey tweeted back in September that the number 140 itself was sort of an “arbitrary choice,” so giving people more freedom definitely has some tweeters happy. However, some people feel that Twitter has granted us too many characters, allowing more room for trolling and making jokes that fall flat. Regardless of what side you fall on, the change will take some getting used to, and it’s an interesting move by a social media platform struggling to attract users.
 
Bill Gates Smart City
This week, Microsoft founder and tech mogul Bill Gates announced his plans to create a Smart City outside of Phoenix, Arizona. He will be investing $80 million through his parent company, Cascade Investments. This new city will include high-speed networks, self-driving vehicles, faster internet, and overall new technologies. Developers are aiming for 150,00 residents and want to build this city from the ground up instead of trying to work around existing infrastructure. If this city development goes through, it’ll be interesting to see how long the project will take to be completed and how successful it will turn out.
 
Tesla Semi-Truck
Elon Musk is always up to something. His next project? The semi-truck. Musk recently took to Twitter to announce a live webcast that will unveil details about the truck this week, but other than that, the Tesla team has been pretty secretive about this latest endeavour.
 
In the past, people have been hesitant to buy Tesla cars. Aside from the price, one crucial reason is the limited mileage the vehicles receive from one charge. If this is not resolved, the new semi-truck will have to make periodic stops like the other Tesla car models. We’re sure Tesla is well-aware of the drawbacks of its earlier cars and if anyone can find a solution, it’s Elon Musk.
 
Loving the new character limit on Twitter? Would you move to Bill Gate’s smart city? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts on this week’s tech news! And be sure to follow us on Twitter at @BIGfishPR.