You are so ready to ditch your dinged-up, battery-dying, three-year-old Apple (AAPL) - Get Report iPhone.

And you probably aren't alone in that desire, which is great news for Apple as it gears up to launch the iPhone 8 (assuming that will be the name). There are still nearly 50 million iPhone 6 users, in addition to the more than 20 million iPhone owners who have an iPhone 5 model or earlier, according to new data from comScore. These 70 million collectively represent a massive base of users who are ripe for an upgrade to an iPhone 8 or the likely larger, iPhone 8-plus. Given how the iPhone 8's performance and general exterior features are likely to turn out, their meaningful difference relative to older models could finally get people spending the cash to upgrade.

Almost taking a backseat in comScore's latest data dump is that iPhone ownership in the U.S. has hit an all-time high. There are now 85.8 million iPhones being used by smartphone owners 13 years of age or older.

With an installed base such as this, why shouldn't Apple try to plant its feet in the driverless car field? Its name recognition alone could lead someone currently aged 13 to buy an $80,000 iCar for the family when they are 30.

Read This Or Lose Out

Samsung's cool new smartphone goes on sale Friday: The company is riding some momentum into the release of its Galaxy S8 smartphone on Friday, probably much to the dismay of rival Apple (though it probably doesn't care too much, judging by that dominating comScore data).

"It's still a bit early, but initial response to the pre-orders that have begun at various places across the world has been better than expected," Koh Dong-jin, chief of Samsung's mobile division, said at a media gathering, Reutersreported a week ago. And, no surprise, people are already taking to Instagram to show off their expensive new gadget.

Talk about some fun news that went under the radar: California state officials agreed last week to provide $2.3 million for two tests of roads that generate electricity, reports Jalopnik. One test will be on a 200-foot stretch of pavement on the UC-Merced campus. The other will be undertaken by a company called Pyro-E, who will use a half-mile strip of highway.

This stuff doesn't exist yet, so sorry -- no pictures available just yet.

Reminder, take a shower this weekend: Hat tip to USA Today for this one. If you didn't take a shower for a year, it wouldn't be without several nasty consequences. For starters, your skin would become oily or dry and become infected with fungus, yeast and then bacteria.

Yuk.

The Federal Reserve is damn serious about reducing the size of its balance sheet: While the market has forgotten about the Fed's growing desire to reduce the size of its bloated balance sheet (which could lead to a host of unfortunate economic consequences), the Fed itself hasn't. The Fed is seeking bond fund manager feedback on how it should tailor and communicate its exit from record holdings of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, reportsBloomberg. Getting such feedback is vital so that the Fed doesn't spook the market and, in the process, upend the fragile economic recovery.

Here's a depressing chart on the size of that balance sheet.

Mattel crashes and burns: Shares of Barbie maker Mattel (MAT) - Get Report will see considerable weakness on Friday following an ugly first quarter earnings miss. The miss was warranted, as Mattel has been slow to evolve in how children are playing with toys. Hasbro (HAS) - Get Report is the clear leader in the toy space, and has been for some time.

On the positive side, new Mattel CEO -- and former Google executive -- Margaret Georgiadis appears to have several fans on Wall Street.

Jim Cramer and the AAP team hold a position in Apple for their Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.

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Editor's Pick: Originally published April 21.

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