Innholdsfortegnelse for #523 i Techlife News

Japanese video game maker Nintendo’s profit dropped 19% in the first half of its fiscal year from the previous year, when it received a big lift as people stuck at home by the coronavirus pandemic turned to its products. Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. reported Thursday a 171.8 billion yen ($1.5 billion) profit for the April-September period, down from 213 billion yen in the same period the previous year. Fiscal half sales slipped 19% to 624 billion yen ($5.5 billion). It did not break down quarterly numbers. Nintendo, which is behind the Super Mario and Pokemon games, was among the global companies that received a boost from the pandemic by providing at-home entertainment. That’s why Nintendo enjoyed strong sales of its game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” in the April-September period the previous…

The U.S. trade deficit hit an all-time high of $80.9 billion in September as American exports fell sharply while imports, even with supply chain problems at American ports, continue to climb. The September deficit topped the previous record of $73.2 billion set in June, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The deficit is the gap between what the United States exports to the rest of the world and the imports it purchases from foreign nations. In September, exports plunged 3% to $207.6 billion while imports rose 0.6% to $288.5 billion. Part of the weakness reflected a 15.5% drop in petroleum exports related to the drilling rig and refinery shutdowns during Hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico. Economists expect that decline to reverse in coming months with petroleum production coming back…

A crucial U.N. climate summit amid papal appeals for prayers and activists’ demands for action, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway. As U.N. officials gaveled the climate summit to its formal opening in Glasgow, the heads of the world’s leading economies at the close of their own separate talks in Italy made pledges including stopping international financing of dirty-burning coal-fired power plants by next year. But much of the agreement was vague and not the major push some had been hoping for to give momentum to the climate summit. Government leaders face two choices in Glasgow, Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. climate office, declared at the summit’s opening: They…

Electric vehicle maker Nuro said it had secured $600 million in funding from Google, Kroger and others to continue the development of its autonomous delivery vehicle service. The Silicon Valley robotics company has already made thousands of grocery deliveries with Kroger as a part of a 2018 partnership. “Demand for local deliveries is exploding,”said Griffin Schroeder, partner at Tiger Global, which led the new round of financing.“Nuro is the bridge to an era of sustainable, low cost, autonomous local delivery.” Nuro also signed a five-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to support the ongoing development of the zero-occupant, autonomous delivery vehicles and said it will explore opportunities with the tech giant to“strengthen and transform local commerce.” Nuro recently announced a partnership with FedEx and has piloted pizza delivery with Domino’s…

Tesla has issued a recall that automatically sent a software update fixing a safety problem in its electric vehicles, apparently heading off a looming confrontation with U.S. safety regulators. But recall documents posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website Tuesday don’t address another safety issue specified by the agency when it demanded that Tesla explain why it wasn’t doing recalls for safety-related software updates done over the internet. The recall covers nearly 12,000 Teslas with a glitch in the“Full Self-Driving”software that can make the cars stop for no good reason. The company’s paperwork says the problems with automatic emergency braking can increase the risk of other vehicles hitting Teslas from behind. A public recall allows owners to ensure repairs are done and that people buying cars know of…

If you’re merely dipping your toe in cryptocurrency, it can be hard to imagine your crypto as something worth talking to an estate attorney about. But that $100 in fun money could grow to a significant percentage of your total investments, sometimes overnight. Sorry to be a downer, but YOLO — so make a plan for your crypto in the event you pass away. Crypto accounts aren’t like traditional investment accounts. They can be more vulnerable to security issues, and you generally can’t name a beneficiary. For example, if you store your crypto on a physical device at home and a few friends know your key — a password of sorts that grants access to a crypto wallet — one of those so-called friends could wander into your house and…

Who knew that digging the Kinks could be so dangerous? “The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society” (an album good enough to die for, truth be told) is one of the records that Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) stuffs into her suitcase when she gleefully packs for London. Eloise has long fantasized about living in the city, a dream built on the allure of London’s 1960s swinging past. Her grandmother (Rita Tushingham), who raised her and supplied the piles of vinyl, watches Eloise’s great expectations with trepidation. Eloise’s mother embarked on a similar path, but years earlier killed herself. “It’s not what you imagine, London,” she says. In Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” it doesn’t take long for the modern-day London to disabuse Eloise of her romantic notions. The…

China’s Huawei Technologies Co. is providing smart services and 5G technology to industries such as healthcare, creating new revenue streams that might offset the damage to its smartphone business from U.S. sanctions. In the southern city of Guangzhou, the company teamed up with the Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital to equip it with 5G technology and more than 10,000 smart devices that can collect and transmit real-time health data from patients to doctors and nurses to improve patient care. 5G is an ultra-fast wireless technology that has little lag time and can support a massive number of smart devices connected to the internet simultaneously. The current mainstream technology, 4G, is slower at transmitting data and can support fewer devices. Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of 5G technology equipment, even…

Companies in China would need government approval to transfer important data abroad under proposed rules announced last weekend that would tighten Beijing’s control over information and might disrupt operations for international corporations. The measure is needed to protect the Chinese public and “safeguard national security,” the Cyberspace Administration of China said. President Xi Jinping’s government sees information about China’s 1.4 billion people as a potential security risk in private hands. It has issued a flurry of rules tightening control over how companies gather and handle information. A crackdown on data security launched in late 2020 fueled anxiety among investors, who have knocked more than $1.3 trillion off the total market value of e-commerce platform Alibaba, games and social media operator Tencent and other tech giants. Companies that want to transfer…

Looking to increase your vacation selfie game? Don’t worry, Eduardo Vallin has you covered. As“Instagram concierge”at the W Punta de Mita hotel in Mexico, Vallin helps guests locate and take the best social media-worthy photos while they bask in that vacation glow. “One of my favorite parts of the job is seeing the pictures come to life,”Vallin said.“I enjoy getting to know the person through their Instagram aesthetics and interests and then creating a personalized tour, then finally seeing the finished product on their Instagram.” His is just one of a variety of creative concierge jobs that hotels and resorts have introduced in recent years. In Aruba, Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort recently introduced a“carbon offset concierge”; Jareth Vermeulen helps guests offset the environmental impact of their flights to the…

Deep in a French forest of oaks, birches and pines, a steady stream of trucks carries a silent reminder of nuclear energy’s often invisible cost: canisters of radioactive waste, heading into storage for the next 300 years. As negotiators plot out how to fuel the world while also reducing carbon emissions at climate talks in Scotland, nuclear power is a central sticking point. Critics decry its mammoth price tag, the disproportionate damage caused by nuclear accidents, and radioactive leftovers that remain deadly for thousands of years. But increasingly vocal and powerful proponents — some climate scientists and environmental experts among them — argue that nuclear power is the world’s best hope of keeping climate change under control, noting that it emits so few planet-damaging emissions and is safer on average…

As he made history by becoming the first person to fly across New Zealand’s Cook Strait in an electric plane, Gary Freedman thought it only fitting that the first thing he saw when approaching the Wellington coastline was the rotating blade of a wind turbine producing renewable energy. Freedman’s 40-minute solo flight in the small two-seater came 101 years after the first person flew a conventional aircraft over the body of water that separates the South Pacific nation’s two main islands. Monday’s flight was aimed at drawing attention to the possibilities of greener flying and timed to coincide with the opening of a pivotal U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Wellington International Airport officials believe it may be the longest distance flown in an electric plane across any body of…

Robot food delivery is no longer the stuff of science fiction. But you may not see it in your neighborhood anytime soon. Hundreds of little robots — knee-high and able to hold around four large pizzas — are now navigating college campuses and even some city sidewalks in the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere. While robots were being tested in limited numbers before the coronavirus hit, the companies building them say pandemic-related labor shortages and a growing preference for contactless delivery have accelerated their deployment. “We saw demand for robot usage just go through the ceiling,” said Alastair Westgarth, the CEO of Starship Technologies, which recently completed its 2 millionth delivery. “I think demand was always there, but it was brought forward by the pandemic effect.” Starship has more than…

Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology and its misuse by governments, police and others. “This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,” Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence for Facebook’s new parent company, Meta, wrote in a blog post this week. He said the company was trying to weigh the positive use cases for the technology “against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules.” The company in the coming weeks will delete “more than a billion people’s individual facial recognition templates,” he said. Facebook’s about-face follows a busy few weeks. It announced its new name Meta…

If you have credit cards in your wallet, you might track your balances to keep your budget in check, but knowing each card’s credit limit off the top of your head is another story. However, actively managing how much of your credit limits you are using — also known as your credit utilization ratio — can make a big impact on your credit score. Your credit score is a mix of many factors, including your credit usage. If you want to build your credit score, focusing on using less of your credit limits is a powerful way to do it. People with excellent credit tend to have low credit utilization ratios. According to credit expert John Ulzheimer, utilization is one of the more actionable ways to improve your credit: “To…

One of the unlikeliest heroes to emerge from Zack Snyder’s horror-action flick “Army of the Dead” earlier this year was an oddball safecracker named Dieter. Part nerdy Eurotrash, part pretentious busybody, Dieter was never going to make it out alive. He was like one of those guys wearing a red shirt in “Star Trek.” Sooner or later, Dieter was gonna be gone. Well, that turns out to be dead wrong: Dieter has escaped — by way of the prequel, “Army of Thieves,” an improbable film starring this strange, fussy German creature who eats cheese and cucumber sandwiches and wears turtlenecks with suspenders. It’s a film no one really demanded and yet is loads of fun. “Army of Thieves” takes place in the months before “Army of the Dead,” which was…

Yahoo Inc. said this week it has pulled out of China, citing an increasingly challenging operating environment. The withdrawal was largely symbolic, as many of the company’s services were already blocked by China’s digital censorship. But recent government moves to expand its control over tech companies generally, including its domestic giants, may have tipped the scales for Yahoo. “In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1,” the company said in a statement. It said it “remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet.” The company’s move comes as the American and Chinese governments feud over technology and trade. The U.S. has put restrictions on…

Driving your vehicle when there’s snow and ice on the roads can be a little intimidating — but it doesn’t have to be. Experts have five steps you can take now that will pay off come winter. SWITCH TO WINTER TIRES The standard tires that came with your vehicle are likely all-seasons. As their name implies, these tires are suitable for all conditions. But think of all-seasons as jack-of-all-trades, master of none. You’ll get the best grip and stability on snowy or icy roads if you fit your car with dedicated winter tires. These tires are engineered for situations such as heavy snow or black ice. However, you shouldn’t keep these specialized tires mounted all year. As such, consider buying a set of winter tires mounted on an extra set…

Are COVID-19 boosters the same as the original vaccines? Yes, COVID-19 boosters use the same recipe as the original shots, despite the emergence of the more contagious delta variant. The vaccines weren’t tweaked to better match delta because they’re still working well. The vaccines work by training your body to recognize and fight the spike protein that coats the coronavirus and helps it invade the body’s cells. Delta’s mutations fortunately weren’t different enough to escape detection. The increased protection you might get from a booster adjusted to better match the delta or other variants would be marginal, says Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Manufacturing doses with a new formula would have also delayed the rollout of boosters. Moderna…

It’s true that gamers favor Windows PCs over Macs when building their new gaming rigs, as they’re easy to customize and have widespread support from modern studios, but it doesn’t mean Apple can’t enter the gaming world. As the company builds incredible new machines powered by the M1 Pro and M1 Max, Apple could finally be a serious gaming contender… GAMING ON THE MAC For many years, Apple has relied on third-party graphics processors on its MacBooks and iMac models, like the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT which is found in the latest 27-inch iMac. But as the company looks to move away from third parties and differentiate itself in the PC market, Apple has begun the transition away from third-party chips to its own custom tech, the M1 chip.…

DoorDash is adding security features to its app to help protect drivers. The San Francisco-based delivery company said it’s partnering with security company ADT on the new features, which will be available to all U.S. DoorDash drivers by the end of this year. Under the new system, DoorDash drivers who are feeling unsafe can connect to an ADT agent using a button in DoorDash’s app. The agent will stay on the phone until the driver feels comfortable; if the driver stops communicating, ADT will call 911. DoorDash is also adding an emergency-assistance button to its app, which drivers can swipe to let ADT know they need immediate help. ADT will contact 911 and then remain in touch with the driver via text messages. The enhanced safety follows several high-profile attacks…

Break up Big Tech? How about shrinking the tech companies’ shield against liability in cases where the content they push to users causes harm? Or creating a new regulator to strictly oversee the industry? Those ideas have captured official attention in the U.S., Europe, U.K. and Australia as controversy has enveloped Facebook — which renamed itself Meta — Google, Amazon and other giants. Revelations of deep-seated problems surfaced by former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen, buttressed by a trove of internal company documents, have lent momentum to legislative and regulatory efforts. But while regulators are still considering major moves such as breaking up some companies or limiting their acquisitions, the most realistic changes may be more tangible and less grandly ambitious. And also the kind of thing people might actually…

The Biden administration is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would strengthen government regulation of stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency that has soared in popularity in the past year. In a 22-page report issued this week, the Treasury Department and several other regulators said the legislation should require that stablecoin issuers become banks, which would potentially subject them to a wide range of rules, including those requiring that banks hold sufficient cash reserves and implement measures to prevent money laundering and other illicit activities. “The absence of appropriate oversight presents risks to users and the broader system,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “Current oversight is inconsistent and fragmented, with some stablecoins effectively falling outside the regulatory perimeter.” The highly-anticipated report was prepared by an interagency committee known as the…

NASA is debating whether to try to fix a jammed solar panel on its newly launched Lucy spacecraft, en route to explore an unprecedented number of asteroids. The problem cropped up shortly after the spacecraft’s Oct. 16 liftoff on a 12-year journey. After measuring the electric current, NASA reported that one of Lucy’s two giant, circular solar panels is only between 75% and 95% extended. A lanyard is holding it in place. Any attempt at reopening the wing — which is 24 feet in diameter (7 meters) — would not occur before mid-November. So far, the problem has not affected Lucy’s outbound flight, so there’s no rush to figure out the next step, officials said. Everything else on the spacecraft — already 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) away —…

Yahoo Inc. is leaving the China market, suspending its services there as of Monday amid what it says is an “increasingly challenging” business and legal environment. Foreign technology firms have been pulling out or downsizing their operations in mainland China as a strict data privacy law specifying how companies collect and store data takes effect. Such companies have decided the regulatory uncertainty and reputational risks outweigh the advantages of staying in the huge market. WHICH FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES HAVE RECENTLY DOWNSIZED OPERATIONS OR LEFT CHINA? Yahoo Inc. said in a statement this week its services in China stopped as of Nov. 1. Users visiting the Engadget China site run by Yahoo this week find a popup notice saying the site will not publish any new content. Last month, Microsoft’s professional…