Innholdsfortegnelse for #564 i Techlife News

Thundering gas-powered muscle cars, for decades a fixture of American culture, will be closing in on their final Saturday-night cruises in the coming years as automakers begin replacing them with super-fast cars that run on batteries. Stellantis’ Dodge brand, long the performance flag-bearer of the company formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, is officially moving toward electricity. On Wednesday night, Dodge unveiled a battery-powered Charger Daytona SRT concept car, which is close to one that will be produced in 2024 as the sun sets on some petroleum models. Stellantis says it will stop making gasoline versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars and the Chrysler 300 large car by the end of next year. The Canadian factory that makes them will be converted to electric vehicles. Other automakers are…

As the U.S. government expands incentives for renewable energy, a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court is moving the state in the opposite direction by halting a solar energy tax break that has been on the books for nearly a decade. Legislation signed by President Joe Biden pumps about $375 billion over a decade into initiatives intended to combat climate change. Those include expanded tax breaks for the production of clean energy, such as wind and solar power, and for consumers to install solar panels on their property. Democrats passed the legislation through a divided Congress last week, around the same time that Missouri’s highest court struck down a 2013 state law granting a property tax exemption for certain solar energy systems. The court said the tax break wasn’t allowed…

American Airlines has agreed to buy up to 20 supersonic jets and put down a non-refundable deposit on the planes that are still on the drawing board and years away from flying. Neither American nor the manufacturer Boom Supersonic would provide financial details Tuesday, including the amount of American’s deposit. American, which also took options for 40 more Boom Overture planes, becomes the second U.S. customer for Boom after a similar announcement last year from United Airlines for 15 jets. It has been nearly 20 years since the last supersonic passenger flight by Concorde, the British-French plane that failed to catch on because of the high cost — both for passengers and airlines. Boom CEO Blake Scholl insists his company’s plane will be different when it debuts in 2029, with…

Warren Buffett’s company bet more on high-tech darling Apple and e-commerce giant Amazon during the second quarter, while also investing billions in old-school oil producers Occidental Petroleum and Chevron. Berkshire Hathaway detailed all its second-quarter investments in a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wall Street follows Berkshire’s investments closely because of Buffett’s remarkably successful track record over the decades. Berkshire had already disclosed its biggest move in the quarter — investing $1.4 billion in oil producer Occidental Petroleum — because that investment’s size required more immediate updates. Berkshire now owns more than $11 billion worth of Occidental stock, and it controls more than 20% of the company after making several more purchases since the quarter ended on June 30. But the filing revealed a number of smaller…

As part of the rollout of a huge new climate, tax and healthcare law, the U.S. government is moving forward with its plan to award new tax credits to electric vehicle purchasers. Several new websites launched Tuesday to help people identify which vehicles qualify for the credits. Based on data submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 31 new 2022 and 2023 models qualify for the tax credit. For starters, they must be made in North America to be eligible. President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill into law on Tuesday. It includes a tax credit of up to $7,500 that could be used to defray the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle. Models included are the 2022 Ford F Series electric…

Social media companies are offering few specifics as they share their plans for safeguarding the U.S. midterm elections. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are generally staying the course from the 2020 voting season, which was marred by conspiracies and culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Video app TikTok, which has soared in popularity since the last election cycle while also cementing its place as a problem spot for misinformation, announced Wednesday it is launching an election center that will help people find voting locations and candidate information. The center will show up on videos about U.S. elections and in the feeds of users who search election-related hashtags. TikTok is also partnering with voting advocacy groups to provide specialized voting information for college students, people who are…

Airbnb says it will use new methods to spot and block people who try to use the short-term rental service to throw a party. The company said it has introduced technology that examines the would-be renter’s history on Airbnb, how far they live from the home they want to rent, whether they’re renting for a weekday or weekend, and other factors. Airbnb said the screening system that it is rolling out for listings in the United States and Canada has been tested since last October in parts of Australia, where it produced a 35% drop in unauthorized parties. The San Francisco-based company said the technology is designed to prevent a customer’s request for reservation from ever reaching the host of the property involved. Airbnb said people blocked from renting an…

Amazon appears to be getting the TikTok bug, joining other companies seeking to hold consumers’ attention by introducing replicas of the popular social platform. The e-commerce giant has been testing a feed on its app that enables shoppers to scroll through TikTok-like photos and videos of products posted by other users. Using the feature, called Inspire, customers can like, save and share posts of products, and purchase items directly from the feed, according to Watchful Technologies, an Israeli-based artificial-intelligence firm that analyzes apps and has tracked the feature. The test doesn’t mean Amazon will roll out the widget to the public in its current form — or at all. Alyssa Bronikowski, an Amazon spokesperson, declined to say if the company has plans to introduce the feature to all its customers.…

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates came back down slightly this week after the key 30-year loan rate jumped nearly a quarter point last week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year rate fell to 5.13% from 5.22% last week. Last year at this time, the rate stood at 2.86%. The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those looking to refinance their homes, inched down to 4.55% from 4.59% last week. One year ago, it was 2.16%. Rapidly rising interest rates — which add hundreds of dollars to monthly mortgage payments — have pushed many potential homebuyers to the sideline this year, cooling the once red-hot housing market. The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell for the sixth consecutive month in July, slowed by…

Now that President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ expansive climate, tax and health care bill into law, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has directed the IRS to develop a plan within six months outlining how the tax agency will overhaul its technology, customer service and hiring processes. In part, the improvements are meant to “end the two-tiered tax system, where most Americans pay what they owe, but those at the top of the distribution often do not,”Yellen said in a memo to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, whose term ends in three months. Yellen’s memo, outlines the importance of modernizing IRS computer systems and ensuring the agency has an adequately-staffed workforce now that the tax collector is set to receive nearly $80 billion over the next 10 years. That funding is needed for…

Gov. Brian Kemp said the state will spend another $240 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to construct broadband internet to rural locations that don’t currently have connections. Combined with $408 million from an earlier round of COVID-19 aid, plus money from the Federal Communications Commission, nearly $1 billion will be given to utilities and others to try to bring high-speed connections to parts of Georgia that lacked them. Applications for the new round of grants are open. The announcement comes as the Republican Kemp vies for reelection with Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in one of the nation’s most high-profile governor’s races. Abrams and other Democrats have slammed Kemp for taking credit for handing out federal money even as he voices opposition to federal spending. Abrams pledged to use money…

Two Amazon-owned companies — Ring and Hollywood studio MGM — are teaming to create a TV show in the mold of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” using viral footage from Ring’s doorbell and smart-home cameras. The half-hour show, called “Ring Nation,” will be hosted by actor and comedian Wanda Sykes and premier in syndication on Sept. 26, MGM said. The studio noted audiences should expect to see the usual things that go viral — marriage proposals, neighbors saving neighbors and silly animals. The series showcases Amazon’s fusion of its various business arms, this time to highlight what MGM called “interesting moments from communities across the country.” “You have one company that owns two juggernauts and (has) just figured out how to leverage one against the other,” said Robert Passikoff, president of…

When making your travel budget, don’t assume that lodging and airfare will be your biggest expense. Now, more than ever, rental cars are shaping up to be one of the biggest — and stubbornly high — aspects of people’s vacation budgets. While airfare and lodging prices are certainly near all-time highs, rental cars are among the biggest price increases of all travel expenses. When comparing prices for July 2022 versus July 2019 (the last normal summer pre-pandemic), hotel prices are up 7% , according to the latest set of Consumer Price Index data released in August 2022. Airfares are up 16%. But rental cars are up a whopping 48%. WHEN DID RENTAL CAR PRICES GET SO HIGH? Like most travel costs, rental car prices sharply dropped in April and May…

The U.S. government plans talks with Taiwan on a wide-ranging trade treaty in a sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy claimed by China’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory. The announcement Thursday comes after Beijing held military drills that included firing missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan following this month’s visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office made no mention of tension with Beijing but said the “formal negotiations” were meant to enhance trade and regulatory cooperation, which would entail closer official interaction. President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, told reporters last week that trade talks would be part of efforts to “deepen our ties with Taiwan,” though he said U.S. policy wasn’t changing. Taiwan and…

Your internet browser is perhaps the most important piece of software on your Mac, allowing you to surf the web, access social media and emails, and conduct your day-to-day affairs. But with so many internet browsers on the market claiming to be the fastest and most secure, it can be tough to know where to start; the battle of the browser is truly heating up. CHOOSING THE RIGHT BROWSER FOR MACOS With consumers and professionals conducting more of their business online than ever before, it is vital that you choose the right web browser for your needs. Indeed, the average American spends an eye-watering 413 minutes on a browser every single day - that’s just under seven hours - but with so many competing products, how can you choose the…

Florida’s primary energy provider is ready to launch a powerful new technology, just ahead of the busiest weeks of the Atlantic hurricane season: a new fixed-wing drone designed fly into tropical storm force winds and speed the restoration of electricity after severe weather. FPLAir One resembles a small plane and is remotely operated, enabling the utility to capture and deliver images and video of damaged electrical equipment in real time to its command center. It can fly up to 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) at a time — enough to cover the length of Florida twice in the immediate wake of the most damaging storms. It’s a vast improvement on bucket trucks and hand-held drones when it comes to learning what a storm did at the top of a power pole.…

Amazon has complained to federal regulators that they are hounding company founder Jeff Bezos and senior executives, making “impossible-to-satisfy demands” in their investigation of Amazon Prime, the popular streaming and shopping service with free delivery and an estimated 200 million members around the globe. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating the sign-up and cancellation practices of Amazon Prime starting in March 2021 with the issuance of civil subpoenas, the biggest online retailer and tech giant disclosed in a petition to the agency filed earlier this month. The petition asks the FTC to cancel, or extend the deadline for answering, subpoenas sent last June to Bezos, Amazon’s former CEO, and current CEO Andy Jassy. It says the FTC “has identified no legitimate reason for needing their testimony when it can…

Best Buy, the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain, is trimming jobs in an effort to adjust to new changes in consumer behavior as the virus wanes. Best Buy declined to say how many jobs it was cutting, but The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report the news, estimated it involved hundreds of jobs at the store level. “We’re always evaluating and evolving our teams to make sure we’re serving our customers,” Best Buy said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. ‘With an ever-changing macroeconomic environment, including customers shopping more digitally than ever, we have made adjustments to our teams that include eliminating a small number of roles.” The job cuts come after Best Buy reduced its annual sales and profit forecast late last month, citing surging…

Walmart Inc. said it has signed a deal with Paramount Global to offer the entertainment company’s streaming service as a perk to subscribers of the discounter’s shipping subscription service. The move is part of efforts by the nation’s largest retailer to better compete with Amazon’s Prime membership program, which offers an array of perks. Starting in September, subscribers to Walmart+ will be have access to the Paramount+ Essential Plan, which includes ads and offers original dramas such as “1883” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” along with the preschool franchise “PAW Patrol,” recent blockbuster films such as “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” and live sports. The cost of Walmart+ will remain $98 a year, or $12.95 a month, the retailer said. It includes free shipping on items and discounts on gasoline.…

Samsung’s de-facto leader secured a pardon of his conviction for bribing a former president in a corruption scandal that toppled a previous South Korean government, an act of leniency that underscored the tech company’s huge influence in the nation. Lee Jae-yong’s pardon is partially symbolic since he was released on parole a year ago after serving 18 months of a prison term that would have ended in July, and critics say the billionaire has remained in control of Samsung even while behind bars. Still, the pardon will allow the heir to the electronics juggernaut to fully resume his management duties and could make it easier for the company to pursue investments and mergers. The Justice Ministry said President Yoon Suk Yeol, who as a prosecutor investigated the corruption scandal involving…