Innholdsfortegnelse for #586 i Techlife News

The CEO of United Airlines said that other airlines won’t be able to handle all the flights they plan to operate this year, leading to more disruptions for travelers. Scott Kirby said airlines that operate as if this is still 2019, before the pandemic, are bound to struggle. He said the industry is dealing with a shortage of pilots and other workers, outdated technology and strain on the Federal Aviation Administration, which manages the nation’s airspace. “The system simply can’t handle the volume today, much less the anticipated growth,” Kirby said. “There are a number of airlines who cannot fly their schedules. The customers are paying the price.” As an example of what can go wrong, Kirby referred to massive cancellations in late December. Southwest Airlines – which Kirby did…

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits in the U.S. reached a four-month low last week, a sign that employers are holding on to their workers despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy and tamp down inflation. U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending Jan. 14 fell by 15,000 to 190,000, from 205,000 the week before, the Labor Department said. The four-week moving average of claims, which can even out the week-to-week volatility, declined by 6,500 to 206,000. Jobless claims generally serve as a proxy for layoffs, which have been relatively low since the pandemic wiped out millions of jobs in the spring of 2020. The labor market is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates seven times last year in a bid to…

With its sales slowing and its stock price tumbling, Tesla Inc. slashed prices dramatically on several versions of its electric vehicles, making some of its models eligible for a new federal tax credit that could help spur buyer interest. The company dropped prices nearly 20% in the United States on some versions of the Model Y SUV, its top seller. That cut will make more versions of the Model Y eligible for a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit, which will be available through March. Tesla also reduced the base price of the Model 3, its least expensive model, by about 6%. Far from pleasing investors, the sharp price cuts sent Tesla shares down nearly 2% immediately after the announcement. Since the start of last year, the stock has plummeted more than…

Does The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have too much power and influence? It’s a question the foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman raised in its annual letter released this week that outlines the organization’s priorities and announces its budget for the coming year. With $8.3 billion to give away in 2023, the Gates Foundation is the largest private philanthropic donor. And with an endowment of more than $70 billion, its spending power is likely to continue for many decades. When asked in an interview what he thought the answer to that question was, Suzman said, “No.” He said the Seattle-based foundation takes its direction from the Sustainable Development Goals, set by the United Nations and its member countries in 2015, and knows that with its great resources come great responsibility. “We…

Apple Music and Apple TV apps for Windows have made an appearance, with preview versions of the apps being spotted on the Microsoft Store. Last October, Microsoft announced they were coming to the platform, letting users finally ditch the old iTunes app and Apple TV web player for native software that is closer to the experience embedded in macOS. But it’s not just the Music and TV apps that are now available for Windows users. There’s also a third preview of an app called Apple Devices, which is meant to let you manage and sync things like iPods and iPads — functionality that’s currently handled by iTunes on Windows and Finder on the Mac. It also, apparently, contains some references to Reality OS and xrOS, two codenames that have reportedly…

The profits for two iconic Wall Street firms — Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — plunged sharply last quarter as volatile markets cut deeply into investment banking. Goldman’s profits tumbled 66% to $1.33 billion in the fourth quarter, it said Tuesday, well below what Wall Street had expected. Profits at Morgan Stanley slumped 40% to $2.2 billion, barely beating analyst projections. Expectations for Goldman and Morgan were already grim after quarterly results last week from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America. Goldman on Tuesday disclosed to investors that its consumer banking division was struggling far more than what was previously known publicly. The bank set aside $972 million to cover potential credit losses in the quarter, which the bank said came from higher charge offs in its rather new…

Apple CEO Tim Cook will take a more than 40% pay cut this year from a year earlier as the company adjusts how it calculates his compensation partly based on a recommendation from Cook himself. Apple Inc. said in a regulatory filing that Cook’s target total compensation is $49 million for 2023, with a $3 million salary, $6 million cash incentive and $40 million in equity awards. Last March the Cupertino, California, company conducted an advisory shareholder vote on executive pay with 6.21 billion shares voting in favor of the executive pay package and 3.44 billion against. There were also abstentions and broker non-votes. Apple said its compensation committee took into account shareholder feedback, the company’s performance and a recommendation from Cook, who was promoted to CEO in 2011, to…

Actor Jeremy Renner says he is out of the hospital after being treated for serious injuries from a snow plow accident. In response to a Twitter post this week about his Paramount+ TV series “Mayor of Kingstown,” Renner tweeted, “Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home.” Renner was run over by his own 7-ton Pistenbully snow groomer in Nevada while trying to use it to free a relative’s vehicle on a private road near Lake Tahoe on New Year’s Day, authorities said. The accident left him in critical condition with major chest trauma and other injuries, according to a Renner representative. Authorities are still investigating but have said there were no signs that Renner was impaired and no…

Ireland fined WhatsApp on Thursday for breaching strict European Union privacy rules by forcing users to consent to allow their personal data to be used to provide “service improvements and security.” The Data Protection Commission issued a 5.5 million euro ($5.9 million) penalty in the case, which has exposed divisions with regulators in other EU countries over regulating the chat app’s parent Meta. In a related decision earlier this month, the Irish watchdog hit Meta with a total of $390 million in fines for privacy violations involving Facebook and Instagram. All three cases date back to May 2018, when stringent EU privacy regulations took force. The commission, which is Meta’s lead European privacy regulator because the company’s regional headquarters is in Dublin, originally sided with the Silicon Valley giant. But…

While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn’t. Long before Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, he had set his sights on Tesla, the electric automaker where he continues to serve as CEO and from which he derives most of his wealth and fame. Musk claimed in a August 7, 2018 tweet that he had lined up the financing to pay for a $72 billion buyout of Tesla, which he then amplified with a follow-up statement that made a deal seem imminent. But the buyout never materialized and now Musk will have to explain his actions under oath in a federal court in San Francisco. The trial was triggered…

Apple has unveiled the highly-anticipated second generation of the HomePod, a smart speaker that boasts next-level acoustics and an iconic design. Packed with Apple innovations and Siri intelligence, the HomePod 2 offers a powerful tool for entertainment and everyday tasks. The new device features advanced computational audio for a revolutionary listening experience, including support for immersive Spatial Audio tracks. Users can access a vast catalog of over 100 million songs with Apple Music and create a captivating home theater experience with Apple TV 4K. With Siri, users can search for music by artist, song, lyrics, decade, genre, mood, or activity. The HomePod 2 also offers convenient new ways to manage everyday tasks and control the smart home. Users can now create smart home automations using Siri, get notified when a…

Apple Music is one of the most popular streaming services in the United States that allows users to access millions of songs, albums, and playlists. Whether you’re a casual listener or a hardcore music lover, there are plenty of ways to make the most of your Apple Music subscription. Here are some tips and tricks to help you enjoy your music to the fullest. USE SIRI TO CONTROL YOUR MUSIC Siri is a handy tool that can be used to control your music without having to open the Apple Music app. Simply say “Hey Siri” and give a command like “Play my Daily Mix” or “Skip this song” to control your music hands-free. You can even ask Siri to play a specific song, artist, or album by saying something like…

Sales for the holiday 2022 season slowed more than expected from its blistering pace a year ago as higher borrowing costs and higher inflation made shoppers pull back, according to the nation’s largest retail trade group. The National Retail Federation said this week that holiday sales for the combined November and December period rose 5.3% to $936.3 billion. That was a slower pace than the 13.5% increase a year earlier when shoppers began spending the money they had saved during the early part of the pandemic. The growth was also below the trade group’s forecast for sales to be up anywhere from 6% to 8%. Holiday retail sales have averaged an increase of 4.9% over the past 10 years, with pandemic spending in recent years accounting for considerable gains. The…

China games company NetEase Inc. has rejected a proposal from World of Warcraft creator Activision Blizzard to temporarily extend its partnership while the U.S. company seeks a new partner, calling the proposed terms “unequal and unfair” in an escalating public spat. Blizzard said in November that its 14-year partnership with NetEase was set to end, spelling the imminent withdrawal of games such as World of Warcraft, the Starcraft series, and Overwatch from the world’s biggest games market as of Jan. 23. In a statement, NetEase said that Blizzard proposed to extend the partnership for six months under existing terms while it continued seeking for a new partner in China. “We believe that Blizzard’s proposal ... is rude, inappropriate, and not in line with business logic,” NetEase said. The Chinese company…

The countdown toward a possible U.S. government default is in the offing — with frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans raising alarms about whether the U.S. can sidestep a potential economic crisis. The Treasury Department projects that the federal government reached its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion, an artificially imposed cap that lawmakers have increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s. Markets so far remain calm, as the government can temporarily rely on accounting tweaks to stay open, meaning that any threats to the economy are several months away. Even many worried analysts assume there will be a deal. But this particular moment seems more fraught than past brushes with the debt limit because of the broad differences between Biden and new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who…

After months of rumors, Apple finally lifted the lid on specced-up MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips and an M2 Pro Mac mini, perhaps the most affordable and compelling Mac ever released. Combined, the products take Apple computing to even greater heights. CREATING A TRULY COMPELLING DESKTOP OFFER WITH THE MAC MINI It’s no secret that Apple has been working on next-generation Mac mini models. Indeed, we were expected to get our hands on them as early as October 2022. Still, the keynote was canceled due to manufacturing delays brought about by ongoing restrictions caused by COVID-19 in China. Three months later than initially planned (as confirmed by a keynote statement titled ‘2022’ alongside the release of the new machine), Apple has announced the new Mac mini,…

The fastest Corvette ever made comes out later this year, and it’s not powered solely by a howling V8. The E-Ray is a gas electric hybrid, the first all-wheel-drive version of Chevrolet’s storied sports car with the front wheels running on an electric motor the traditional 6.2-liter V8 powering the back. Aimed at affluent buyers who want new technology in the top-line Chevrolet sports car, the $104,000 E-Ray jerks your head back as it goes from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in 2.5 seconds. General Motors says it can cover a quarter mile in 10.5 seconds. Although those figures are slightly faster than its race track-ready brothers, the Z06 and Z07, it’s civil enough for the daily commute even though its rear tires are almost wide enough…

Microsoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, joining other tech companies that have scaled back their pandemic-era expansions. The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the layoffs were a response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.” The company said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and consolidating its leased office locations. Microsoft is cutting far fewer jobs than it had added during the COVID-19 pandemic as it responded to a boom in demand for its workplace software and cloud computing services with so many people working and studying from home. Microsoft’s workforce expanded by about 36% in the two fiscal years following the emergence of the pandemic, growing from 163,000 workers at the end of June 2020, to 221,000 in…

Apple Park is designed to be both functional and environmentally friendly. Let’s take a closer look at the various aspects of the building, including its size, cost, environmental impact, and the various buildings and facilities on the campus. The campus covers an area of 175 acres, making it one of the largest corporate campuses. The main building, known as the “spaceship,” is a circular structure that measures 2.8 million square feet. The area also includes a 1,000-seat auditorium, a 100,000 square-foot fitness center, and a 120,000 square-foot research and development facility. The cost of building Apple Park was a staggering $5 billion, making it one of the most expensive buildings in the world. The cost included not just the construction of the building itself but also the cost of the…

To accelerate the global move toward sustainable vehicles, Toyota is suggesting simply replacing the inner workings of vehicles already on the roads with cleaner technology like fuel cells and electric motors. “I don’t want to leave any car lover behind,” Chief Executive Akio Toyoda said, appearing on the stage at the Tokyo Auto Salon, an industry event similar to the world’s auto shows. The message was clear: Toyota Motor Corp. wants the world to know it hasn’t fallen behind in electric vehicles, as some detractors have implied. Japan’s top automaker, behind the Lexus luxury brands and the Prius hybrid, is highlighting its clout: It has all the technology, engineering, financial reserves and industry experience needed to remain a powerful competitor in green vehicles. Toyoda told reporters it would take a…