Innholdsfortegnelse for #625 i Techlife News

Netflix disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed industry analysts’ projections, signaling the video streaming service’s crackdown on password sharing is converting former freeloaders into paying customers. In an effort to bring in even more revenue, Netflix also announced it’s raising the price for its most expensive streaming service by $2 to $23 per month in the U.S. — a 10% increase — and its lowest-priced, ad-free streaming plan to $12 — another $2 bump. The $15.50 per month price for Netflix’s most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials. It also raised its prices for subscribers in the U.K. and France. The company added nearly 8.8 million worldwide subscribers during the July-September period, more than tripling the number…

Telecom gear maker Nokia said that it is planning to cut up to 14,000 jobs worldwide, or 16% of its workforce, as part of a push to reduce costs following a plunge in third-quarter sales and profit. The Finnish company, one of the world’s main suppliers of high-speed 5G wireless networks, said it’s trying “to navigate the current market uncertainty” as higher interest rates take a toll. The company said it is aiming to slash 800 million euros ($843 billion) to 1.2 billion euros in costs by the end of 2026. That is expected to lead to a reduction from 86,000 employees to between 72,000 and 77,000 over that time period. Nokia’s third-quarter sales plummeted 20%, to 4.98 billion euros from 6.24 billion in the same three-month period last year.…

Microsoft has completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the makers of iconic gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush. This historic deal, initially blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), represents a new era for the gaming industry and a further consolidation of tech giants. THE MICROSOFT ACTIVISION BLIZZARD DEAL The merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard has been along-awaited, with the technology behemoth eventually taking control over Activision Blizzard for a record-breaking $68.7 billion, marking it the most significant acquisition in video game history. With this takeover, Microsoft will now control illustrious game franchises like Call of Duty, Diablo, and World of Warcraft. This merger is an enormous boon for Xbox, particularly its Game Pass subscription service, and stands…

A South Korean company has begun production at a huge new solar panel factory in Georgia even as industry leaders say surging Asian imports could dampen efforts to make more solar components in the United States. Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, said that it can now turn out enough solar panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of power yearly at a two-factory complex in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton. That’s almost 40% of U.S. solar panel capacity, according to figures from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Qcells’ opened its first factory in 2019 and an even larger plant in phases since, what the company describes as the largest solar investment in American history. “It’s another milestone as we as a company really strive to become a global…

Paul Lane uses his mouth, cheek and chin to push buttons and guide his virtual car around the “Gran Turismo” racetrack on the PlayStation 5. It’s how he’s been playing for the past 23 years, after a car accident left him unable to use his fingers. Playing video games has long been a challenge for people with disabilities, chiefly because the standard controllers for the PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo can be difficult, or even impossible, to maneuver for people with limited mobility. And losing the ability to play the games doesn’t just mean the loss of a favorite pastime, it can also exacerbate social isolation in a community already experiencing it at a far higher rate than the general population. As part of the gaming industry’s efforts to address the…

Fran Drescher has steered the actors guild through its monthslong strike. On the heels of Hollywood studios abruptly breaking off talks with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists this week, the actor and union president says she’s baffled and disappointed. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced last week that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it and characterizing their offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike. Drescher told in an interview that she did not understand why negotiations collapsed but that her union’s resolve has not weakened. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR…

Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm Baidu this week unveiled a new version of its artificial intelligence model, Ernie 4.0, claiming that it rivals models such as GPT-4 in the U.S. Baidu’s CEO Robin Li demonstrated Ernie 4.0 at the company’s annual Baidu World conference in Beijing. He said the model has achieved comprehension, reasoning, memory and generation, which uses algorithms to produce and create new content. Li said that Ernie 4.0 was able to understand complex questions and instructions and apply reasoning and logic to generate answers to questions. “It is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4,” Li said, stating that the latest model was “significantly improved” compared to its original Ernie Bot model. In a live demonstration, Li prompted Ernie 4.0 to generate advertising materials including…

Tesla’s net income slumped in the third quarter versus a year earlier, as price reductions helped drive strong sales growth but also ate into the automaker’s profit margins The Austin, Texas, maker of electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries this week reported net income of $1.85 billion for the July-September quarter, a 44% decline from a year earlier. Earnings per share fell to 53 cents from 95 cents. Excluding stock-based compensation, Tesla’s adjusted net income fell to $2.32 billion, or 66 cents per share. On that basis, Tesla’s earnings fell short of analysts’ consensus estimate of 73 cents per share, according to FactSet. Total revenue rose 9% to $23.35 billion. Analysts had forecast $24.19 billion. Earlier this month, the company reported that it sold 435,059 vehicles during the July-September period,…

When Laima Springe-Janssen was looking to replace her French-made gasoline-powered SUV with an electric car, she considered models from Volvo and Nissan. The Volvo extras she wanted would have busted her budget, while the Nissan lacked the “wow factor.” The Copenhagen, Denmark, resident ended up buying a compact SUV from China’s BYD. “I really, really love the car,” Springe-Janssen said. For the equivalent of about $50,000, the Atto 3 SUV came with “all these goodies” like a 360-degree dash cam, two years of free charging and an extra set of winter tires. Her husband likes it so much he’s considering buying another BYD to replace their other car, from Volkswagen’s Skoda brand. “I’m sorry, Europe. Go home,” she said. “China has a better offer.” Her enthusiasm underscores how Chinese automakers…

After two years co-piloting the biggest acquisition in video game history past an onslaught of challenges, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer now moves on to his next quest: making Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard worth the hassle. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals. It marks a career-defining moment for Spencer, who first joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and has helmed Xbox since 2014. After years of lagging behind rival Sony’s PlayStation, acquiring Activision’s collection of popular game titles gives Microsoft a rare chance to catch up. “His job really just starts today,” said analyst Gil Luria, technology strategist at D.A. Davidson, after the deal’s closure. “All he’s been…

Amazon will soon make prescription drugs fall from the sky when the e-commerce giant becomes the latest company to test drone deliveries for medications. The company said this week that customers in College Station, Texas, can now get prescriptions delivered by a drone within an hour of placing their order. The drone, programed to fly from a delivery center with a secure pharmacy, will travel to the customer’s address, descend to a height of about four meters — or 13 feet — and drop a padded package. Amazon says customers will be able to choose from more than 500 medications, a list that includes common treatments for conditions like the flu or pneumonia, but not controlled substances. The company’s Prime Air division began testing drone deliveries of common household items…

LinkedIn said this week it is laying off hundreds of employees amounting to about 3% of the social media company’s workforce. The Microsoft-owned career network is cutting about 668 roles across its engineering, product, talent and finance teams. “Talent changes are a difficult, but necessary and regular part of managing our business,” the company said in a statement. The job cuts follow another more than 700 layoffs LinkedIn announced in May, as well as thousands more this year from parent company Microsoft, which has owned the professional-networking service since buying it for $26 billion in 2016. LinkedIn keeps growing and said its annual revenue surpassed $15 billion for the first time in the fiscal year that ended in June. The service, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, makes money from advertisements on…

Delta Air Lines is backtracking slightly on changes it previously announced in its frequent-flyer program, but it still plans to reshape SkyMiles to favor big spenders over customers who take the most flights. Delta outlined the revisions in an email from CEO Ed Bastian to SkyMiles members. “I have read hundreds of your emails, and what’s been most clear to me is how much you love Delta and the disappointment many of you felt by the significance of the changes,” Bastian wrote. The objections focused on the difficulty of achieving elite status and new restrictions on entering airport lounges. Delta announced the changes in mid-September, saying they were needed to address overcrowding at the lounges and a surge in elite-status customers that was making it harder to score upgrades. The…

U.S. regulators are investigating General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle division after receiving reports of incidents where vehicles may not have used proper caution around pedestrians in roadways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the reports involve automated driving system equipped vehicles encroaching on pedestrians present in or entering roadways, including crosswalks. This could raise the risk of a vehicle striking a pedestrian, which could result in severe injury or death, according to the NHTSA. The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said that it’s received two reports involving pedestrian injuries from Cruise vehicles. It’s also identified two additional incidents from videos posted to public websites. The office said the total number of relevant pedestrian incidents is unknown. It opened an investigation this week. “Cruise’s safety record over 5 million…

Today, Apple is bringing more choice to iPad users with a new, more affordable Apple Pencil. With pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency, and tilt sensitivity, the new Apple Pencil is ideal for note taking, sketching, annotating, journaling, and more. Designed with a matte finish and a flat side that magnetically attaches to the side of iPad for storage, the new Apple Pencil pairs and charges with a USB-C cable. The new Apple Pencil will be available beginning in early November. “Apple Pencil has revolutionized note taking, sketching, and illustrating, unleashing endless possibilities for productivity and creativity,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Combined with the versatility of iPad, the new Apple Pencil unlocks another great option to experience the magic of digital handwriting, annotation, marking up documents,…

Some of the most used platforms for travel and online shopping said they’re going to team up to battle fake reviews. Amazon, reviews site Glassdoor and Trustpilot as well as travel companies Expedia Group, Booking.com and Tripadvisor said in an announcement they’re launching a coalition that aims to protect access to “trustworthy consumer reviews” worldwide. The companies said the members of the group, which will be called Coalition for Trusted Reviews, will look for best practices for hosting online reviews and share methods on how to detect fake ones. That will include developing standards for what constitutes a fake review and sharing information about how bad actors operate. Phony reviews have long plagued online marketplaces despite their efforts to eradicate it. Much of the problem is fueled by brokers who…

If government regulators prevail against Google in the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century, it’s likely to unleash drastic changes that will undermine the dominance of a search engine that defines the internet for billions of people. As the 10-week trial probing Google’s business practices nears its midway point, it’s still too early to tell if U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will side with the Justice Department and try to handcuff one of the world’s most dominant tech companies. If Mehta rules that Google has been running an illegal monopoly in search, the punishment could open up new online avenues for consumers and businesses to explore in pursuit of information, entertainment and commerce. “The judge can compel Google to open the floodgates so more startups and third-party competitors…

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has begun charging a $1 fee to new users in the Philippines and New Zealand, in a test designed to cut down on the spam and fake accounts flourishing on the site formerly known as Twitter. The company said that it has started trying out the annual subscription method for new and unverified accounts. The program, dubbed Not a Bot, won’t apply to existing users. It’s not clear why it only applies to New Zealand and the Philippines or why those countries were chosen. “This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” the X support account tweeted. “It is not a profit…