Innholdsfortegnelse for #640 i Techlife News

NASA’s retired space shuttle Endeavour was carefully hoisted this week and attached to a huge external fuel tank and its two solid rocket boosters at a Los Angeles museum where it will be uniquely displayed as if it is about to blast off. A massive crane delicately moved the orbiter, which is 122 feet (37 meters) long and has a 78-foot (24-meter) wingspan, into the partially built Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. Crews then attached Endeavour, covered in a protective wrapping, to the tank in a process that lasted into the predawn hours Tuesday. The building will be completed around Endeavour before the display opens to the public. “This is a huge morning for us now,” said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president…

American Express rolled out several updates to its Delta SkyMiles credit cards Thursday that will give additional benefits to users, part of efforts to soothe sore Delta Air Lines customers who have considered abandoning the airline after last year’s SkyMiles loyalty fiasco. The updates, however, will come with a higher annual fee, which AmEx says it believes the new benefits will more than pay for. New York-based AmEx is adding $200 flight credits to the cards after a certain amount of spending, $120 to $240 in restaurant credits at restaurants booked with Resy, as well as $120 to $240 in credits to use on rideshare apps like Lyft and Uber. Higher-end cards will also get $2,500 in “medallion qualifying dollars” that will get users closer to reaching elite status on…

In a landmark decision, Apple has announced significant changes to its European Union operations, opening the App Store to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and ushering in a new era of app deliverance and monetization on the iOS ecosystem. APP STORE OVERHAUL For the first time in its history, Apple is set to allow iPhone users in the EU to download apps from sources other than its own App Store. This paradigm shift could include access to rival platforms like the Google Play Store in a move designed to appease the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The implications are profound, signaling a move from Apple’s walled-garden ecosystem towards a more open digital marketplace and allowing developers, publishers, and third-party app stores to offer their services away…

As a big winter storm rolled across the United States in mid-January, many news outlets reported on drivers of electric vehicles dealing with dramatically reduced range and multi-hour waits at public charging stations. It’s true that driving an EV in freezing weather poses extra challenges compared to a gasoline-powered vehicle. But it’s also possible to employ techniques that can make EV winter driving less challenging. The car experts report on what you can do. WHY EVS SUFFER IN WINTER DRIVING Freezing temperatures slow down chemical reactions in batteries. You’ve likely experienced this with a regular car when its 12-volt battery struggled to start the engine. It’s the same with an EV. Their batteries work best in warmer temperatures, and the vehicle will actually use some stored energy to warm up…

Elon Musk is not entitled to landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion, a Delaware judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick comes more than five years after a shareholder lawsuit targeted Tesla CEO Musk and directors of the company. They were accused of breaching their duties to the maker of electric vehicles and solar panels, resulting in a waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment for Musk. The shareholder’s lawyers argued that the compensation package should be voided because it was dictated by Musk and was the product of sham negotiations with directors who were not independent of him. They also said it was approved by shareholders who were given misleading and incomplete disclosures in…

Universal Music Group, which represents artists including Taylor Swift, Drake, Adele, Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish, says that it will no longer allow its music on TikTok now that a licensing deal between the two parties has expired. UMG said that it had not agreed to terms of a new deal with TikTok, and plans to stop licensing content from the artists it represents on the social media platform that is owned by ByteDance, as well as TikTok Music services. The licensing agreement between UMG and TikTok is expired as of Wednesday. In a letter addressed to artists and songwriters, UMG said that it had been pressing TikTok on three issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety…

Two federal environmental agencies issued plans to better protect endangered whales amid offshore wind farm development. That move came as two offshore wind developers announced they were swapping projects. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released final plans to protect endangered North American right whales, of which there are only about 360 left in the world. The agencies said they are trying to find ways to better protect the whales amid a surge of offshore wind farm projects, particularly on the U.S. East Coast. They plan to look for ways to mitigate any potential adverse impacts of offshore wind projects on the whales and their habitat. The strategy will use artificial intelligence and passive acoustic monitoring to determine where the whales are…

Boeing narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to $30 million and increased production of its bestselling plane just before one of them suffered a blowout of a side panel during a flight, an accident that has raised new safety concerns about the aircraft manufacturer. The loss reported this week was smaller than Wall Street expected, and revenue beat forecasts. However, the company declined to offer its own forecast of 2024 results — an indication of the uncertainty swirling around Boeing since a 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a midflight blowout of a panel called a door plug on Jan. 5. “While we often use this time of year to share or update our financial and operational objectives, now is not the time for that,” CEO David Calhoun said, while…

Recent mass layoffs from technology and media companies, including eBay, Riot Games and the Los Angeles Times, might have you thinking about your job security. If you’re worried you could be laid off — or if you’ve lost your job — personal finance professionals and career advisers have recommendations for how to cope. They range from preparing an emergency fund to understanding your severance package. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED YOU MAY BE LAID OFF START SAVING It’s crucial to start building an emergency fund even when you feel secure at your job, but especially if you think you might lose it. You might not be able to save enough to cover the whole time you’ll be out of work, but even a small amount can reduce your stress. When you…

Amazon delivered packages to its Prime customers at the fastest speeds ever in 2023, the retailer said this week, thanks to better inventory placement, a new regionalization model for shipments and more same-day warehouses. The company had indicated in public announcements and corporate earning calls last year that packages were arriving faster on the doorsteps of Prime members, who pay $139 per year – or $14.99 per month – for speedy deliveries and other perks. In a blog post on Tuesday, Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide stores business, provided more details on parcel shipments made during the holiday shopping season, which saw strong consumer spending despite price increases and high borrowing costs. In the last three months of 2023, Herrington said Amazon increased the number of items it delivered…

Google’s corporate parent returned to double-digit revenue growth during last year’s final quarter, signaling the internet powerhouse has regained its footing even as it grapples with regulatory and competitive threats to its digital empire. The results announced this week by Alphabet Inc. marked the third consecutive quarter of escalating revenue growth for the Mountain View, California, company, with most of the sales coming through Google’s dominance of search and online advertising. The rebound followed an unprecedented drop in Google’s ad revenue coming out of the pandemic following nearly 20 years of uninterrupted growth. But the money flowing from Google’s search engine and ad network are under attack in the courts, where regulators have been leveling allegations of abusive tactics that they contend is stifling innovation and competition. One case, brought…

Italian regulators said they told OpenAI that its ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot has violated European Union’s stringent data privacy rules. The country’s data protection authority, known as Garante, said this week that it notified San Francisco-based OpenAI of breaches of the EU rules, known as General Data Protection Regulation. The watchdog started investigating ChatGPT last year, when it temporarily banned within Italy the chatbot that can produce text, images and sound in response to users’ questions. Based on the results of its “fact-finding activity,” the watchdog said it “concluded that the available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions” in the EU privacy rules. OpenAI, which has 30 days to reply to the allegations, said it would work constructively with Italian regulators. “We believe our practices align…

Laser strikes aimed at aircraft including airline planes surged 41% last year to a record high, according to federal officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said this week that it received 13,304 reports from pilots about laser strikes last year, erasing a record set in 2021. “Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground at risk,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a video posted by the agency. The FAA said pilots have reported 313 injuries since the agency started keeping records in 2010. Each of the last five months of 2023 surpassed the previous high month, November 2021. The full-year rise over 2022 numbers easily topped the 28% increase in reported incidents from 2016 to 2022. Authorities…

Microsoft Corp. said this week that its profit for the October-December quarter soared 33%, powered by its significant investments in artificial intelligence technology. The company said that increase largely reflected growth in its cloud-computing unit, where Microsoft focuses most of its AI investments. The company reported net income for the quarter of $21.87 billion, or $2.93 per diluted share, beating Wall Street expectations of $2.79 per share. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker posted revenue of $62.02 billion in the quarter, up 18% from $52.75 billion the previous year, also beating expectations. “Microsoft is firmly establishing itself as a frontrunner in the AI race,” said Jeremy Goldman, director of briefings at Insider Intelligence. In addition to other benefits, Goldman suggested that AI technology could help expand Microsoft’s share of digital advertising.…

The Apple Vision Pro, one of the most buzzed-about gadgets of the year, has been unboxed and scrutinized by a cadre of leading tech influencers and media outlets. Marques Brownlee, The Wall Street Journal, Brian Tong, iJustine, and CNET have all shared their insights, providing a multifaceted view of this new Apple product. Their diverse perspectives not only shed light on the device’s features and capabilities but also offer a broader understanding of its potential impact on the tech world. DEEP DIVE INTO DESIGN AND USABILITY Marques Brownlee, a household name in the tech review community, was among the first to unwrap the Apple Vision Pro. Known for his thorough approach, Brownlee meticulously explored every aspect of the device. He was particularly impressed with the build quality and design, noting…

According to Elon Musk, the first human received an implant from his computer-brain interface company Neuralink over the weekend. In a Monday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk said that the patient received the implant the day prior and was “recovering well.” He added that “initial results show promising neuron spike detection.” The billionaire, who co-founded Neuralink, did not provide additional details about the patient. When Neuralink announced in September that it would begin recruiting people, the company said it was searching for individuals with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Neuralink is one of many groups working on linking the nervous system to computers, efforts aimed at helping treat brain disorders, overcoming…

Thirty-nine years ago, the biggest music stars in the world crammed into a recording studio in Los Angeles for an all-night session that they hoped might alter music history. “We Are the World” was a 1985 charity single for African famine relief that included the voices of Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. Fans get a chance to almost step into that recording session this month with the Netflix documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop,” a behind-the-scenes look at the complex birth of a megahit. It starts streaming Monday. “It’s a celebration of the power of creativity and the power of collective humanity,” says producer Julia Nottingham. “The amazing…

Amazon called off its proposed acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot this week as the deal faced antitrust scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, with the ecommerce giant blaming “undue and disproportionate regulatory hurdles.” The companies said in joint statement that they “entered into a mutual agreement to terminate their announced acquisition agreement” and expressed disappointment. Amazon’s announced in 2022 that it would buy iRobot, maker of the circular-shaped Roomba vacuum, for $1.7 billion in cash. But the value of the deal fell 15% after iRobot incurred new debt. Amazon will pay the Bedford, Massachusetts-based company a previously agreed termination fee, which wasn’t disclosed in the statement. The same day, iRobot announced that it would now lay off about 31% of its staff and its CEO would depart. The…