Saturday, May 13, 2023

Doc: India launched a probe into Google after a complaint from Match Group and Indian startups that Google's new User Choice Billing system is anti-competitive (Aditya Kalra/Reuters)

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
Doc: India launched a probe into Google after a complaint from Match Group and Indian startups that Google's new User Choice Billing system is anti-competitive  —  India's competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into Google after some companies alleged the service fee the U.S. firm charges …



Numerator: Amazon has a 3% US grocery market share including branded stores and Whole Foods; UBS: physical stores accounted for ~90% of US grocery sales in 2022 (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Numerator: Amazon has a 3% US grocery market share including branded stores and Whole Foods; UBS: physical stores accounted for ~90% of US grocery sales in 2022  —  Amazon is still barely scratching the surface of the grocery market despite years of efforts.



Netflix has become an avatar for the striking writers' complaints, as the streaming era eroded working conditions, stagnated wages, and disrupted residual pay (New York Times)

New York Times:
Netflix has become an avatar for the striking writers' complaints, as the streaming era eroded working conditions, stagnated wages, and disrupted residual pay  —  Fear of protests prompted the streaming giant to shift an anticipated presentation for advertisers to a virtual event and a top executive to skip an honorary gala.



Google Search changes could significantly decrease publishers' traffic and affiliate revenue, but the Perspectives section may highlight individual journalists (Laura Hazard Owen/Nieman Lab)

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Google Search changes could significantly decrease publishers' traffic and affiliate revenue, but the Perspectives section may highlight individual journalists  —  A shift to AI-generated search results will decrease the traffic that Google sends to publishers' sites, as more people …



Friday, May 12, 2023

How to install Android 14 beta on Nothing Phone (1)

After Google's Pixel phones, Nothing's first phone, the Phone (1), is getting support for the Android 14 beta program. Here’s how you can install Android 14 beta on your Nothing Phone (1). The Android 14 build is currently in the early stages of development and may be missing certain features or may not work properly. Updating to the Android 14 beta will format the phone's storage, erasing all the data. It is advised that you back up all your data beforehand. https://ift.tt/hX4C2wV

A cheque signed by Steve Jobs fetched over $100k at an auction

An Apple Computer Company cheque signed by Steve Jobs was sold for $106,985 via an auction organised by RR Auction. The auctioned cheque was signed and filled by Steve Jobs in 1976. The check was made for Crampton, Remke, & Miller, INC, which is a consulting firm that offers services to tech companies in Northern California. https://ift.tt/SKIZV8p

Toyota says the vehicle data of 2.15M users in Japan, or almost all of its cloud service customers, has been public since November 2013 due to a human error (Reuters)

Reuters:
Toyota says the vehicle data of 2.15M users in Japan, or almost all of its cloud service customers, has been public since November 2013 due to a human error  —  Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Friday the vehicle data of 2.15 million users in Japan, or almost the entire customer base …



Asus launches its first handheld gaming PC, ROG Ally

After teasing it for weeks now, Asus has launched its first-ever handheld gaming PC, the ROG Ally. The handheld gaming PC comes with AMD’s new Ryzen Z1 series processors, featuring a 120Hz 7-inch 1080P display, and Windows 11. Here’s everything you need to know about the Asus ROG Ally. https://ift.tt/RUkPywZ

The UK extradites Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch to the US to face fraud charges over HP's $11B acquisition of the software company in 2011 (Reuters)

Reuters:
The UK extradites Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch to the US to face fraud charges over HP's $11B acquisition of the software company in 2011  —  Mike Lynch, co-founder of UK software firm Autonomy, has been extradited to the United States to face criminal charges in a near decade-long legal battle …



Oppo closes its chip design unit Zeku due to global economic uncertainty; Zeku developed the MariSilicon X image-processing chip used in Oppo's flagship devices (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Oppo closes its chip design unit Zeku due to global economic uncertainty; Zeku developed the MariSilicon X image-processing chip used in Oppo's flagship devices  —  Oppo, China's biggest domestic smartphone maker, is closing its chip design business as the global smartphone market extends a prolonged decline.



Thursday, May 11, 2023

Disney+ lost four million subscribers ahead of third round of layoffs

Earlier this year, in February, Disney made an announcement that it would lay off 7,000 employees as part of a larger reorganization and cost-saving effort. The entertainment conglomerate recently initiated its second round of layoffs, which will reportedly result in a total reduction of 4,000 jobs. Now the company is gearing up for the third round of layoffs. However, ahead of the job cuts the online streaming service Disney+ lost about four million subscribers in the second quarter which ended on April 1. https://ift.tt/eOykc1j

Australian edtech startup Go1 acquires Berlin-based Blinkist, which offers 15-minute non-fiction book summaries, and raised $30M from Insight Partners (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Australian edtech startup Go1 acquires Berlin-based Blinkist, which offers 15-minute non-fiction book summaries, and raised $30M from Insight Partners  —  After raising $100 million at a valuation of over $2 billion last year, the Australian ed-tech startup Go1 is making an acquisition …



Tech firms are increasingly hiring in South and Central America because remote hires there often accept lower pay than in the US but have similar time zones (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Tech firms are increasingly hiring in South and Central America because remote hires there often accept lower pay than in the US but have similar time zones  —  Pandemic-era labor shortages made it hard for Austin-based Fetch Package Inc. to fill positions in the US.



Android 14 features Google showcased at I/O 2023

Google started its in-person annual developer conference Google I/O 2023 yesterday (May 10). At the event, the company elaborated about the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence in various Google products. Along with this, the tech giant also unveiled its first foldable Android smartphone, Pixel Fold and its latest mid-range handset Pixel 7a at the event. Apart from the hardware announcements Google also revealed some of the features coming to its Android 14, the upcoming version of Android operating system. https://ift.tt/ed76fAE

A look at Microsoft's Trust Code training video series, heading into its seventh season, which has hooked employees with popular characters and cliffhangers (Dylan Tokar/Wall Street Journal)

Dylan Tokar / Wall Street Journal:
A look at Microsoft's Trust Code training video series, heading into its seventh season, which has hooked employees with popular characters and cliffhangers  —  Instead of a finger-wagging snoozer about corporate misbehavior, ‘Trust Code’ has flawed characters, dramatic cliffhangers and fans worldwide



Anthropic cuts its list of unauthorized secondary market sellers from eight to four after the initial notice caused panic and pushback from investors (Yazhou Sun/Bloomberg)

Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg : Anthropic cuts its list of unauthorized secondary market sellers from eight to four after the initial notice cau...