Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Baidu reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to ~$4.9B and net income down 48% YoY to ~$366M, as chatbot Ernie, which has 100M+ users, began to augment its ads business (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Baidu reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to ~$4.9B and net income down 48% YoY to ~$366M, as chatbot Ernie, which has 100M+ users, began to augment its ads business  —  Baidu Inc.'s revenue rose 6% after its ChatGPT-style service began to augment advertising sales, helping the Chinese AI leader weather a severe economic downturn.



Vivo V30 Series launching on March 7: Check out expected price, specifications and other details

Vivo, one of the leading smartphone manufacturers, is all set to introduce its latest offerings, the Vivo V30 and Vivo V30 Pro, to the Indian market. With the official announcement of the launch date on March 7, smartphone enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the unveiling of these sleek and feature-rich devices. Here's everything we know so far about the Vivo V30 series and what to expect from these upcoming smartphones. https://ift.tt/CwAsTRb

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

A look at the underground floppy disk music scene; Discogs data shows 500+ floppy music releases in the 2020s, more than in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s combined (Alexis Ong/The Verge)

Alexis Ong / The Verge:
A look at the underground floppy disk music scene; Discogs data shows 500+ floppy music releases in the 2020s, more than in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s combined  —  The first computery thing I do in the year 2024 is nudge a 3.5-inch floppy disk into a USB floppy drive that I bought …



Upcoming Motorola smartphones will come with Corning Gorilla Glass protection from H2 2024

Motorola smartphones are renowned for their sturdiness, and now, they're about to get even tougher. The company has announced a partnership with Corning Gorilla Glass to enhance the durability of its smartphones. This announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), signalling a significant shift as Motorola commits to using Gorilla Glass across its entire smartphone lineup starting from the second half of 2024. https://ift.tt/nzEf5Ol

iPhone 16 leaks: Apple expected to introduce five models in iPhone 16 Series in 2024

Apple rumored to launch five models in iPhone 16 series, shaking up smartphone market. Features include Dynamic Island technology, 120Hz screen display, triple rear camera setups, and prices ranging from $699 to $1,099. While these leaks in the article provide tantalising glimpses into Apple's upcoming lineup, it's crucial to remember that they are not yet confirmed. https://ift.tt/FDaem9i

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Xiaomi launches Xiaomi 14 Ultra with a 6.73" LTPO 120Hz display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and 50MP camera with a 1-inch-type Sony LYT-900 sensor, starting at €1,499 (Allison Johnson/The Verge)

Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Xiaomi launches Xiaomi 14 Ultra with a 6.73" LTPO 120Hz display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and 50MP camera with a 1-inch-type Sony LYT-900 sensor, starting at €1,499  —  Xiaomi is using MWC to launch two of its flagships for a global audience — though not including the US, as usual.



Honor announces global availability of Magic 6 Pro with a 6.8" 120Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and 5,600mAh battery, set to retail for €1,299 in Europe (Jon Porter/The Verge)

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Honor announces global availability of Magic 6 Pro with a 6.8" 120Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and 5,600mAh battery, set to retail for €1,299 in Europe  —  A month and a half after debuting the Magic 6 Pro in China, Honor is announcing global availability of its latest flagship at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.



Sources: Apple has considered a fitness ring, smart glasses, and adding cameras and more advanced AI to AirPods, but is not actively developing these devices (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has considered a fitness ring, smart glasses, and adding cameras and more advanced AI to AirPods, but is not actively developing these devices  —  Apple has explored the idea of developing new wearable devices — including a fitness ring, smart glasses and even AirPods with cameras …



Omdia estimates that the bill of materials for Apple Vision Pro is $1,542, with both of the 1.25-inch Micro OLED displays from Sony costing about $228 each (Kif Leswing/CNBC)

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Omdia estimates that the bill of materials for Apple Vision Pro is $1,542, with both of the 1.25-inch Micro OLED displays from Sony costing about $228 each  —  - Apple's Vision Pro headset starts at $3,499.  — The Vision Pro includes lots of pricey state-of-the-art parts.



Saturday, February 24, 2024

Many redditors say they are not enthused about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable (Elizabeth Lopatto/The Verge)

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:
Many redditors say they are not enthused about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable  —  There's the mention of r/WallStreetBets.  (Five mentions in total, actually.)  There's the stockpile it's amassed of Bitcoin and Ethereum.



In Reddit's S-1, Steve Huffman offers a look at the site's beginnings without naming cofounder Alexis Ohanian, reflecting their schism during the BLM protests (Paresh Dave/Wired)

Paresh Dave / Wired:
In Reddit's S-1, Steve Huffman offers a look at the site's beginnings without naming cofounder Alexis Ohanian, reflecting their schism during the BLM protests  —  Only one of Reddit's two cofounders is named in a new filing that puts the company weeks away from going public.



FTX agrees to sell FTX Europe back to its founders for $32.7M, drops a lawsuit seeking back $323M it had spent to acquire the startup originally called DA AG (Dietrich Knauth/Reuters)

Dietrich Knauth / Reuters:
FTX agrees to sell FTX Europe back to its founders for $32.7M, drops a lawsuit seeking back $323M it had spent to acquire the startup originally called DA AG  —  Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has settled a lawsuit that sought to claw back $323 million that it had spent acquiring a European startup …



How some news accounts on Instagram, including Mo News and Jessica Yellin, are gaining popularity even as the platform tries de-emphasizing political content (New York Times)

New York Times:
How some news accounts on Instagram, including Mo News and Jessica Yellin, are gaining popularity even as the platform tries de-emphasizing political content  —  In this year's presidential election, more people are turning to Instagram for news, even as the platform tries de-emphasizing “political content.”



Sources: Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to invest as much as $600M in Tether for about a 5% stake in the past year; Cantor holds most of Tether's $134B in assets (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal : Sources: Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to invest as much as $600M in Tether for about a 5% stake in the past year; Canto...