Monday, June 10, 2024

Sources: Shein recorded $32.2B in sales in 2023, up 40% YoY, compared with 37% YoY growth in 2022, and doubled its net profit to $1.6B, for a 5% profit margin (Jing Yang/The Information)

Jing Yang / The Information:
Sources: Shein recorded $32.2B in sales in 2023, up 40% YoY, compared with 37% YoY growth in 2022, and doubled its net profit to $1.6B, for a 5% profit margin  —  China-founded fast fashion giant Shein lifted its net profit margin even as it posted slightly faster revenue growth in 2023 …



Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark made a phone call using new "immersive audio and video" tech that uses 3D sound on a 5G smartphone, as part of the 5G Advanced standard (Supantha Mukherjee/Reuters)

Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters:
Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark made a phone call using new “immersive audio and video” tech that uses 3D sound on a 5G smartphone, as part of the 5G Advanced standard  —  Nokia (NOKIA.HE) CEO Pekka Lundmark made a phone call using a new technology called “immersive audio and video” …



A look at the problems of building AI products, like inaccurate answers, and potential solutions, like focusing on narrow domains and abstracting the outputs (Benedict Evans)

Benedict Evans:
A look at the problems of building AI products, like inaccurate answers, and potential solutions, like focusing on narrow domains and abstracting the outputs  —  I will fly to India on Monday for a brief trip, and so I just spent an hour struggling through a very buggy online visa application process.



Sunday, June 9, 2024

Data suggests Project Green Light, Google's AI system deployed in 14 cities to adjust traffic light timing, reduced stop-and-go traffic at intersections by 30% (Christopher Mims/Wall Street Journal)

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
Data suggests Project Green Light, Google's AI system deployed in 14 cities to adjust traffic light timing, reduced stop-and-go traffic at intersections by 30%  —  Most cities can't afford smart traffic signals.  Fortunately, data from new cars—and even drivers' smartphones—can make old-fashioned traffic lights work a lot better.



Apple's AI push isn't so much about its current devices, but enabling its next wave of AI-intensive devices that may eventually supplant a smartphone (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple's AI push isn't so much about its current devices, but enabling its next wave of AI-intensive devices that may eventually supplant a smartphone  —  Apple's push into artificial intelligence will go beyond software and help enable a wave of next-generation devices.



How Uber-owned Careem went from Pakistan's ride-hailing leader to a distant third player after deprioritizing the country due to its unstable economy (Zuha Siddiqui/Rest of World)

Zuha Siddiqui / Rest of World:
How Uber-owned Careem went from Pakistan's ride-hailing leader to a distant third player after deprioritizing the country due to its unstable economy  —  After falling from dominance, Careem is experimenting — from corporate rides to price bidding — to maintain its presence in Pakistan.



Saturday, June 8, 2024

The New York Times confirms its internal source code and data leaked on 4chan after being stolen using an exposed GitHub token in January 2024 (Lawrence Abrams/BleepingComputer)

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
The New York Times confirms its internal source code and data leaked on 4chan after being stolen using an exposed GitHub token in January 2024  —  Internal source code and data belonging to The New York Times was leaked on the 4chan message board after being stolen from the company's GitHub repositories …



Sources detail Siri's new capabilities, along with the prompts Apple used to test the software, in apps like Camera, Mail, Safari, Notes, and Photos (Marko Zivkovic/AppleInsider)

Marko Zivkovic / AppleInsider:
Sources detail Siri's new capabilities, along with the prompts Apple used to test the software, in apps like Camera, Mail, Safari, Notes, and Photos  —  We have exclusively discovered how much iOS 18 and macOS 15 will upgrade Siri and improve everything you do.  Here's what the new-and-improved Siri will be able to do.



Q&A with Arm CEO Rene Haas about Microsoft's big push with Arm-based PCs, AI wearables, Arm's adoption in the cloud, competition from RISC-V and Intel, and more (Tim Bradshaw/Financial Times)

Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Q&A with Arm CEO Rene Haas about Microsoft's big push with Arm-based PCs, AI wearables, Arm's adoption in the cloud, competition from RISC-V and Intel, and more  —  Chip designer's chief executive talks about diversification and how AI is changing the devices we use



A look at Japan's role in the global chip battle; Omdia: Japanese companies account for nearly half of the world's six crucial semiconductor materials (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
A look at Japan's role in the global chip battle; Omdia: Japanese companies account for nearly half of the world's six crucial semiconductor materials  —  With subsidies and a $6 billion acquisition, Tokyo wants to make its companies indispensable in the global supply chain



Friday, June 7, 2024

The US Veterans Affairs' internal survey: fewer than 1 in 5 VA health employees say Oracle Health's products enable them to deliver "high-quality care" (Brody Ford/Bloomberg)

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
The US Veterans Affairs' internal survey: fewer than 1 in 5 VA health employees say Oracle Health's products enable them to deliver “high-quality care”  —  - Company's $16 billion contract with US agency under scrutiny  — System improving as Oracle makes fixes, Veterans Affairs says



What to expect at WWDC 2024: plans to integrate AI into its apps with a new opt-in service called Apple Intelligence, iOS 18, macOS 15, visionOS 2, and more (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
What to expect at WWDC 2024: plans to integrate AI into its apps with a new opt-in service called Apple Intelligence, iOS 18, macOS 15, visionOS 2, and more  —  The company will introduce ‘Apple Intelligence,’ its long-awaited push into modern AI for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.



Q&A with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins on running the world's foremost open source intelligence agency, AI-generated content, legal accountability, and more (Samanth Subramanian/Wired)

Samanth Subramanian / Wired:
Q&A with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins on running the world's foremost open source intelligence agency, AI-generated content, legal accountability, and more  —  Eliot Higgins and his 28,000 forensic foot soldiers at Bellingcat have kept a miraculous nose for truth—and a sharp sense of its limits …



India announces a new $1.15B Fund of Funds for startups with an "expanded scope" compared to previous initiatives, and extends tax benefits for startups (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch : India announces a new $1.15B Fund of Funds for startups with an “expanded scope” compared to previous initiat...