Business Articles

After years of working on a plan to eliminate third-party cookies, which enable tracking user activity across websites, from the Chrome browser, Google has decided not to go ahead with it, citing adverse effects on its advertising business. Instead, it now plans to give users the choice to opt out of third-party cookies in favour of its new Privacy Sandbox tech.

TCL has shipped over 12 million TVs worldwide in 2024 thus far, according to the OEM's latest mid-year market performance report. That number has apparently grown by nearly 10% year-on-year (YoY). TCL also asserts that sales of its big screens with mini-LED or QLED technology have also grown significantly in the first half of 2024 (1H2024).

Augmented reality (AR) is one of the most popular and prevalent uses of smart glasses, headsets and heads-up devices today. Now, its market is projected to increase in value until it is worth just over $210 billion by 2031. AR gaming is backed to contribute to a third of this growth.

Starlink is deploying two-factor authentication for some actions on its accounts as users complain of account hijacking and fraudulent purchases.

After a faulty update of the security solution CrowdStrike caused history-making IT failures last week, entrepreneur Elon Musk took the logical step and banned the software from his companies.

Netflix is launching a major games offensive under the "Netflix Stories Initiative" to help fans pass the time between seasons of their favorite shows. Two games have already been announced.

Near-field communication (NFC) is the technology that allows a number of mobile devices worldwide to support things like paying wirelessly, boarding public transport and even control some smart home gadgets wirelessly. However, it can fail if the user somehow suddenly can't angle and line their device up perfectly with a reader. Infinix purports to change all that with a new, advanced, 720° form of NFC.

Dynabook asserts that its latest PCs are the smartest Tecra-series 'work' laptops it has made to date thanks to Meteor Lake (up to Intel Core Ultra 7 165H) processors that can run the Copilot assistant in Windows 11 Pro. The 14-inch A40-M and 16-inch A60-M also sport backlit keyboards in robust Dark Blue bodies with large trackpads and security options that include optional smart-card readers.

McDonald's is partnering with Philips MyCreation to implement a new 3D-printed lighting system in all 38,000 of its restaurants globally. The goal is to create a more inviting atmosphere while reducing environmental impact through on-demand, recyclable 3D-printed lampshade production and lower shipping emissions. This initiative aligns with McDonald's aim to significantly reduce its environmental footprint by 2030.

Google will cease goo.gl short link operations in a year on August 25, 2025. The company points users to use their Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) service, which is also being terminated on August 25, 2025. Users wanting to use short URLs will need to switch to a 3rd party link shortening service soon because all goo.gl links will not work after the termination date.

The 2024 Galaxy Z Fold6 and the Galaxy Z Flip6 have recorded some impressive pre-order numbers in Korea. However, even with pre-orders north of 900,000, Samsung's newest foldable have failed to dethrone last year's Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 that had more than 1 million pre-orders.

Playing the latest games on a simple laptop or even a smartphone? Cloud gaming services such as GeForce NOW make it possible. If you want to try it out, you can get a 50 percent discount for a short time.

Netflix is planning a multiplayer game in the Squid Game universe. The game is to be released at the same time as the second season of the award-winning series, for which Netflix has now announced a release window - and it won't be long until then.

Paramount+ has canceled the series of the popular Halo franchise after the second season, but fans can still hope for a sequel.

Major Indian crypto exchange WazirX suffered a security breach, losing over $230 million in digital assets. The company posted a tweet on 18th July (3:48 AM EDT) announcing suspension of withdrawals as they investigate the incident - which reportedly involved a compromised multisig wallet. North Korean hackers are responsible for this incident, as per Elliptic.

Samsung and Google are under investigation by the EU antitrust regulators for anti-competitive practice over a multi-year deal to embed Gemini Nano into Galaxy phones. The EU regulators are trying to ascertain the effect of this deal on competitors.

According to S&P Global Mobility, the Tesla Cybertruck was the most registered EV pickup in the US. In fact, the Cybertruck accounted for 45% of the total registered electric pickup trucks in May, beating both the Ford F-150 Lightning by a wide margin.

MarineMax, a Florida-based yacht and boat retail company, suffered a data breach in March 2024, impacting over 123,000 customers and possibly employees. After initially downplaying the incident, MarineMax confirmed that attackers breached their systems and stole personal information, including names and potentially more. The breach took place between March 1 and 10, and Rhysida claimed responsibility for the same.

Studist has launched Teachme AI to automate multilingual work manual creation while reducing required labor by over 80%. Recording a video while explaining the steps of a work process is all the AI software needs to draft a subtitled, step-by-step video manual broken down into clear steps. Teachme AI is a new feature of Teachme Biz, a manual sharing and creation system for businesses.

The versatile 14-inch convertible is currently on sale for just $881 at Lenovo's official online outlet store, which means that the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 is now worth a look for bargain hunters who are in the market for a sturdy business laptop with a decent screen.

AT&T got hacked recently, following an event of a similar nature earlier in 2024. The latter was massive, with personal information of over 73 million customers getting leaked, and this latest data breach is even bigger with approximately 110 million clients affected.

CheckMag So many people rely on mobile devices of all stripes to keep their data secure. Let’s look at why this is not such a good idea - and the options available to fight back.

As part of a hacker attack, over a terabyte of information was stolen from Disney servers - possibly including sensitive data on Marvel projects.

Fiat has unleashed the Grande Panda as its latest compact SUV for select European countries. It is to be available in a markedly affordable all-electric form, so as to compete with a growing number of rivals such as the eerily similar Citroën e-C3. Then again, it will start even cheaper as a hybrid EV.

Generative AI is often seen as one of the great technological innovations of the era; nevertheless, its effects on the traditionally human domains of artistic endeavor are hotly debated. A team of researchers set out to assess the effects of OpenAI's GPT model on the ability of its subjects to produce viable creative writing content, with intriguing results.

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 comes with 16GB memory, a 512GB SSD and a 300-nit FHD display, which is not particularly colorful but is certainly adequate for the office-heavy workloads that the 14-inch business laptop is designed for.

Elon Musk has reposted a video in which the new $599 Starlink Mini Kit with built-in Wi-Fi router is running in the middle of a corn field off of a Milwaukee battery.

Kontaki.io has released the Nano Smart Tag IR wearable that enables hospitals to track patients in real-time with room-level accuracy. Whether a patient has wandered off due to dementia or simply misplaced by staff, the Nano Smart Tag IR allows hospitals to quickly locate patients. The live data also monitors doctor visits and patient flows to help eliminate inefficient medical care.

Sales of the Apple Vision Pro are declining - and the main reason for this is the high price. A published analysis by market researchers from Omdia Research reveals why AR glasses are so expensive.

If you have a PlayStation 4 or 5, you can currently get 3 months free access to Apple TV+. Apple Music can even be used free of charge for 6 months - but only for PS5 owners.

For the first time ever, third party smart gadgets can now work with LG’s ThinQ-enabled appliances thanks to Homey integration. In a bid to gain more clout in the smart home, LG has bought 80% of Athom, the parent company of the Homey smart home platform, and is well on its way to owning the remaining 20%.

Sales figures for the Xbox Series X/S are declining and are well below the sales figures achieved by Sony with the PlayStation 5. The well-known gaming insider Tom Warren suspects that Microsoft could soon stop marketing Xbox consoles in Europe altogether. Update: According to Microsoft Insider Jez Corden, the rumors are not true

Current projections from market research firm IDC point to fewer than 500,000 total sales for Apple's Vision Pro this year. Sales for the headset have cooled significantly in the US, although an international launch may reinvigorate retail movement.

SpaceX has launched the standalone Starlink Mini kit for everyone to buy in the US, while it was initially only available as an add-on to an existing service.

Hohem's latest handheld gimbal accessory for smartphones comes with an upgraded version of the brand's Magnetic AI Tracker rated to work with either selfie or rear cameras. The iSteady V3 is also the first of its line with in-built physical controls that also doubles as a detachable remote control, and comes with an introductory $20 discount.

Samsung just announced an improved BioActive Sensor, set to unlock "new possibilities for preventative wellness". The new sensor is to feature in the upcoming Galaxy watches starting with the Galaxy Watch7. It is touted to be more accurate than its predecessor and offer AGEs index monitoring.

Canva CEO, Melanie Perkins, recently reaffirmed in an interview that AI is key to Canva's mission of providing affordable, easy-to-use design software that rivals Adobe's creative software empire. Canva's recent acquisition of Affinity means this AI-happy ethos is likely to permeate into the Adobe rival, too.

Capable of providing a fully-loaded Linux firewall solution that only requires a few clicks to secure a network, NethSecurity got an update with two major highlights. Version 8.1 comes with a user account manager in the web GUI, as well as a visual connection tracker.

Gatebox has unveiled the AI Kanji restaurant tablet system to help keep diners drinking and eating happily for better sales. The AI celebrates toasts with diners, monitors drink levels, and recommends dishes and drinks as the night progresses. The system helps restaurants counter inflation and staffing difficulties.

The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which accounts for about 25% of the company's Korean workforce, announced that about 6,500 of its roughly 30,000 members are now on a three-day strike. The union members require an extra day of annual leave and an improved bonus system.

Samsung Electronics just revealed it made an operating profit of 10.4 trillion South Korean won ($7.55 billion) in the second quarter of 2024, the highest amount recorded since Q3 2022. Global phone shipments grew significantly YoY in Q1 2024; the good numbers posted by Samsung may be an indication of a continuation of that trend.

Many feel misuse of generative AI poses an enormous security risk, according to an international survey carried out by Censuswide, with phishing attacks named as the other key concern. 74% of respondents express confidence in their IT departments' abilities yet over a half report having experienced a data breach lately. 55% of the security experts admit they do not conduct security audits as often as they should.

A former AMD engineer, Hemant Mohapatra, recently revealed that AMD had almost bought Nvidia. The ex-employee says that the deal fell through because Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, didn't want to sell unless he became the CEO of the merged company.

PlayStation 4 is one of the most successful consoles Sony has released. Renato Fragale, AMD's current Sr. Director of OEM Consumer & Gaming Client Business, says this success has also saved AMD from bankruptcy.

OLED, WWAN, a user-replaceable keyboard: All these features are not present for the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 Intel - the older ThinkPad P14s Gen 4 Intel still offers them.

According to Tesla's Q2 2024 delivery data, the company has been unable to recover from the on-going sales slump as deliveries have now declined for the second quarter in a row. This marks the first time in history that Tesla has had to endure two consequent quarters of slowing deliveries.

Samsung Electronics just published a list of 7 locations that will host Galaxy Experience Spaces to showcase the many benefits of Galaxy AI. Dubai and Paris are included and so are 5 other major cities in Asia, Europe and North America.