Business Articles

China firms, including state-affiliated institutes, have been getting a steady supply of Nvidia’s AI chips the sale of which have been banned by the United States. A whole economy surrounding the procurement of Nvidia chips has reportedly sprung up in China with smugglers and private companies sourcing Nvidia chips for Chinese buyers.

Lucid Group has just announced a whopping $1.5 billion investment from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The funding comes as Lucid is starting production for its highly anticipated Gravity SUV and looks to strengthen its financial position amid ongoing challenges. With this investment, Lucid expects to maintain sufficient liquidity through the fourth quarter of 2025.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 2 is well-suited for multimedia users as it features a colorful OLED screen with 400 nits of brightness as well as a powerful AMD CPU and a decent amount of memory and SSD storage.

According to CPU and motherboard sales data from a German retailer shared on X, Intel is having a difficult time attracting consumers. In week 31 of 2024, AMD reportedly led Intel in both CPU and motherboard sales by a wide margin on Mindfactory with Team Red enjoying more than 80% sales volume for both processors and mainboards.

Chinese memory maker CXMT has reportedly begun mass-producing HBM2 memory, a crucial component for AI and HPC processors. This sudden development puts CXMT ahead of schedule in the race for technological self-sufficiency. However, challenges remain as global competitors are already moving towards more advanced memory technologies.

A insider report appearing in Korean media claims that Samsung Electronics Chairman Jae-yong Lee has expressed anger over the recently launched Galaxy Buds 3 series' and Galaxy Watch Ultra's controversial Apple-inspired designs, as well as quality issues and software bugs. It's also said that action has been taken against some of the senior management at Samsung's mobile division.

According to well-known industry insider Jez Corden, Activision Bilzzard is forming a new team to develop AA titles based on Bilzzard franchises such as Warcraft and Diablo.

Microsoft has added Nvidia and AMD GPU options to its Windows 365 Cloud PC offerings. The desktop-as-a-service enables companies anywhere in the world to provide staff with a virtual PC configured with all necessary work software and settings. Windows 365 can be accessed online from personal computers, tablets, or smartphones.

Intel will fire 15,000 employees by year-end to help the company achieve a $10 billion cost savings that includes suspension of stock dividends. This move follows a drop in second-quarter earnings with a negative stock EPS. Negatively performing segments include Data Center and AI, Network and Edge, Altera, and Mobileye.

Yum! Brands will expand the rollout of its Voice AI for faster, more accurate drive-thru orders to more Taco Bell locations this year. The AI relieves human staff from the mundane task of order taking so they can focus on delivering hot, fresh food quickly. The system also allows for a reduced staff count to help increase restaurant profitability.

BYD is preparing to enter the Canadian electric vehicle market, which could significantly impact the sector and attract federal scrutiny due to potential tariffs on Chinese EV imports. Lobbyists for BYD have registered with federal and Ontario governments to advise on market entry and tariff issues. Although the launch details remain unclear, BYD has been meeting with Canadian dealers and plans to introduce passenger EVs in Canada soon.

As Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber announced in an interview, the company is currently testing a particularly durable mouse that will receive permanent updates and could be financed via a subscription model.

Qualcomm wants to revolutionize the laptop market with the Snapdragon X Elite. Our reviews of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 shows us that Qualcomm puts too much emphasis on performance in tryping to do so.

Over 1.8 million Tesla cars in the United States are said to be incapable of detecting whether the front hood is snapped into place fully or not, posing a safety risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed this information on Tuesday, July 30 highlighting the importance of installing the software update that fixes the issue ASAP.

Zoom has announced Zoom Workplace with Zoom AI Companion for more productive online meetings and document collaboration. AI features include automated meeting summaries, event content generation, clip descriptions, and virtual background creation.

Tesla has posted a render of the future Semi Factory along with a photo of the current stage of the construction of this cutting-edge facility. The company had previously stated an intention to start mass production of the Semi electric truck in 2025.

Kyocera is offering a free digital detox starter pack with every DuraXA Equip or DuraXV Extreme+ rugged flip phone purchase. Excessive social media and smartphone use leading to mental health issues has popularized use of ‘dumbphones’. Flip phones also remain popular with businesses that want staff to stay focused while improving business network security.

When personal electronics OEM Xiaomi launched its first ever electric car, it conservatively predicted that it would be able to ship 100,000 of them by the end of 2024. Now, the company is said to believe that it will hit that target far earlier than it imagined, even though it has just taken one of its vehicular production lines offline.

Vivo has announced that it has partnered with Rokid to make the X100 Ultra capable of 3D photography. The new feature is backed to turn users of the top-end flagship Android smartphone into aspiring extended or augmented reality (XR/AR) content creators using the Ultra's Zeiss-tuned cameras. Vivo has also now hinted that it will release its first ever headset soon.

Apple is projected to launch a new SE version of the iPhone in 2025. Now, the device is also believed to be the first of its series to launch with mobile data powered by an in-house chipset rather than one from Qualcomm as usual. The alleged Slim version of the iPhone 17 is expected to follow in its footsteps shortly thereafter.

California tech giant, Apple and its first U.S. retail union, IAM CORE, have reached a tentative agreement. The deal, covering employees at a Maryland store, comes after over a year of challenging negotiations. The agreement includes unspecified improvements to wages, benefits, and working conditions. The outcome of the upcoming ratification vote on August 6th is the next important thing to look out for.

WazirX has outlined a strategy to address a recent cyberattack that resulted in the loss of over $230 million in crypto assets. The crypto exchange has implemented a two-tiered recovery plan, allowing users to choose between prioritized asset recovery with limited access or immediate access with delayed recovery. To mitigate losses, WazirX will distribute recovered funds among affected users through a “balanced crypto basket” approach.

Epic Games is introducing the Epic Games Store on both iOS and Android within the European Union. The store will offer developers more favorable terms compared to traditional app stores, including a lower 12% store fee. Fortnite will also return to the iOS App Store in the EU. To further challenge app store monopolies, Epic plans to distribute its games on other third-party mobile stores.

According to reports, skins in Cod MW3 have been designed by AI. This not only poses a risk to generic content, but could also threaten the jobs of game designers. The community is not happy about this.

As Elon Musk announced on X, the Optimus robot will be used in Tesla factories as early as next year and could go into mass production as early as 2026.

The games publisher Humble Games has announced in a press release that it intends to carry out a restructuring, which will also result in redundancies. However, an ex-employee claims that Humble Games will be closed down completely and that all employees will have to leave.

Boasting a team of former Lyft, Apple, Google, and Facebook engineers with experience in autonomous technology projects, Vayu Robotics has just introduced the world's first on-road delivery robot that takes advantage of AI foundation models with affordable passive sensors instead of a LIDAR system.

Sharp unveiled the M Series projectors, their second collaboration with NEC. Designed for budget-conscious buyers, the M Series have a laser light source and DLP tech for minimal maintenance and long life. Sustainability is a major focus here, with a compact design, ECO Mode, and reduced packaging waste. The M Series claims to provide a user-friendly experience for the consumer.

Spotify CEO talked about a "deluxe" version of Spotify today during an earnings call. The premium tier with Hi-Fi audio, which is still in the works, is expected to cost around $18 and offer features like advanced library management and AI-powered playlists. This comes after delays to the initial "Spotify HiFi" plan and a shift in strategy to compete with rivals like Apple Music. While the exact features are unknown, the rollout is still reportedly happening later in 2024.

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.