Business Articles

Sony has announced that its BRAVIA line of big screens will be the first of their category to support Zoom. Accordingly, the TVs' users will be able to make video calls and hold conferences just as they might on their smartphones or laptops - so long as they have the series' matching webcam, that is. Zoom for TV is rated for tools such as screen-sharing, and also to be compatible with BRAVIA Cam features such as Ambient Optimization Pro.

TCL CSOT has unveiled a new touch-responsive screen of over 100 inches in size as part of its latest display industry showcase. The new 5K Interactive Whiteboard is now pitched at next-gen professional or corporate use-cases, as are others such as the 55-inch 4K high-brightness outdoor display. The new 21.3-inch Color In-Cell Touch Display, on the other hand, might be found in the clinic of the near future.

The inexpensive Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G4 AMD performs as well as a business laptop in almost all categories: the eight-core processor produces a lot of power, the fan is restrained and the keyboard is even better than in the current ThinkPad T-series. Nevertheless, real innovations are almost completely lacking.

A report analysing automotive trends has revealed that, in the period between January and April, the Tesla Model Y saw more new sales than any vehicle except the Ford F-150. Teslas were also the only electric vehicles to make it into the top 20 when it came to new vehicle registrations, defying the US trend towards massive SUVs and pickup trucks.

Citroën brand CEO, Thierry Koskas, has confirmed that it will be bringing a new, affordable EV to the market in 2024. The vehicle in question is the e-C3 — a small crossover hatchback based on the C3 design. While the €25,000 pricing of the e-C3 is attractive, the lack of a US launch and a somewhat underwhelming range estimate put a damper on the celebrations.

Reddit is bringing new API pricing and moderation policy changes that are causing quite the consternation among users and developers alike resulting in blackouts among thousands of subreddits. The new API pricing means that popular third-party apps like Apollo will have to cough up US$20 million per year, prompting the developer to retire the app on June 30. However, Reddit's CEO believes that the changes are important and that the protests would eventually fizzle out on their own.

Apple's inaugural Vision Pro will be put together in the facilities of a Chinese manufacturing company, according to a new report. The assembly partner will apparently build the XR headset from parts sourced from a number of other firms, Some of them also supply parts for other products such as the iPhone, whereas others specialize in the virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) market.

Sony has released details on each of its latest CMOS image sensors for devices such as smartphones. They are all under the OEM's new LYTIA brand, and are also of the "most versatile" 50MP resolution. The new LYTx00 series range from sensors intended for selfie cameras to a premium 1-inch flagship for main rear cameras.

Realme has virtually been synonymous with having Madhav Sheth as a top executive for the length of its successful five-year tenure as a personal electronics brand. Now, however, the former CEO has announced that it is time to move on to another role. Sheth has led the company through its development from an increasingly popular smartphone OEM to one that now makes an entire ecosystem of tech products, laptops included.

A recent brand reputation survey has seen Tesla drop over 50 spots — from 12th to 62nd overall — and beating only Chrysler in the automotive space. A closer look reveals that Tesla's electric vehicles and charging network don't seem to be why the carmaker's reputation has suffered. Despite the rising popularity of electric vehicles, the only automotive company to make it into the top ten was Toyota — a company that makes one of the least convincing EVs to date.

Although the first dropped by 0.19% and the latter faced a 0.7% descent compared to April, the 1080p primary display resolution and Windows 10 64-bit reign supreme in last month's Steam hardware and software survey. No less than 60.51% of Steam users use Microsoft's previous operating system, while 64.33% play their games in FHD.

The Satechi Triple 4K Display Docking Station is now available in the US. You can use the device to create a four-display set-up, connecting three external 4K@60Hz monitors via DisplayPort and HDMI. Other ports on the USB-C dock include Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gbps USB-C and 7.5W USB ports.

TELO claims its upcoming electric pickup truck is the ultimate gear- and people-hauler that packs pickup truck practicality into city proportions. It purports to have the bed size of a Ford F-150 while delivering 350 miles of range and fitting into the same proportions as a Mini Cooper — and not even the Countryman. The short overhangs that make it look a bit like a panel van should also make it a hoot off-road.

The Barco G50 laser smart line projector line-up has been unveiled. The range-topping G50-W8 model has up to 8,900 ISO lumens brightness with an 18 Lm/W efficiency. The compact gadgets have been designed for business applications, offering a WUXGA native resolution and built-in 10W speakers.

Optoma has now released the ML1080 and its ST (short throw) variant to the United States market. The series' design award-winning "ultra-portable" form-factor is touted as ideal for on-the-go laser projection in 1080p, and packs a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor for automatic focus and keystone-finding. The ML1080 line also has USB type-C for display and charging as well as remote control support.

While brands like Ford and GM have hopped on-board the NACS train, there are a number of EV industry players that have either entirely rejected the notion of adopting NACS or are holding off for the time being. Stellantis appears to be one of the latter, stating that it is evaluating the standard at the moment, but has no announcements to make. Stellantis's adopting NACS could give RAM's upcoming electric pickup a much firmer shot at competing with the Cybertruck on more even footing, given the consumer sentiment around the NACS vs CCS debate.

The Fujifilm X100V has been one of Fujifilm's most successful fixed-lens endeavours to date, with many reviewers praising it highly for its image quality and great handling. It seems that Fujifilm has become a victim of its own success, as it appears to be unable to keep up with demand for the camera. B&H Photo is only the most recent retailer to suspend orders for the X100V, calling into question Fujifilm's supply chain and the ability to ship enough units of a potential successor.

AMD has unveiled its new Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 chips for desktops. It has three SKUs, the Ryzen 9 Pro 7945, Ryzen 7 Pro 7745 and Ryzen 5 Pro 7645. All three 5 nm chips will run in any AM5 motherboard and support DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 5 peripherals.

An engineering report centring on an early CyberTruck design was leaked, revealing that the electric pickup truck started life with elementary automotive design flaws, from a leaky cabin to shoddy brakes and terrible steering. An automotive engineer commented that the oversights were "astounding," and that the flaws in the design were rudimentary design challenges that every car manufacturer should have solved easily.

Samsung has finally made the Heatsink version of its latest PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD available. It boasts an up to 50% performance boost compared to the previous generation, in a new chassis equipped with adjustable RGB lighting in addition to cooling touted as improved compared to the 'normal' 990 PRO.

The beta versions of platforms such as macOS are normally exclusive to those able or willing to pay US$99 (or the per-region equivalent) per year for an official Developer Program membership. However, the Cupertino giant has just unveiled a new, free version of this subscription that allows a user access to, say, the latest iOS 17 beta with their existing Apple ID.

The Epson BrightLink 770Fi Ultra Short Throw Lamp-Free Laser Display will be on show at the upcoming InfoComm event. The digital whiteboard has a 1080p display with up to 4,100 lumens brightness. Other features include wireless connectivity, dual pen and finger touch support.

Just a few days after Ford announced that it would be adopting Tesla's North American Charger Standard (NACS), General Motors has joined the blue oval, revealing that it will soon start replacing CCS ports with NACS hardware. Ford's adoption of the standard drew some scrutiny from industry players, but this move by GM is likely to put pressure on other EV makers to do the same.

Zeiss has finally responded to rumours that it has abandoned the photography lens market for good. While the brand will remain active in the dedicated camera market for the foreseeable future, it also noted that there has been an irreversible shift in the market thanks to smartphones and the pandemic.

The Epson PowerLite 810E, an extreme short throw projector, has been announced alongside the PowerLite L series and Pro series models. The PowerLite EB-810E gadget can throw large images when placed just 1-in (~3 cm) away from the wall. Other features include 4K Enhancement technology and built-in speakers.

After months of teasing, Volvo has finally taken the wraps off its EX30, revealing an affordable electric compact crossover SUV that's barely larger than a VW Golf and packs a wallop off the line. An attractive starting price and startling 0–60 times are sure to make Volvo's smallest SUV to date a particularly attractive buy for a fair few prospective EV buyers.

Adobe Stock is one of the biggest repository of non-royalty images online. It is also the only one accepting output from generative AI as such at the time of writing. A new analysis of the sale of and revenue from images available on the platform suggests that the latter has outdone 'real' media from photographers in some respects since 2022.

Fnatic has secured a long-term development partnership with Sony to provide input on next-gen INZONE products. The new collaboration is slated to result in new content from the brand as well as follow-ups to PlayStation-themed monitors such as the M9. Sony asserts that the e-sports team members' experience and feedback will lead to a revolution in its own-brand gaming gear in the near future.

Tesla has issued a recall for its Model Y steering wheel to address potentially loose steering wheel assembly bolts. This isn't the first time Tesla has had issues with the steering assembly. An instance of the steering wheel detaching almost immediately after delivery went viral on Twitter a few months prior, launching an NHTSA investigation. This latest recall is, however, unrelated to the viral posts that sparked the NHTSA investigation — this time, the retention hardware is there, it's just not torqued to spec.

Fujitsu has announced that it has upgraded its Lifebook-series laptop and convertible tablet to 13th-gen Intel processors. The OEM also asserts that they are ideal for remote or hybrid work, especially with the option of a "palm vein sensor" as a biometric authentication feature. They are also equipped with 16:10 FHD displays that can be touch-responsive in either model.

The launch of iPadOS 17 and its new features may make businesses all the more interested in using Apple tablets compatible with the software. Now, OtterBox asserts that they can fit into any kind of workspace, regardless of how hazardous, with its new Hardline cases and charging docks. They include the first of either kind for some iPads to conform to standards from official bodies such as UL Solutions for North America.

Aspiring Starlink users in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Illinois will be delighted to hear that SpaceX has removed the subscribers' waiting list in those states. As it keeps adding next-gen satellites launches, SpaceX has substantially expanded the Starlink coverage map in the Eastern US.

Research seems to suggest that, although federal EV tax incentives and lower cost of ownership are attracting buyers to the electric vehicle market, many EV owners only buying an additional electric vehicle instead of replacing an ICE one. EV charging infrastructure is still seen as a major barrier to entry, despite expanding charger availability and a tendency for owners to charge at home.

After Ford and Tesla announced a collaborative effort to bring the Tesla's NACS charging hardware to Ford's future electric vehicles, a handful of EV charging providers have made their stances clear. Not everyone is on-board with the NACS port as a universal solution, though. Detractors of Ford's adoption of Tesla's charging standard point to concerns of safety and an industry moving away from truly open standards.

Sony touts its latest CFexpress Type-A cards as exceptionally high-capacity and frame-drop resistant, the better to deliver ultra-stable, reliable recording, even in 4K (even internally) or the RAW format. The CEA-M1920T and CEA-M960T are also backed for even the most rugged of shooting conditions thanks to their durable construction, with software support to guard against accidental deletions.

The new GEEKOM x Asus series of mini PCs officially has its second member, in the form of the new AS 5. It looks much like its immediate predecessor, although it swaps Ryzen 6000-series processors for the older 9 5900HX platform for a reduced starting price. Meanwhile, the line's flagship AS 6 has made it onto Amazon.

Apple is now backed by more industry leaders than ever before to re-imagine itself as the next big extended-reality (XR) brand during its imminent WWDC23 event. The Cupertino giant is now tipped to offer the conference's attendees the chance to test the hardware in question in person, which, according to the latest leaks, will strive to stay ahead of its competition with high-tech internals and a compelling UX.

OPPO backs its first-gen MR headset as ready and able to take on anything else in the fast-growing mixed or extended reality (MR/XR) space with "advanced technology and unique innovations". They include the binocular video pass-through (VPT) feature tipped to become the next hot spec among headsets of that type, as well as the same rapid SuperVOOC charging as the OEM's smartphones. Then again, it has yet to become available to the public.

Apple Savings has reportedly attracted about US$100 million in deposits since launching in the US in April 2023. Now, however, some of its customers have gone public with claims that trying to get their money out of the accounts in question took weeks in some cases, while others claim that their balances never updated following such a transaction. Is the Cupertino giant's consumer 'financial wellness' drive all that healthy?

Hyundai has reported a record number of battery electric vehicle sales in May, with the Ioniq 5 seeing a 28% increase in monthly sales compared to last year, outpacing the rest of Hyundai's line-up that saw an average 20% increase in sales. The new Hyundai Ioniq 6 fell behind the Ioniq 5 considerably, reinforcing the US penchant for SUVs over sedans.

Volkswagen has officially unleashed its all-electric minibus on the North American market with the announcement of its "long wheelbase" (or LWB) variant. This version of the ID. Buzz also has a heat pump to go with its enlarged battery and extra cubic capacity. It also has an increased top speed thanks to a more powerful electric drive motor - especially in its forthcoming GTX model.

Meta continues to offer improvements to the Quest 2, even after announcing the Quest 3. Later this year, the company will introduce a major upgrade for its three-year-old VR headset, along with a price cut to position the Quest 2 as a cheaper alternative to the new Quest 3.

The Fisker Ocean Extreme all-electric SUV has just received its EPA range estimate, achieving a rating of 360 miles in the EPA's testing. Not only does the Ocean Extreme edge out the Tesla Model Y by a fair bit, it also achieves the best EPA rating of any electric SUV with a price tag of less than US$200,000. Examining the Ocean Extreme's battery capacity provides a bit more context about the comparison, though.

Samsung took a disproportionate amount of orders for the OLED displays found in the iPhone 14 range during their production compared to other main display suppliers LG and BOE. The former is now said to have gained some ground back in this respect in 2023, having secured a contract to make an increased volume of "15 Pro" and "15 Pro Max" panels. Then again, Samsung may still be content with their additional vanilla "15" and "15 Plus" orders.