Business Articles

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.

Fiat has announced that it is reviving one of its most legendary pieces of branding in a new all-electric vehicle (EV). Then again, the new Topolino is not so much a car as it is a quadricycle. It is, as such, pitched at the extreme budget end of the EV market, and is now hyped as so metropolitan, sustainable and stripped-back that even its doors are optional.

Schenker has announced its intention to make a new, 16-inch addition to its XMG Pro series of laptops at Computex 2023. This Studio edition is now slated to launch later in 2023, as are new WORK 14 BASE and 15 BASE models with Alder Lake-U platforms. An updated CORE 16 with up to RTX 4070 graphics is also now on the cards.

Presenting at an investor conference, Ford CEO, Jim Farley, predicted that electric vehicle prices will decrease in the coming years. Price drops are likely only coming in the first half of the 2030s, and they're probably going to be as a result of increased automation instead of improved parts availability.

In the three days after opening pre-orders for the electric SUV, NIO received a reported 30,000 pre-orders at its Chinese dealerships. For comparison, Tesla has sold an average of just over 30,000 Model Y electric SUVs in early 2023. Pre-orderers have until July 31, 2023 to confirm their orders.

Volkswagen's newly-revived rugged, off-road SUV and truck brand, Scout Motors, recently announced that it has recruited Chris Benjamin, who has been responsible for the design teams behind many modern Jeep and RAM designs over the years. This is a big move for Scout Motors, and it couldn't have come cheap, indicating VW is serious about the spin-off and its electric future.

NVIDIA's share price has finally propelled it into the US$1 trillion market cap club today (May 30, 2023). Its meteoric valuation is attributed to its (abundantly clear) focus on AI hardware and services. The company's new status has also been seen to buoy up the stock of other tech companies, AMD included.

Rivian has recently announced that the first of many dual-motor R1T units has left the production line, ready for a June 2023 delivery. The dual-motor drivetrain features Rivian's custom Enduro motor, and the company claims it's more efficient than the quad-motor drivetrain. The dual-motor R1T is a less expensive version of the R1T for buyers looking for an electric pickup that's more oriented for on-road stability and performance than hardcore off-road exploring.

Although Sonos sued Google over six patent infringements, the US$32.5 million penalty comes as the result of a single infringement. The judge has ruled that the other five patents were not infringed. However, Sonos has made a statement saying that "Google infringes more than 200 Sonos patents" and made it clear that the war is not over.

Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution have announced a joint venture to create a battery manufacturing facility in the US. The new facility will be located in Georgia, and production is expected to start at the end of 2025. It's expected that the new cell production will provide stable supply for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis electric vehicles destined for the US market and could result in significant price cuts for US EV customers.

Acer has announced a potentially significant expansion of the SpatialLabs Developer tool-kit for the creation of new "3D stereoscopic experiences" today (May 26, 2023). The OEM has unveiled its own SteamVR Bridge driver, as well as a certification for OpenXR Runtime. SpatialLabs Pro Devices are also now rated to support the Unity plug-in, which is popular among professional creators of various disciplines.

In Tesla's ongoing effort to expand its Supercharger network, the company has teamed up with Ford to include Tesla's NACS (North American Charging Standard) plugs on all future Ford electric vehicles. The move was announced on a Twitter Spaces event featuring Elon Musk and Ford CEO Jim Farley.

Acer has unveiled the new Connect Vero W6m as a new way to bring Wi-Fi 6E to a home or workspace in an "eco-conscious" package. The mesh system's units are finished with recycled post-consumer plastics, and are also shipped using recycled paper. Nevertheless, they are rated to deliver transfers of up to 7.8 gigabits per second (Gb/s) over tri-band Wi-Fi.

Logitech has unveiled the Logi Dock Flex, a docking station designed for hot desking offices. Due to launch later this year, the gadget connects to your laptop via USB-C with up to 100W power and has a further six USB ports for peripherals. Plus, the device has an 8-in (~203 mm) screen to show whether the desk is free or booked.

Acer is upgrading its Swift Edge 16 premium business laptop ahead of Computex 2023. The Acer Swift Edge 16 features AMD Ryzen 7040 APUs with up to Radeon 780M graphics and a 16:10 120 Hz WQXGA+ OLED panel among other features. Acer has also equipped the Swift Edge 16 with a QHD 1440p webcam and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.

Being rejected in early 2022, Elon Musk's brain-implant initiative, Neuralink, has finally managed to secure FDA's approval. Thanks to this step, the road to the first-in-human clinical trial is now open. Recruitment is not open yet, but more information on this matter should become available soon.

AMD touts its new Ryzen 7040 series as the best processors to make the 'AI-enhanced' laptops of the near future. Now, Windows developers can work on their potential for "unique experiences" with early access to the software rated to offer optimal support and accelerator integration. It is available for "select" Ryzen AI-enabled processors from now.

The Optoma ZW350e projector has been launched globally. The new device has a DuraCore laser light source with up to 4,000 lumens brightness and a 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Optoma claims the ZW350e is its most compact and easy-to-use DuraCore projector, and an external battery makes the gadget portable.

Apple is expected to introduce a first-gen mixed-reality headset at its impending WWDC23 event. Now, some more potential design and function tidbits for the inaugural, allegedly Jony Ive-influenced, product have leaked out. They purport to cover its blend of virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) applications, its potential user-friendliness and how it will be something other than a Meta Quest competitor.

Nearly four years after showing off the Cyberquad at the Cybertruck launch event, a trademark filing has appeared claiming the branding for use in the off-road ATV segment. This is a curious move by Tesla, considering its CEO's negative view of motorcycles. Tesla's delayed action on the Cyberquad has prompted a number of DIY Cyberquad builds in the meantime.

A new China-exclusive ThinkPad laptop has appeared. The new Lenovo ThinkPad T14p is a rebrand of last year's Lenovo ThinkPad Neo 14, equipped with the newest Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs - and the more prestigious ThinkPad T series name.

It seems as though the US's plan to bring manufacturing back to the American continent is paying off. Kia has confirmed that it is considering shifting electric car production away from Korea to its factory in Mexico in order to take advantage of the US tax incentives. If true, the Kia EV6 would start at just US$41,200 after US tax credits.

Take-Two's CEO has dropped a heavy hint about the release window for new games. Apparently, the company hopes to launch 'several groundbreaking titles' between April 2024 and March 2025, fuelling speculation about the arrival of Grand Theft Auto VI.

Despite pivoting the company towards electric vehicles, Toyota's new CEO, Koji Sato, expressed in a recent interview that solid state batteries and synthetic fuels still have a way to go before being ready for prime time. The new boss also reminds us that the Japanese brand will continue to develop its hydrogen fuel-cell and combustion engines into the future, despite entering the all-electric vehicle market more seriously.

Kyocera is an OEM that offers rugged, occasionally sapphire-reinforced, smartphones to retail customers - or, rather, it did. The company has decided to quit sales to consumers as of May 2023, having posted a multi-million-dollar loss in its last financial performance report. Its devices may still be available to enterprise buyers, however.

Call2Recycle and PeopleForBikes have partnered to create a new e-bike battery recycling program for the US called Hungry for Batteries. The recycling program aims to keep harmful and potentially dangerous lithium-ion batteries out of landfills. The recycling program has 52 industry participants and over 1,800 battery drop-off locations.

NIO and Shell have opened Europe's first EV battery swap station in the Netherlands. The battery swap station is capable of performing 312 swaps per day despite only taking up the same space as a double garage. In contrast, Tesla Superchargers taking up the same area can charge around 40 vehicles in 24 hours.

Virtual reality (VR) is touted to take a player to new dimensions of gaming - right up until it does it literally and increases the risk of crashing back into real reality, or its very real walls, obstacles and personal possessions, that is. Virtuix claims to be able to solve these problems with a version of its Omni "VR treadmill" for the home, creating a space in which a user can move freely and safely with less danger to or from the non-gaming world.

Tesla has filed a notice seeking regulatory approval in China to expand its sprawling Shanghai Gigafactory to boost production by 40% and add a production line for pouch cells. The added capacity would produce 20,000 amp-hours of pouch cells per year, but the company's intentions are unclear, since Elon Musk has previously sworn off the technology over safety concerns.

Jensen Huang received compensation for his role as Nvidia president and CEO totaling US$21.356 million for Fiscal 2023. Astonishingly, the executive could have actually earned almost US$25 million if Team Green had met all its sales targets for the year. However, a “tough 2022” meant that Huang had to settle for a few dollars less.

A sign of the times, Volvo's Polestar performance division has announced that it has cut production targets by 20,000 units for the 2023 model year, while production for the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 electric vehicles are both delayed to the first half of 2024. Volvo has also announced a 10% reduction in jobs in an effort to cut costs, despite 25% growth in the global EV market in Q1 of 2023.

Owners of old Model S and Model X electric vehicles have filed a lawsuit in San Francisco over claims that forced software updates have had negative effects on the performance of the batteries in their vehicles. The updates in question allegedly cut the range on several older Tesla units by up to 20%, causing some to seek out expensive battery replacements. Other owners turned to third parties to restore the original battery range, presumably by flashing an older firmware onto the vehicle's computer.

DJI has announced another drone-related launch event. Billed as a 'flagship upgrade', the new drone is likely a successor to the Matrice 300 RTK that DJI revealed in 2020.

The Vietnamese auto company VinFast has announced that all stock of its new VF8 all-electric SUV for sale in the US has now landed in its new market. They come in 2 Eco and Plus SKUs, rated for up to 293 miles of (WLTP) range per charge and 402 horsepower respectively. They will start at just under and over US$50,000 respectively, with additional leasing options.

After the massive March and February price drops across the entire Tesla lineup, some of the company's US models have received a price increase, albeit a small one compared to the recent US$10,000 price cuts. The only Tesla to escape the moderate price increases is the Model 3. The Model S and X will cost US$1,000 more, while the Model Y sees a much smaller US$250 increase.

Subaru recently released its 2022-2023 financial results in which it revealed that by 2026 its electric lineup will grow to four crossover models. Subaru and Toyota have thusfar been very late to the electric vehicle party, and the pair may lose revenue as a result. Subaru intends to sell 200,000 electric vehicles per year by 2026, with an additional 200,000 units per year of production starting in 2028.

Vast, a startup aerospace company based in California, is currently building the world's first private space station. The company hopes to launch the station into orbit within the next two to three years with the help of SpaceX.

LG has unveiled the ProBeam BU60PSM, now available in the US. The business projector has an ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio and up to 6,000 ANSI lumens brightness. Other features of the device include HDBaseT compatibility, Bluetooth connectivity and built-in 5W stereo speakers.