Business Articles

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold Tesla stock worth almost US$6.9 billion. The reason for the sale is to finance the Twitter deal if Musk losses the lawsuit. Following the announcement of the sale, Musk asserted that he is done selling Tesla stock for now.

They may look the same, but the newer model can potentially provide faster CPU performance, crisper video calls, and faster WAN connectivity than the previous generation model. Otherwise, the two models are pretty much the same.

Twitter claps back at Elon Musk over his use of a publicly listed web bot detection tool to measure the number of spam accounts on the platform. For the uninitiated, Musk signed an agreement to acquire Twitter for US$44 billion before backing out of the deal citing concerns that at least 10% of the daily active users are bots.

Customers in the US affected by a recall of the Toyota bZ4X electric SUV have been offered a refund. The offer was found in a letter to purchasers, uncovered by Electrek. Plus, the company continues to provide free loan cars and fuel to customers who still wish to receive the model. The recall was issued earlier this year following concerns that the wheels may fall off with sharp braking or turning.

Tesla's immensely popular electric SUV, which is now being produced in four Gigafactories across three continents, is expected to become the top-selling car in the entire world as its yearly sales numbers could exceed 1 million units in 2023.

Geometry is a relatively new electric vehicle (EV) brand on the Chinese market. However, its next car will come with software made by a name much more familiar to its audience: Huawei. The two companies have struck an agreement to make the upcoming vehicle part of the HarmonyOS smart-device ecosystem.

Manchester United, one of the best-known soccer franchises worldwide, has unveiled Qualcomm as one of its latest partners. The collaboration will apparently involve consultations to improve wireless connectivity within the team's historical Old Trafford headquarters, as well as a lot more Snapdragon logos to be seen around that stadium and its squad's branding going forward.

With the Libero 27BQ70QC, LG has introduced a multi-use monitor that can be mounted in various ways. Also bundled with a detachable webcam, the Libero 27BQ70QC measures 27-inches across and outputs at 2.5K.

The CEO of Nintendo, Shuntarō Furukawa, has announced that no new Switch devices will launch this fiscal year. The company explained that it must resolve semiconductor shortages before focusing on a new console. Rumors suggest that the next generation gadget could be a Nintendo Switch Pro or Nintendo Switch 2, possibly with 4K graphics.

According to previous reports, Nothing was supposedly working on a new smartphone—a Nothing Phone (1) Lite, of sorts—that would give up a few features of the Nothing Phone (1) in exchange for a lower price tag. Those reports have now been put to rest, however, with company CEO Car Pei branding them as "fake news".

Samsung is currently at the Flash Memory Summit 2022 event to show its latest developments in memory and storage solutions off. One of these is the announcement that it has started producing flash modules based on the latest UFS 4.0 standard. Therefore, they may be available to start one-upping the UFS 3.1 internal storage chips still found in the highest-end smartphones of today.

The Tesla Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid electric vehicles are available to order in Europe again. Customers in countries such as the Netherlands, France and Italy can order the models with a €250 (~US$255) non-refundable deposit. The order book for the region closed in December 2021 due to production issues.

Ahead of Unpacked on August 10, a new leak has now revealed the supposed prices of the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip4, and Galaxy Watch5 series in Europe. It appears most of the devices will be more expensive than their predecessors.

A new Counterpoint Research report indicates that the smartphone market in Europe saw its "worst" second quarter since 2020, with 11% fewer shipments year-on-year (YoY), as well as 13% fewer compared to the preceding quarter, or 1Q2021. Nevertheless, some leading brands actually saw growth, with a particularly impressive +21% jump on the part of Realme in 2Q2022.

The next generation of iPhones is said to be divided into 'standard' and Pro categories once again, signifying that the most premium specs and features have been reserved for the latter. According to a new report from a South Korean industry blog, this even extends to the quality of displays supplied by Samsung to distribute among the upcoming mobile flagship variants. Apple's choices might see "14" and "14 Max" models losing out in certain specific and unexpected ways.

Porsche has announced that it plans to develop electric bicycle motors, batteries and connectivity software. The company claims that the engines will be powerful, with plans to use them in upcoming e-bike models. Porsche has recently taken over Fazua, an electric drive system specialist, and acquired a majority stake in Greyp, another e-bike brand.

Recent rumors claimed the iPhone 14 would start at US$899, US$100 more than the iPhone 13 did. According to a new report, however, the iPhone 14 is set to maintain the price tag of its predecessor, with Apple supposedly keen to keep entry prices as low as possible.

Apple has made another attempt to woo Android users to iPhones. In its latest video, the company has sought to explain the advantages of switching to an iPhone and what Android users can expect, including whether it will get the latest updates and Apple's support coverage.

You may have heard of local dimming, but what about local refresh rate? Samsung has reportedly filed a patent that suggests this will become a possibility for the next generation of its displays. It outlines a method for creating a single panel split into multiple zones with different refresh rates, the current high-end 120Hz standard included.

In Q2 this year, the Fiat 500e was the most registered new vehicle in Western Europe. According to a report by Matthias Schmidt, this was the first time since Q4 2020 that the Tesla Model 3 did not top the list. The Tesla Model 3 also saw production levels falter, taking second place behind the Polestar 2, despite both companies facing similar setbacks.

Optoma has introduced the ZH507, a DLP and laser projector. Designed for businesses, the Optoma ZH507 features numerous ports, a high contrast ratio and supports 3D content. Currently, the Optoma ZH507 costs over €2,500 in the Eurozone.

Whether Apple is truly on track to launch its first ever Car in the next few years or not is a hotly-debated topic in the tech space. Nevertheless, the OEM has allegedly made a potentially crucial addition to its growing automotive team: Luigi Taraborrelli, a designer who spent 20 years at the iconic marque Lamborghini prior to apparently taking a new, leading role in Cupertino.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is a global conglomerate that has patently thrown its weight behind virtual reality as the next social media of big-tech industry concerns. However, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken issue with what it sees as the company's crusade to "buy its way" to metaverse dominance, and has legal objections to its latest attempted merger in the space.

Realme India's CEO, Madhav Sheth, has reportedly revealed that the brand's next smartphone with 5G could be its cheapest yet. It will target its budget price-tier in response to the impending roll-out of a next-gen mobile service network tipped to finally go nationwide in 2022. The device will be a part of a product launch cycle tipped to keep right on going throughout the rest of this year.

Market analysts have been less than optimistic about Apple's ability to live up to earlier estimates of how much revenue it could generate for its third fiscal quarter of 2022 (3FQ2022). However, those figures are now out there, and they show the Cupertino giant have defied those expectations with "record" takings for the 3 months. On the other hand, the new MacBooks Air and Pro could be said to have fallen short of their ability to contribute to this new report.

TEAMGROUP's latest PCIe M.2 SSD is pitched at high-performance, highly-demanding use-cases, yet is touted to stand out from this industrial crowd with a first-gen vapor chamber- (VC) equipped tube system. It incorporates in-house liquid cooling touted to keep the SSD running at full speed even in ambient temperatures as high as 85°C.

According to a famous Weibo leaker, Lenovo will debut at least 1 new Android slate in China soon. One of them is said to be a 2022 Xiaoxin Pad Pro (or Tab P12 Pro elsewhere on earth) that will come with upgraded fast charging as well as a 2.5K OLED screen. However, it seems compromises have been made in order to bring those high-end specs to the market.

Are you holding off on getting your Android smartphone fixed for fear of the personal data on it going to the repair shop with it? Samsung has come up with a new way to allay such fears with its new Repair Mode, a new option for Galaxy-series smartphones that locks all potentially sensitive information behind an unlocking method.

After debuting the Nothing Phone (1) earlier in the month, it appears Carl Pei's Nothing may be set to bring another device to the market this year. This phone is supposedly referred to as a "Lite" version of the Nothing Phone (1), although it retains most of the hardware of the Snapdragon 778G+ device.

The President & Managing Director of General Motors Europe has provided details about the company's plans to offer EVs on the continent. In an interview with Autocar, Samara said that high demand in Europe had prompted the move. GM has not announced which models will be available; we know they will be from American brands, which could include Cadillac and Chevrolet.

Xiaomi's very public dream of being a company that makes electric vehicles (EVs) as well as most popular consumer devices and gadgets has reportedly lost its initial momentum as of late. The current breakneck speed of the Chinese automotive industry has thrown a regulatory roadblock in the leading OEM's path to officially becoming an auto-maker in its own country.

Honor has unveiled plans for its IFA 2022 showcase with assertions that it will help consumers "embrace the connected future". Going by the OEM's new promos, this can be done with one of its new, appropriately networkable devices, which might include new mobile devices, PCs and the personal audio equipment to pair with them.

A Polestar survey found that the primary reason American drivers switched from combustion engines to electric vehicles was not the environment. Instead, most respondents cited technology and image as the reason they would buy an EV. Polestar also recently announced its H1 2022 results, including a record 50,000 orders taken globally.

The Spotify Car Thing has been killed off, just five months into its public release. Still available at a steep discount, the remaining Car Thing units will sell for US$49.99 until Spotify exhausts its supplies.

Intel has announced that its Foundry Services have been chosen by MediaTek as a new chip supplier. The decision help the latter expand its portfolio of processors for the internet of things (IoT) market, as well as make sure it has stock of those new chips to sell. This, according to MediaTek, will help it stay in its current industry-leading position in general.

A new type of Best Buy store has launched in North Carolina to offer consumers a "new" and possibly much more 2022 way to shop. The space, while nearly a tenth of the size of the average store associated with the chain, is rated to offer in-person consultations as well as a range of the latest or most popular products, in a way that might better adapt to the trend of consumers to shop and order online instead.

ORICO is a USB hub and storage accessory OEM that has just launched a new line of portable SSDs. Its MTQ-40G flagships have Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports with an up to 40 gigabit per second (Gbps) data-transmission rate, and are up to 2TB in capacity. However, they also stand out due to "durable" multi-colored exteriors styled after one of Piet Mondrian's most famous paintings.

The Redmi K50 Ultra has made another appearance in the wild ahead of its launch. It's joined this time out by the Mix Fold 2, which is listed with up to 1 TB of storage, showing off its place as one of Xiaomi's most premium offerings for the year.

Realme's inaugural monitor is set to launch formally during the OEM's main IoT ecosystem product launch of tomorrow (July 26, 2022). However, the full gamut of details on the inaugural external display - price included - are now out there due to its appearance on Flipkart in advance. The official leak reveals some specs that might prove gratifyingly up to date, whereas others may be less so.

SG Micro is a company that has reportedly just secured an order from Apple for the upcoming iPhone 14 series, possibly even its top-end Pro and Pro Max variants. It is a major coup for the components OEM, particularly as it can now say it is a "tier-1" supplier to a top global hardware corporation. Accordingly, its parts will be a part of devices from the new flagship line that are made in the second half of 2022.

Samsung, last week, filed a new trademark in Korea that provides hints as to the company's plans for an upcoming camera sensor. This sensor could be a 450 MP one, with a post-binning pixel size matching that of the 1-inch Sony IMX989 on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

The prices of EVs made by the Texas-based automaker have risen sharply due to the rampant inflation, and they have now hit an embarrassingly high level according to its CEO. Musk therefore hopes that a waning inflation towards the end of the year could pave the way for potential price reductions of popular electric cars like the Tesla Model Y.

It seems the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is due a successor. A device, sometimes referenced overtly as a next-gen member of its line, has now registered on the databases of the FCC and 3C regulators, among others. These leaks hint at a considerable charging upgrade in the upcoming 2022 Android smartphone.

Samsung has shot to the top of the market for foldable mobile devices since its initial Galaxy Fold launch in 2019. Now, its president Dr. TM Roh has announced that shipments in this space have grown at least 3x in 2021 compared to 2020. The executive may have also alluded to plans for a slight foldable rebrand to be formally unveiled during the imminent Unpacked 2022 showcase.

Razer has bought all shares of the French company responsible for Interhaptics, described as a "leading development platform" for feedback in gaming, PC and extended-reality (XR) hardware. The move is slated to underpin the former's interest in the overall haptics market, although it could also allow the OEM to improve and leverage its in-house HyperSense technology to compete with similar products such as Sony DualSense going forward.

Anker has announced that it will launch the latest generation of its high-speed chargers during an upcoming July 2022 event. The OEM has already alluded to the "cutting-edge" gallium nitride (GaN) technology to come in these new accessories. They will be pitched at both in-place and on-the-go use-cases, and will come in a variety of wattages, some of which will exceed the 100 watt (W) mark.

Gateway has just announced an inaugural all-in-one (AiO) desktop as its latest addition to its new Walmart-based line-up. It hits the sub-US$400 mark with its specs, which include Intel Pentium silicon and a ~24-inch IPS FHD display. Then again, it comes with its own mouse and keyboard in the box, as well as a year's worth of Microsoft 365 Personal access for free.