iab-industries – Page 13

X is ‘close to breakeven’ says CEO Linda Yaccarino

12Aug

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Technology

X is ‘close to breakeven’ says CEO Linda Yaccarino

New York CNN — X CEO Linda Yaccarino, leader of the platform formerly known as Twitter, said the company is keeping an eye on new competitor Threads, despite the sharply slowing growth of the rival app from Meta. “Threads did jump in with a ton of hype and a launch pad from their Instagram users … [but] it’s dropped off dramatically,” Yaccarino told CNBC Thursday in her first interview as CEO of the company now called X. “But you can never, ever take your eye off any competition because they’ll continue iterating and as much as the launch has stalled, we’re keeping an eye on everything that they’re doing.” Still, Yaccarino said X remains largely focused on its own future as the comp...

11Aug

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Technology

Regulators give green light to driverless taxis in San Francisco

CNN — California regulators gave approval Thursday to two rival robotaxi companies, Cruise and Waymo, to operate their driverless cars 24/7 across all of San Francisco and charge passengers for their services. The much-anticipated vote, which followed roughly six hours of public comment both for and against driverless taxis, came amid clashes between the robotaxi companies and some residents of the hilly city. San Francisco first responders, city transportation leaders and local activists are among those who shared concerns about the technology. The California Public Utilities Commission regulates self-driving cars in the state and voted 3-to-1 in favor of Waymo and Cruise expanding their opera...

10Aug

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Technology

Portable cell sites arrive in Maui to bring internet to residents and tourists

New York CNN — Portable mobile hotspots have arrived in Maui to help bring internet service to the thousands of people who may have been unable to call for help since the wildfires started to rage out of control on the island. Verizon told CNN on Thursday its teams are currently deploying the first batch of satellite-based mobile hotspots at evacuation sites in areas of greatest need, particularly the west side of the island, west of Maalaea, Lahaina and Northern Kapalua. Verizon’s larger equipment, which is being barged over from Honolulu, is expected to arrive later in the day. This includes COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks) — a mobile site on wheels that connects to a carrier’s service via a satell...

Justice Kagan order: Apple doesn’t have to change app store terms while battling Epic in court

10Aug

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Technology

Justice Kagan order: Apple doesn’t have to change app store terms while battling Epic in court

Washington CNN — A judicial order forcing Apple to change some of its app store terms will not need to take immediate effect while litigation over the decision plays out, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said on Wednesday, handing a temporary defeat to opponents of the company. The order is a setback for “Fortnite”-maker Epic Games as Apple appeals a lower-court ruling that found the iPhone-maker had violated California competition law. Epic Games declined to comment on Kagan’s decision, which occurred in the Supreme Court’s so-called “shadow docket” and was not referred to the full court. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple had previously bee...

9Aug

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Technology

Why cell phone service is down in Maui — and when it could be restored

CNN — Thousands of people in Maui are without cell service as the wildfires continue to rage out of control on the island, preventing people from calling emergency services or updating loved ones about their status. It could take days or even weeks to get the networks back up and running. “911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told CNN on Wednesday morning. Although strong winds can sometimes threaten cell towers, most are strong enough to handle the worst that even a Category 5 hurricane can bring. Fire, however, complicates the issue. “When the fires get too close to cell sites, they will obviously burn equipment, antennas, and feedlin...

9Aug

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Technology

iPhone end call button change

CNN — Get your thumb ready for next month. Apple (AAPL) is making a subtle change to the iPhone’s software that will likely mess with your muscle memory: The big red “end call” button is moving. The iPhone’s phone app will get a series of updates coming to iOS 17, including an updated design that repositions the hang up button to the bottom right of the screen, next to other functions. The button currently sits separately at the bottom middle of the phone app, underneath the buttons to mute, access the keypad or add a call. The new call screen, which is already available for download in a beta version for developers, sparked some strong reactions among iOS users on soc...

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, raises $280 million

8Aug

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Technology

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, raises $280 million

New York CNN — Elon Musk’s biotechnology startup Neuralink raised $280 million in a fundraising round, the company announced Monday via X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The Series D round was led by Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based VC firm established by Peter Thiel, the controversial billionaire who was also a cofounder at PayPal. “We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company wrote. The brain chip startup wants to use implants to connect your brain to a computer, a goal Musk has been working on for five years. The company so far has only tested on animals and faced scrutiny after a monkey died in project testing in 20...

China wants to limit teens to no more than two hours a day on their phones

7Aug

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Technology

China wants to limit teens to no more than two hours a day on their phones

Hong Kong CNN — China is proposing new measures to curb the amount of time that kids and teens can spend on their phones, as the country takes aim at internet addiction and tries to cultivate “good morality” and “socialist values” among minors. A proposal released by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s top internet regulator, on Wednesday would require all mobile devices, apps and app stores to have a built in “minor mode” that would restrict daily screen time to a maximum of two hours a day, depending on the age group. The restrictions, if approved, would mark an expansion of existing measures rolled out in recent years as Beijing aims to limit screen time among kids and reduce th...

AI is being held up by a shortage of powerful chips

6Aug

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Technology

AI is being held up by a shortage of powerful chips

CNN — The crushing demand for AI has also revealed the limits of the global supply chain for powerful chips used to develop and field AI models. The continuing chip crunch has affected businesses large and small, including some of the AI industry’s leading platforms and may not meaningfully improve for at least a year or more, according to industry analysts. The latest sign of a potentially extended shortage in AI chips came in Microsoft’s annual report recently. The report identifies, for the first time, the availability of graphics processing units (GPUs) as a possible risk factor for investors. GPUs are a critical type of hardware that helps run the countless calculations invol...

Threads user count falls to new lows, highlighting retention challenges

6Aug

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Technology

Threads user count falls to new lows, highlighting retention challenges

Washington, DC CNN — Threads, Meta’s Twitter rival, is struggling to retain users roughly a month after its highly publicized launch, according to fresh industry estimates showing that app engagement has fallen to new lows. The data from market research firms Similarweb and Sensor Tower highlight the challenges facing Meta as it seeks to exploit the opening created by the chaos surrounding Twitter’s management. Threads’ daily active user count is down 82% from launch as of July 31, according to Sensor Tower, with just eight million users accessing the app each day. That is the lowest it has been since the day after the app’s release when daily active users peaked at roughly 44 million, Sensor Towe...