Japan's Denso to invest $3.3 billion to bulk up chips business, president says
TOKYO Japanese automotive supplier Denso will invest about 500 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in semiconductors by 2030 as
2023-10-26 09:24
SK Hynix Sales Decline Slows in Sign of Recovery for Chips
SK Hynix Inc. reported a more moderate decline in revenue for the third quarter and said it will
2023-10-26 08:55
Korea’s Economic Growth Holds Steady in Sign of Resilience
South Korea’s economic growth held steady on the back of recovering exports, offering a sign of resilience as
2023-10-26 07:57
SK Hynix's Q3 loss narrows from Q2 on solid demand for advanced chips
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's SK Hynix posted a sharply narrower loss than in the previous quarter, as strong demand for
2023-10-26 07:28
Baker Hughes beats profit estimates on robust international demand
(Reuters) -U.S. oilfield technology firm Baker Hughes joined rivals SLB and Halliburton in posting upbeat quarterly profit on Wednesday, driven
2023-10-26 05:51
Arizona says closely monitoring use of self-driving vehicles
(Reuters) -Arizona is closely monitoring the testing and use of self-driving vehicles in the state, its transportation department said on
2023-10-26 02:54
Apple ‘Scary Fast’ event: What to expect at surprise, spooky live streamed launch
Apple is holding what is set to be a “scary” event next week, in which it will introduce mystery products. The “Scary Fast” event is unusual in a number of ways. It begins very late, at midnight UK time; it is also unusually late in the month, on 30 October and just a day before Hallowe’en; and Apple also announced it late, inviting the world less than a week before it actually started. But it is also unusual in that it is very hard to predict what might actually be announced. It seems clear that it will involved the Mac in some way – the invitation included strong hints, such as a reference to the logo of the Finder app that is on all of Apple’s computers – but the event remains largely mysterious beyond that. Here are the best guesses at what might be coming in Apple’s unexpected, potentially spooky launch live stream. New chips Apple started designing its own Mac processors in 2020, in a programme it called Apple Silicon. Since then, Macs have been updated around their processors, rather than the other way around. The Apple processors began with the M1, which was put into a host of computers that were released in November of 2020. It then introduced different variations: the M1 Pro, Max and Ultra, which are used in the higher-end computers. Last June, Apple revealed the M2, which has gradually replaced the M1. And at the beginning of this year it revealed updates to those higher-end versions: an M2 and M2 Max in January, and an Ultra in June. If Apple is to reveal an M3, and maybe even M3 Pro and Max, then it would be doing so much more quickly than the previous update cycle, and much sooner than most expected. But Apple Silicon is so young that there is no sense of how its cycle goes. What’s more, it seems unlikely that Apple would hold an event of this kind without a big update to announce – and the obvious big update that’s waiting is the M3. If it is coming, then expect it to bring speed improvements. The M2 ran a little more hot than the previous version, so Apple might address that too. New iMac The most widely expected new computer is an updated version of the 24-inch iMac. That was first introduced in April 2021, and hasn’t been updated at all since. The original computer was released to widespread acclaim, though some questions of how many people wanted such a computer today, with the popularity of laptops. Apple may have avoided updating in part for that reason. But now it looks set to finally get an update, skipping the M2 chip line and going straight onto the M3. It is not clear whether it will get any other upgrades beyond that. Faster high-end MacBook Pro Some rumours have suggested that Apple will update its whole chip line-up at once – not releasing the M3 first and then slowly adding the higher-end chips, as it has in the past. If that is the case, then it would be expected to put them into its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Those computers were first introduced almost exactly two years ago, when they used the M1 series, but were last updated at the beginning of the year to get the M2 Pro and Max. Apple could switch the chips out to the new family, rumours have suggested. Beyond that, big updates to the MacBook Pro are unlikely, given how recently it was changed. But there have been some rumours that they could receive small tweaks to their display. Other Apple computers do also rely on those higher-end chips, with the Mac Studio being most notable among them. That was updated even more recently, however – in June of this year – and so seems even less likely to get yet another refresh. Refreshed other laptops If Apple is introducing a new base-level M3 chip, then it could come to all of its computers at once. At the moment, the M2 is found in a host of other Macs – the smaller and larger MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini – and so they could all potentially be updated to the new generation. Entirely new Macs? Apple might not only refresh its existing Macs, but could launch entirely new ones, too. Some rumours have suggested that Apple is working on a new version of the iMac that could be bigger (at 30-inch), faster (with a Pro or Max processor), or both in one. Apple offered this kind of computer for a few years, in the form of the iMac Pro. That was the large model of the iMac but sold in a darker finish, with matching accessories and a range of performance improvements. It was only sold between 2017 and 2021, a period when Apple’s Mac Pro offering went largely without updates and plenty of criticism. Part of the job of the iMac Pro was to fill that role while Apple worked on other solutions, and the Mac Studio that was first introduced last year now does much the same job Non-Macs The event does seem to be primarily focused on Macs. And Apple has already released another product – the confusing new Apple Pencil – that might have been expected to be included if it didn’t want to focus only on the computers. There are other products waiting to be updated: no iPad has seen an update all year, for instance, and the line-up is now a little complicated as well as behind. But this event looks set to focus on computers rather than tablets. Apple might however choose to give an update on the Vision Pro, the augmented reality headset that it first revealed this June and which it has said is on track to arrive early next year. That headset does rely on a Mac processor – it was announced with the M2, though perhaps that could be updated to an M3 before it actually comes out – and so could potentially be tied into a Mac focused event. Read More Apple announces surprise event: ‘Scary fast’ Apple ‘is planning surprise Mac announcement soon’ Apple just released a new Pencil after days of excitement Sadiq Khan, Met Commissioner to ask phone companies to ‘design out’ theft Apple is planning to make a cheaper Vision Pro headset without key features ‘We are broken’: Armenia looks to technology to rebuild
2023-10-26 01:16
Strong ad show from Alphabet, Snap puts the spotlight on Meta
By Samrhitha A and Aditya Soni A rebound in the advertising businesses of Google and Snap have signaled
2023-10-26 00:27
Sam Bankman-Fried will testify at criminal trial, lawyer says
NEW YORK FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify in his own defense at his criminal
2023-10-25 22:46
Apple hikes price of Apple TV+, Apple News+
Apple Inc is raising the subscription prices of Apple TV+ and Apple News+, according to its website. The
2023-10-25 22:18
‘We are broken’: Armenia looks to technology to rebuild
Just two weeks after fleeing his home with barely more than the clothes on his back and the phone in his pocket, 23-year-old Ashot Gabrielyan is at a tech conference promoting one of the last things he has left: his startup. He is one of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenian refugees who were forced out of Nagorno-Karabakh in late September when Azerbaijani forces retook control of the breakaway enclave. Alongside his two brothers – who evacuated in a single car with their parents and a grandparent on 28 September – Gabrielyan is now attempting to start a new life from temporary accommodation in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan. “We lost our property, but we also lost ourselves,” he says. “We have lost our previous lives. We are starting everything from scratch.” His online marketing startup, Brothers in Business (BIB), was offered a last-minute stand at the DigiTec Expo, with organisers hoping that technology will help offer a solution for the country. As a landlocked nation lacking the natural resources of its historically hostile neighbours, Armenia’s nascent tech industry is seen as a way to achieve sovereignty and future stability in the long term, while also assisting with the humanitarian crisis in the short term. The country was once a tech hub in the region – one of the world’s first computers was built in Armenia – but much of Armenia’s talent left following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. A new scene emerged when émigrés returned to the country after finding success in Silicon Valley, establishing the country’s internet network and providing a foundation for startups to emerge. There are now an estimated 300 pre-seed-stage startups in Armenia, and around 100 seed-stage startups, in fields ranging from quantum computing to electric bikes. “We have this vision: Tech is the ultimate direction that will help Armenia to succeed,” says Narek Vardanyan, CEO of Prelaunch.com, whose company acts as a platform to help local startups establish themselves on the market. “We are landlocked, we have no natural resources. All we have is talent. And our only way we can develop is technology,” he says. “We don’t have a backup plan. There is no Plan B. We are betting everything on technology.” Armenia’s most successful startup so far is Picsart, an online photo editor that has grown to become the country’s only unicorn – a company with a valuation north of $1 billion. Picsart is among those offering their resources to help refugees, fast-tracking the launch of an educational program that will be offered for free to refugees and war veterans, training and reskilling them in everything from machine learning to graphic design. Hayk Sahakyan, a creative director at Picsart, says there has been a “huge number” of people interested so far, including children. This idea of building up Armenia’s tech industry through education can be found through two privately funded initiatives that are providing free courses in STEM subjects to tens of thousands of young people throughout the country. The first is TUMO, which provides free supplemental education to 12-18 year olds in creative technologies, ranging from game development to music. Since the first TUMO centre opened in Yerevan in 2011, dozens of centres have sprung up throughout Armenia and the rest of the world, including hubs in Berlin, Paris and Los Angeles. One of its six core centres and three smaller “Box” centres had to be abandoned during the Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh last month. “External circumstances can literally kill us. But whenever anyone asks me whether Armenia has a future, it’s here,” says Zara Budaghyan, head of communications at TUMO. “Technology has the potential to provide a more stable economy, but also better lives. International support has been lacking. We need to rebuild by ourselves. We are broken. But this gives us something to believe in.” The second educational initiative is a network of technology, science and engineering laboratories set up in rural communities, offering children from 10-18 free after school classes. Established by UATE – a business association that also runs the DigiTec Expo – several of the labs in Nagorno-Karabakh also had to be shut down in September. UATE chief executive Sargis Karapetyan, who grew up in the region, says around 200 of his relatives were among the refugees. Karapetyan considered cancelling the DigiTec conference, saying there is still a deep distrust of Azerbaijan. There are fears that the annex was only part one. The next stage, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believes could happen “within weeks”, could be an invasion to establish a land corridor between the two parts of Azerbaijan. When asked what prompted the decision to persevere with the tech conference despite personal tragedy and the threat of further chaos, Karapetyan replies: "Technology will save the world.” Read More Students told ‘avoid all robots’ after Oregon University bomb threat prank AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says Students told ‘avoid all robots’ after Oregon University bomb threat prank AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says
2023-10-25 21:16
UniCredit revamps Buddy online banking service to ease cloud shift
MILAN Italy's UniCredit on Wednesday announced improvements to its mobile banking service Buddybank, in a move that Chief
2023-10-25 19:26