Category: Tech

The Current’s tech news keeps you upto date with news of new gadgets, tech updates, information about tech startups and technology reviews.

  • Samsung returns to top of the smartphone market: industry tracker

    Samsung returns to top of the smartphone market: industry tracker

    San Francisco (AFP) – Samsung regained its position as the top smartphone seller, wresting back the lead from Apple as Chinese rivals close the gap on both market leaders, industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC) reported Monday.

    South Korea-based Samsung overtook Apple as worldwide smartphone shipments grew nearly 8 percent in the first quarter of this year to 289.4 million, IDC said, citing its preliminary data.

    It was the third consecutive quarter of growth in the global smartphone market, signalling that a recovery from a slump in the sector is underway, according to IDC.

    IDC Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers team vice president Ryan Reith expected top smartphone companies to gain share and small brands to struggle for position as recovery progresses.

    Samsung shipped 60.1 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year, claiming nearly 21 percent of the market, according to IDC figures.

    Apple shipped 50.1 million iPhones, garnering just over 17 percent of the market in the same period, IDC reported.

    Apple smartphone shipments were down 9.6 percent in a quarter-over-quarter comparison, while Samsung shipments slipped less than one percent, according to the market tracker.

    Meanwhile, China-based Xiaomi saw shipments grow about 33 percent to 40.8 million and Transsion about 85 percent to 28.5 million, taking third and fourth positions in the overall smartphone market, IDC reported.

    “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter,” Reith said.

    IDC expects Samsung and Apple to maintain their hold on the high end of the smartphone market while Chinese competitors seek to expand sales, according to Reith.

    Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, said: “There is a shift in power among the Top 5 companies, which will likely continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world.

    “Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets.”

  • Samsung overtakes Apple in sales as iPhone shipments drops

    The first quarter of 2024 saw Apple’s smartphone shipments decreased by about 10 percent, data from research firm IDC (International Data Corporation) has revealed. The drop was caused by increased competition from Android smartphone makers who are trying to become the top-selling brand.

    The iPhone-maker’s sales dropped significantly after a strong performance in the December quarter when it became the world’s No.1 phone maker, surpassing Samsung. Now, it’s back in the second spot with a 17.3 percent market share, as Chinese brands like Huawei record gains.

    Xiaomi, a popular smartphone brand from China, held the third position with a market share of 14.1 percent in the first quarter.

    Meanwhile, Samsung, the leading smartphone company from South Korea, shipped over 60 million phones during the same period, boosted by the launch of its latest flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S24 series, earlier in the year.

    Data provider Counterpoint previously reported that global sales of Galaxy S24 smartphones increased by 8 percent compared to last year’s Galaxy S23 series during the first three weeks of availability.

    In the first quarter, IDC stated that Apple shipped 50.1 million iPhones, a decrease from the 55.4 million units it shipped during the same period last year.

    Apple’s smartphone sales in China dropped by 2.1 percent in the last quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year.

  • Apple set to unveil new iPad Pro, iPad Air models in May

    Apple set to unveil new iPad Pro, iPad Air models in May

    Apple is preparing for a significant launch event, as reported by Mark Gurman in Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter. The tech giant is set to unveil its latest offerings, the new iPad Pro and iPad Air, during the week of May 6.

    The anticipated launch will introduce new models, including 11-inch and 13-inch OLED iPad Pro versions, alongside a larger 12.9-inch iPad Air. Additionally, consumers can expect refreshed Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories to accompany these devices.

    This announcement marks a notable event for Apple, as it’s been nearly eighteen months since the release of any new iPad hardware. The upcoming iPad Pros are expected to boast enhanced displays, transitioning from mini-LED to OLED panels similar to those found in iPhones.

    This upgrade promises deeper contrast and increased brightness. Alongside display improvements, there’s anticipation for a sleeker design, with a thinner chassis and a repositioned front camera to the landscape edge. These new models will be powered by the advanced M3 chip.

    However, consumers may need to prepare for potential price hikes, as hinted by Gurman’s newsletter. Currently, the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799, while the 12.9-inch model begins at $1099.

    For those seeking a more budget-friendly option, the new 12.9-inch iPad Air aims to deliver a larger screen size without breaking the bank. Details regarding its processor, whether M2 or M3, remain unclear at this stage.

    Excitingly, the new accessories are expected to enhance the user experience further. Rumors suggest that the new Apple Pencil might include a new squeeze gesture feature, while the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is set to mimic a laptop with its aluminum base and larger trackpad.

    Although updates for the base model iPad and iPad mini are scheduled for later in the year, Gurman anticipates only minor improvements, primarily a processor upgrade for the iPad mini.

  • Tesla cancels affordable electric car, shifts focus to Robotaxis

    Tesla cancels affordable electric car, shifts focus to Robotaxis

    Tesla has made a significant shift in its strategy, announcing the cancellation of its long-awaited affordable electric car, a move that has left investors and consumers stunned.

    The decision, revealed by three reliable sources familiar with the matter and corroborated by company messages obtained by Reuters, marks a departure from Tesla’s earlier mission of bringing affordable electric vehicles to the masses.

    The automaker, instead, will pivot its resources towards the development of self-driving robotaxis, utilizing the same small-vehicle platform, according to insiders. This strategic redirection signifies a significant deviation from Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s previous commitments and vision outlined in the company’s initial “master plan” in 2006.

    Musk, who has often emphasized the goal of making electric cars accessible to a broader audience, had initially promised investors and consumers an affordable vehicle following the success of luxury models. However, despite repeated assurances from Musk, including as recent as January, wherein he outlined plans for production at Tesla’s Texas factory by the second half of 2025, those aspirations have been dashed.

    Tesla’s cheapest model currently available, the Model 3 sedan, comes with a price tag of approximately $39,000 in the United States. The now-scrapped entry-level vehicle, often referred to as the Model 2, was anticipated to be priced around $25,000.

    In response to inquiries, Tesla remained silent, offering no official comment on the matter. However, Musk took to social media platform X to dispute the Reuters report, without specifying any inaccuracies, leading to a momentary fluctuation in Tesla’s stock prices.

    Following Musk’s online intervention, where he hinted at an upcoming Tesla Robotaxi unveiling, the company’s shares experienced a rebound in after-hours trading. This abrupt change in direction comes amidst mounting competition in the global electric vehicle market, particularly from Chinese manufacturers offering vehicles at significantly lower price points.

    The decision to prioritize the development of self-driving robotaxis, though potentially lucrative, poses considerable engineering challenges and regulatory hurdles, as highlighted by industry experts.

    Leaks reveal that the decision to scrap the Model 2 was communicated to employees in a meeting held in late February, further underscoring Tesla’s strategic pivot in the face of evolving market dynamics.

  • X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    Users with big followings will receive a free subscription to X, formerly Twitter – and the platform’s famous blue check, the company said in another policy U-turn.

    Before Musk, the blue check mark was used as a verification system for major accounts including celebrities, institutions and journalists.

    But Musk saw the system as unfair to regular users and overhauled the blue checks so that they went only to paying subscribers, which meant thousands of holders were stripped of the feature.

    Late Wednesday, some users were surprised and even angry to find the blue tick reinstated.

    A message from the platform explained that they were given free subscriptions because they were an “influential member” of X.

    The site added that it “reserves the right to cancel the complimentary subscription in its sole discretion.”

    Musk said last week that “going forward, all X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5,000 will get Premium+ for free.”

    Premium or Premium+ perks include reduced ads and higher placement in the platform’s feeds, as well as access to Grok, X’s AI chatbot.

    Some users who received the blue check saw it as a bid by Musk to revitalize the struggling platform.

    “Translation: Pay $8? Kidding. Help me. But don’t say anything too free speechy about me or my Garbage Tower of Babel,” actor Jeffrey Wright, who received an unsolicited check, said in a post on X.

    Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the platform’s advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on his leadership and the mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

    X on Tuesday named company veteran Kylie McRoberts as the new head of safety in an effort to shore up income from advertising, still the site’s main source of revenue.

    According to most industry-accepted metrics, X has lost users since Musk took ownership, but the company says activity on the site has grown.

  • Samsung Electronics expects 10-fold rise in Q1 profit

    Samsung Electronics expects 10-fold rise in Q1 profit

    Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects first-quarter operating profits to rise more than 10-fold year on year as chip prices recover.

    The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

    The tech giant said in a regulatory filing that January-March operating profits were expected to rise 931.3 percent to 6.6 trillion won ($4.89 billion). Operating profits in the same period last year totalled around 640 billion won.

    The expectation exceeded the average estimate by 20.5 percent, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which referenced its financial data firm.

    Sales, meanwhile, are expected to rise 11.4 percent to 71 trillion won, Samsung said.

    South Korean chipmakers, led by Samsung, enjoyed record profits in recent years as prices for their products soared, but a global economic slowdown dealt a blow to memory chip sales.

    However, the semiconductor market had been predicted to recover this year and grow 11.8 percent, according to industry monitor World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

    The news from Samsung comes after South Korea’s SK Hynix — the world’s second-largest memory chip maker — announced in January that it had returned to profit after four consecutive quarters of losses.

    Samsung’s overall outlook is “fortified by a resurgence in the smartphone market, escalating DRAM (memory chip) prices”,  Neil Shah, vice president of Counterpoint Research, told AFP.

    Samsung is expected to release its final earnings report at the end of this month.

  • Apple explores making personal robots: report

    Apple explores making personal robots: report

    Apple engineers are working on making personal robots, a report said on Wednesday, just weeks after the iPhone-maker abandoned its efforts to develop an electric car.

    The tech titan has people working on a robot that would follow people around at home and be helpful, according to Bloomberg that cited unnamed people familiar with the situation.

    The project was in a nascent stage and it was unclear whether it would lead to a product sold by Apple, the report indicated.

    Apple did not reply to a request for comment.

    The California-based company has been looking for new ways to make money beyond its iPhones and the digital content and services it sells to users.

    Apple recently abandoned its ambitions to produce an electric car, according to US media reports, ending a struggling decade-long project.

    It has never publicly disclosed its EV plans, despite a steady drip of media leaks over the years.

    Apple is reported to have transferred employees from the shuttered car division to generative artificial intelligence projects.

    The robot project is being overseen by Apple’s hardware engineering division and its AI and machine learning group, Bloomberg reported.

    The report came as analysts are keen to hear what progress Apple is making with AI at the company’s annual WWDC developers gathering at its Silicon Valley campus in June.

    Around the world, major tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are rapidly pursuing the development and deployment of AI products.

  • Google to delete incognito search data to end privacy suit

    Google to delete incognito search data to end privacy suit

    San Francisco (AFP) – Google has agreed to delete a vast trove of search data to settle a suit that it tracked millions of US users who thought they were browsing the internet privately.

    If a proposed settlement filed Monday in San Francisco federal court is approved by a judge, Google must “delete and/or remediate billions of data records” linked to people using the Chrome browser’s incognito mode, according to court documents.

    “This settlement is an historic step in requiring dominant technology companies to be honest in their representations to users about how the companies collect and employ user data, and to delete and remediate data collected,” lawyer David Boies said in the filing.

    A hearing is slated for July 30 before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is to decide whether to approve the deal that would let Google avoid a trial in the class-action suit.

    The settlement calls for no cash damages to be paid but leaves an option for Chrome users who feel they were wronged to sue Google separately to get money.

    The suit originally filed in June of 2020 sought at least $5 billion in damages.

    “We are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless,” Google spokesman Jorge Castaneda said in a statement.

    “We are happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.”

    The object of the lawsuit was the “Incognito Mode” in the Chrome browser that plaintiffs said gave users a false sense that what they were surfing online was not being tracked by the Silicon Valley tech firm.

    But internal Google emails brought forward in the lawsuit demonstrated that users using incognito mode were being followed by the search and advertising behemoth for measuring web traffic and selling ads.

    The lawsuit, filed in a California court, claimed Google’s practices had infringed on users’ privacy by intentionally deceiving them with the incognito option.

    The original complaint alleged that Google had been given the “power to learn intimate details about individuals’ lives, interests, and internet usage.”

    “Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it,” it added.

    The settlement requires Google, for the next five years, to block third-party tracking “cookies” by default in Incognito Mode.

    Third-party cookies are small files which are used to target advertising by tracking web navigation and are placed by visited sites and not by the browser itself.

    No cookies?

    Google earlier this year began limiting third-party cookies for some users of its Chrome browser, a first step towards eventually abandoning the files that have raised privacy concerns.

    Google announced in January 2020 that it would begin eliminating third-party cookies within two years, but the start has been delayed several times amid opposition from web media publishers.

    Cookies have recently been subject to greater regulation, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation introduced in 2016 as well as regulations in California.

  • Leaks suggest iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature a 6.9-inch display

    Leaks suggest iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature a 6.9-inch display

    New images purportedly showcasing dummy models of the upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro have surfaced, offering enthusiasts a tantalising glimpse into the potential design evolution.

    Shared initially on the Chinese platform Baolin Video and subsequently disseminated by a Weibo user, these visuals have ignited speculation among tech aficionados.

    Pro models to get bigger

    One notable revelation from the leaked images is the difference in size between the standard and Pro variants. Reports suggest that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are poised to expand to 6.3 and 6.9 inches, respectively. In contrast, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are anticipated to maintain the familiar 6.1 and 6.7-inch dimensions reminiscent of recent iPhone iterations.

    Redesigned aesthetics

    While the dimensions of the standard iPhone 16 models remain consistent, discernible alterations adorn their backs and sides. Notably, the dummy models feature a redesigned camera block, housing vertically aligned lenses. This adjustment is believed to accommodate spatial video recording capabilities, a feature currently exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

    Innovative button configuration

    The leaked images also shed light on an intriguing departure from convention: the replacement of the traditional mute slider with an action button on the left edge of the iPhone 16 dummy. This transition mirrors the existing configuration found solely on the iPhone 15 Pro models. Moreover, speculation abounds regarding the elongated nature of the Action button, a potential ergonomic enhancement over its predecessor.

    Introducing the capture button

    A noteworthy addition visible on both dummy models is the introduction of a capture button—a dedicated key located beneath the power button, speculated to function as a camera shutter button. Unlike conventional physical buttons protruding from the device’s frame, the capture button is purportedly an inductive or capacitive mechanism seamlessly integrated into the side rail.

    Anticipated revelations and continued speculation

    As the tech community eagerly awaits the official unveiling, these leaks offer but a glimpse into the myriad innovations anticipated with Apple’s next-generation iPhones. With the expected launch window in early September looming on the horizon, enthusiasts can anticipate a deluge of further revelations.

    Among the speculated enhancements are a more robust chipset tailored to support cutting-edge generative AI functionalities and the integration of 48MP ultrawide cameras for the Pro variants.

  • AirCar technology purchased by Chinese company for exclusive use

    AirCar technology purchased by Chinese company for exclusive use

    A Chinese firm has acquired the technology behind a flying car, originally developed and tested in Europe. This AirCar, powered by a BMW engine and conventional fuel, completed a 35-minute flight between two Slovakian airports in 2021, utilising standard runways for take-off and landing. Its transformation from car to aircraft took just over two minutes.

    The Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, based in Cangzhou, has obtained exclusive rights to manufacture and operate AirCar aircraft within a designated region in China. The company, after acquiring technology from a Slovak aircraft manufacturer, has established its own airport and flight school.

    China, known for spearheading the electric vehicle revolution, is now actively pursuing aerial transport solutions. Recently, Autoflight conducted a successful test flight of a passenger-carrying drone, drastically reducing travel time between Shenzhen and Zhuhai. Meanwhile, eHang, another Chinese firm, received safety certification for its electric flying taxi in 2023, with the UK government anticipating regular flying taxi operations by 2028.

    Unlike vertical take-off and landing drones, AirCar operates on traditional runways, presenting challenges in infrastructure, regulation, and public acceptance. While the sale details remain undisclosed, AirCar received airworthiness certification in 2022 and gained attention through a video by YouTuber Mr. Beast.

    Despite the excitement surrounding prototypes like AirCar, practical implementation may involve mundane aspects such as queues and security checks, according to experts. However, similar concerns once surrounded electric cars, which China has since dominated in the global market. The sale of AirCar raises speculation about China’s potential influence in the flying car industry.