Microsoft Tops Best Run List; EVs Can Lower Utility Bills for Everyone; Discord Adds Sign in From Other Platforms

Microsoft has again topped a list of best run companies in the US for 2022. According to geekwire.com, they eclipsed Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta. It’s the third year in a row Redmond based Microsoft has topped the Management Top 250 list. That list is complied by The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University. Apple was #2, with Big Blue–IBM holding the third spot. Rounding out the top 5 were General Motors in 4th place, and Whirlpool scored 5th. 

Owners of EVs are not just reducing their own carbon footprints…they are helping lower utility bills for the rest of us, too. Businessinsider.com says that a study from Synapse Energy Economics backed by the Natural Resources Defense Council that studied 3 California utilities that serve households with a lot of electric cars took in $1.7 billion more in pure profit. Sounds like we’re being ripped off? No, thanks to government regulation…utilities are revenue-capped…they have to return excess profits to customers via lower rates. A key to the whole thing? Most people charge their EVs overnight when usage is lowest. That means utilities don’t have to ramp up power production during peak hours, costing lots more money. Another study last year by another group came to a similar finding. 

Discord is adding identity verification via accounts on other platforms. It’s an extension of their Connections feature, that lets users show what music they are listening to. Engadget.com reports that Linked Roles will be supported at first by Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net, League of Legends, Riot Games, Reddit, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, Spotify, Facebook, GitHub, Crunchyroll, PayPal and eBay. The feature is being rolled out over the next few weeks.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

Chrome New Mode Boosts Battery Life; Tesla Returns to Radar; Amazon Sued Over Withholding Driver Tips; Apple Extends iCloud End to End Encryption

A couple of nice upgrade modes for Google’s Chrome desktop browser. As of today, theverge.com reports that Memory Saver and Energy Saver are available. The new modes allow users to reduce Chrome’s memory usage by up to 30%, and tend battery life when a device is running low on power. They are rolling out today, and should be available everywhere in the next few weeks. Look for them under the three-dot settings menu in Chrome. They can each be activated or deactivated separately. 

A few years ago, Tesla notoriously dropped lidar, a form of radar, claiming cameras could do it all as far as seeing the road and surroundings for piloting its cars. The units were costly, but really work. Other car manufacturers claimed they were crazy. Now, according to techcrunch.com, Tesla is coming back into the fold. They had even started taking out radar back in May of this year, and in October removed the 12 ultrasonic sensors from Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built in the US. Starting in January, they will be putting radar back in unspecified models. Tesla is calling it an ‘edge’ radar sensor, and says its use will be limited. It works over the frequencies allotted for car ADAS applications. Numerous cars now have such radar built in for driver assist like emergency braking. 

Amazon yesterday put out word that you can tip your driver $5 by having Alexa thank them. Nice gesture, but it came as the online giant is being sued by the DC attorney general for deceiving customers who tipped their drivers. Arstechnica.com says Amazon already paid $61.7 million in restitution to Amazon Flex delivery drivers for tips withheld by Amazon between 2016 and 2019. Now, the District of Columbia is seeking unawarded “civil penalties in connection with the misrepresentations and omissions it made to consumers with respect to these deceptive tipping practices.” The highest amount of tips withheld for a Flex driver was ‘more than $28,000.’ The average amount for tips withheld was $422.

Apple has already protected some 14 categories of iCloud data with end to end encryption…now that grows to 23…including iCloud device backups, photos, and notes. Engadget.com reports that your calendar, contacts, and iCloud mail are still unencrypted to support global systems. You can check it out further if you want to have the Advanced Data Protection, but be warned…you either have to have your recovery key safe or have a designated person like a family member who can recover your stuff if you lose your device or it gets stolen…otherwise, you will never be able to recover your info from iCloud. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’ve been ‘Technified’ for now. 

Drop Off Amazon Returns at Staples; TSMC Tripling Arizona Chip Plant Investment; Google Desktop Search Gets Continuous Scrolling; Neuralink Hit With Federal Probe

If you have had to return things to Amazon, you probably have used some of their drop off locations. I only have a couple times, but had to go to a sketchy convenience store in an even sketchier neighborhood…instead of the big, yellow lockers in my local grocery a mile away. Now, according to geekwire.com, Amazon is partnering with Staples for drop offs. Apparently, these locations will work a lot like the one’s in Kohl’s, Whole Foods, or UPS  stores…which is to say, pretty stress free if you have one of those nearby…you don’t have to re-box and pack the item. The National Retail Federation says that consumers returned more than 20% of online purchases last year, to the tune of over $218 billion worth of merchandise. As with the other locations, Staples expects to get an increase in foot traffic and therefore sales. 

Taiwan Semiconductor, TSMC, is tripling their investment in the Arizona chip making plants they are building…to some $40 billion. 9to5mac.com notes that the first plant is already finished, but production isn’t expected to start until 2024. On the down side…the plants apparently won’t ever build the latest and greatest Apple A series or M series chips. TSMC indicates the plants will always be a generation behind the production on Taiwan. The net is, the new plants won’t reduce Apple’s exposure to Taiwan by much. 

Google Search has had continuous scrolling on mobile since 2021, and now it is finally coming to the desktop browsers. No more having to click to the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th page, etc. Androidpolice.com says the continuous scrolling will be rolling out today in the US for searches in English. If you don’t see it right away, keep in mind they are doing it in stages, so it may be a few weeks before everyone sees the feature. 

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant device, is being investigated for potential animal-welfare violations. Reuters reports that internal staff complaints about animal testing being rushed, and causing needless suffering and deaths, has prompted the probe. Neuralink has been touted as a brain implant which could help people walk again, among other things. Neuralink had planned to move on to studies on people. Reportedly, the company has killed some 1500 pigs, sheep, and monkeys since 2018. 

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

Meta Tests Age Verification-Facebook Dating; Apple AR Headset May Ship 2nd Half of 2023; Hackers in China Stole Millions in COVID Relief; DHL Buying Fleet of Ford EV Vans

Meta is testing age verification tools for Facebook Dating, in an effort to make that product safer…and to get ahead of an expected tightened regulatory environment. Axios.com reports that Meta and other tech platforms think the government is getting ready to crack down on them, in an effort to make things safer for children and teens online. Facebook Dating rolled out in 2019, and the age verification tools they are testing are borrowed from co-owned Instagram. One method of verification includes video selfies, which are screened by partner company Yoti’s software…which guesses the age from the uploaded image. The other method is via ID uploads. You DO trust Meta with an image of your driver’s license, right? Anyway, Meta claims these techniques have kept 96% of teens on Instagram who tried to edit their birthdays from doing so…or so they think.

We just reported last week that Bloomberg said Apple’s mixed reality headset should be out next spring. Now, according to macrumors.com, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says it will be delayed until the second half of next year, due to unspecified ’software-related issues.’ Kuo says shipments of components WILL start in the first half of 2023, but the fully assembled units won’t be out until the 2nd half of the year. Originally, rumors had Apple introducing the system in January, but now it could be revealed at WWDC in June. As we noted earlier, the Apple mixed reality headset will be pricey. Kuo thinks they will ship less than a half million of them next year for that reason. 

Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million in early COVID relief funds…both via SBA loans and from unemployment funds in over a dozen states, according to the Secret Service. NBC says the theft was by a hacking group in China called APT41. It may not be close to all of the theft, either. The Secret Service, through spokesman Roy Dotson says “It would be crazy to think this group didn’t target all 50 states.” The Secret Service declined to confirm the scope of other investigations, saying there are more than 1,000 ongoing investigations involving transnational and domestic criminal actors defrauding public benefits programs.

Courier company DHL is buying a couple thousand Ford E-Transit electric vans for last mile deliveries. Arstechnica.com reports that the vans will be used in both the US and Europe. EVs are particularly suited to last mile use, as they are never terribly far from their bases, and can return for charging relatively easily. DHL already runs some 27,000 electric vans worldwide. Some have been converted from diesel motors. They also use EVs from Rivian, and from a maker called BrightDrop. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Apple Mixed Reality Headset; Tesla Delivers EV Semis; Vendor Certificate Leak Allowed Android Malware; Hive Shut Down Issues-Back Working Today

Apple is shooting for unveiling its new mixed reality headset as early as this spring. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg is reporting that they have changed the name of the operating system to xrOS from realityOS. The EX stands for ‘extended reality’. This is an internal name, so the final product could still have a different one for the operating system. The first headset is supposed to be a pricey (from Apple…ya think?) unit with premium hardware. It is expected that the price will blow past Meta’s high end Meta Quest Pro headset. Interestingly, the engineering chiefs for Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Notes, and Apple News are involved…so the headset may be able to run core Apple apps right out of the box. 

Yesterday, Tesla delivered its first electric semi trucks from its Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Theverge.com notes that the deliveries are only 3 years later than promised. The rigs are powered by 4 independent motors on the rear axles. They can go from 0-60 in 20 seconds, and have a battery range of 500 miles, hauling a trailer with 81,000 pounds of cargo. The base price starts at about $150,000. The first ones were wrapped with Pepsi and Frito Lay logos…two of the earlier buyers. Walmart and FedEx also have a few dozen each ordered. 

Not something you want to hear about, but there was a vendor certificate leak that allowed malware full control of Android phones. Androidpolice.com report that it is ‘mostly fixed’ for now. It did affect vendors putting apps on both Samsung and LG…which is a major share of Android phones. When the certificate leak happened, it allowed malware makers to sign their bad actor programs so the phones would see them as legit. This is not a new problem….as early as 2016 a certificate leaked out. This leak was reported then allegedly fixed in May, but only now marked as fixed by Google. Google has warned phone makers to limit use of their platform certificate to as few apps as possible. For you, it means…keep your software up to date so it gets patches for issues like this!

Buzzy Twitter alternative Hive shut down completely for a couple days to fix several critical vulnerabilities. TechCrunch.com reports the platform is back up and running now. I checked before this report, and could get in to the still quirky app. What were the issues? They would allow attackers access to all data, including private posts and messages, shared media and even deleted direct messages, as well as the ability to edit other people’s Hive posts. Not cool. Now that these are supposedly fixed, maybe they can get busy on a desktop or browser version. Phones are great, but it’s much easier and faster to type on a real keyboard!

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

COVID Lockdown at Apple Chinese Factory Lifted; DoorDash Announces Layoff; Starlink Jacks Up Ukraine Prices; Honda ‘Sensing 360’ Coming

The world’s largest iPhone plant in Jung Joe in central China will reopen after a COVID lockdown. CNN reports that Apple has lost about a billion dollars a week with the Foxconn factory closed. There are normally about 200,000 workers employed at the complex. There have been protests there predating the wider ones across Chinese cities, with some workers escaping guards and fleeing. In the 5 years between 2014 and 2019, Apple cut reliance on Chinese production of its product line from 47% to 44%. That dropped to 41% in 2020, and 36% in 2021. They are still moving more iPhone production to places like India, though. With 70% of iPhones made in just China, Apple will move more production out…not only to India, but also to Vietnam, Taiwan, and even the US. 

DoorDash will cut 1250 workers in what the company says is an adjustment in size after the company grew too fast during the pandemic. According to theverge.com, the laid off workers will get 17 weeks of compensation, their February 2023 stock vest, and healthcare benefits through the end of March 2023. 

With widespread loss of mobile networks and net access in Ukraine, Starlink (which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX) has started jacking up prices for the dishes and service, citing ‘market conditions.’ In what sounds like good, old fashioned price gouging, arstechnica.com says the prices are going up from $385 earlier this year to $700 for new Starlink customers. The monthly fee had been dropped from $100 a month to $60 to celebrate Ukraine Independence day August 24th…those will now go back up to $75. No comment from either SpaceX or Musk on the price increases. 

Honda’s level 2 driver assist system, which is already rolling out in China, should be getting to the US a bit at a time over the next few years…with the whole suite standard by 2030. Engadget.com reports that the Sensing 360 and Sensing Elite systems use 5 millimeter wave sensors in addition to the monocular camera on present models to give 360 degree sensing. This will allow hands free lane changing (which several other manufacturers already have) as well as help avoid ‘abnormal conditions.’ Honda didn’t say what those might be. Some of the features will be hitting higher end Hondas like the touring models next year, but again…the entire suite of features won’t be standard on all models until 2030. 

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

3 Months Free Spotify Premium; Musk v Apple; Create With Alexa for Kids; Cyber Monday Sets Record

Everyone likes a freebie, and here’s one from Spotify for the holidays. Bgr.com reports that you can get 3 months of Spotify Premium if you sign up for the Individual Premium Plan before the end of the year. After that, it will automatically renew for $9.99 a month unless you cancel. In addition to that…if you ever signed up for Spotify Premium before, but canceled before October 28 of this year, you can sign up again, and get 3 months for the price of one, $9.99. As with the other deal, it renews for the $9.99 a month after the third month. If you’ve been wanting ad free Spotify, here’s your chance.

It’s been all over the news, but Elon Musk is taking on…of all firms…Apple…the richest company on earth. He is accusing them of being against free speech by ditching advertising on Twitter. Apple had previously been one of the platform’s major advertisers. According to Media Matters, Twitter has lost half its top 100 advertisers since Musk started changing things. Those firms spent some $750 million with Twitter in 2022 up to that point. Musk is also claiming Apple has threatened to take Twitter off the App Store due to the lack of moderation now. I think Matt Gertz summed things up pretty well in this Tweet: ‘I dunno if you’re going to try to make an example of one of your advertisers in an attempt to keep others from dropping you maybe shouldn’t start with the richest company on the planet which can also killshot your business?’

As we have reported before, Amazon is losing money with Alexa devices. Now, they’ve come up with a way to try to hook kids in to using them more, to pump things up. Engadget.com says they are rolling out ‘Create With Alexa’ on Echo Show devices. The system uses AI to let kids guide the creation of animated stories using kid-friendly prompts. Note that it works whether the device is in Amazon Kids mode or not. There are only 3 themes available at start: space exploration, underwater, and enchanted forest. The child can pick the scene, pick the hero, then color scheme, etc. When it’s done, they can watch the story, which is saved so your kid can show it to you again and again ad nauseam. 

Black Friday was up this year, and now the data is in, and Cyber Monday was up even more. Driven by deep discounts, Cyber Monday hauled in $11.3 billion in online sales, according to Adobe Analytics. That was up 5.8% over the day last year. Cyber Monday continues to be the biggest day of the Thanksgiving weekend. This year, Thanksgiving Day had $5.29 billion in sales, and Black Friday $9.12 billion….both up from last year. 

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

Twitter Being Spammed in China; WhatsApp-Message Yourself; Tesla Refreshing Model 3; Black Friday Sales Set Record 

With the protests all weekend going on in China, one the draconian COVID policy there, and with some calling for a regime change, there is now Twitter spam that is flooding timelines…and apparent effort by the Chinese government to make it harder for people to get information about the protests in China’s largest cities. According to engadget.com, most of the spam centers around porn or gambling. Local activists use Twitter through a VPN to avoid Chinese government censorship of the protests on domestic social networks. With Twitter’s Elon Musk wiping out over half the platform’s staff, they are having a heck of a time trying to keep up and get rid of the spam. The spam bots appear to be prompted when a person keys in the names of the cities in Chinese characters. Meanwhile, the protests continue, with crowds holding up blank sheets of paper. 

WhatsApp has introduced an interesting feature, which should be handy you are on the app a lot, and haven’t ever gotten into the habit of using the notes feature on your phone. Techcrunch.com reports that you will be able to message yourself. In fact, that’s what they are calling it…Message Yourself. It’s a good way to make a quick note of something or send yourself a reminder. Again, if you don’t use the notes feature on your phone, you could even message yourself your shopping list. The feature is rolling out now, and should hit all iOS and Android devices in the next few weeks. Signal has a similar feature, but with WhatsApp, you can set it to put your reminder at the top of the contact list so you can find it more easily. 

Tesla has a refresh of the Model 3 in the works. Theverge.com says it will have fewer interior components (and it is already pretty stark inside) with a slightly redesigned exterior. The goal is to cut production costs and increase appeal. Whether they will pass on the savings is anyone’s guess right now. The freshened model should be rolling off the Shanghai lines in the 3rd quarter of 2023, and will be built at the Fremont factory as well…but no date has been mentioned for that as yet. Although it was hyped as the affordable Tesla, at $35,000, it only hit that price point for a minute. Right now, the cheapest Model 3 has a base price at $46,900.

Despite inflation and worries by some of recession, Black Friday online sales hit a record $9.1 billion. That was up 2.3% from last year, according to geekwire.com…with the data coming from Adobe Analytics. Electronics were the big segment…up 221% over all. Smart home items were up 271%, audio equipment up 230%, toys were up a whopping 285%, and exercise equipment increased by 218%. 

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Techified’ for now. 

More Twitter Litter; Galaxy S23-Maybe Better Satellite Than Apple; Mercedes-Pay Up, and Go Faster; LG Will Build EV Batt Cathode Plant in US

Yesterday, people were all a-Twitter (sorry) about Elon Musk announcing a ‘general amnesty’ for suspended accounts starting next week. Theverge.com reports that Musk will allow those that may post horrible but legal things back on the platform…free speech, ya know. There may be a fly in the ointment with this…besides more people leaving Twitter. Except the US, most countries don’t have anything like the 1st Amendment, and he may be fined billions by the European Union.

As famed pitchman Ron Popiel would say…’but wait…there’s more!’ Yes, the blue checkmarks for paid accounts will resume December 2nd..BUT with company. It will be called ‘Verified,’ not Twitter Blue, AND there will be different colors of checkmarks. Basically, companies will get a gold check, governments a gray one, and individuals will have the blue ones. Individual public officials will have a ‘tiny logo’ showing their organization if it is verified. Hive, Mastodon and Post are licking their chops at even more users bailing on Twitter for their platforms.

A ‘killer feature’ of the new iPhone 14 models is the emergency satellite connectivity. Now, it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S23 may outshine them with something better. According to 9to5google.com, Samsung is partnering with Iridium to use their low orbit satellites to not only give users emergency messaging, but also the ability to transmit text messages and low-capacity images. In addition, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is supposed to be getting a new fingerprint sensor that will have better speed and accuracy. The S23 phones should be out in February. 

Mercedes-Benz is one of the car makers taking a page out of Tesla’s book for its electric vehicles. Gizmodo.com says the German car maker will have an ‘acceleration increase’ feature on it’s EQ electric vehicles…BUT…you will have to pay $1200 a year for the privilege of having neck-snapping acceleration. Tesla has charged thousands in fees for years for their ‘Full Self-Driving’ feature…which of course, isn’t really full self-driving. Tesla’s fee isn’t yearly, though. BMW has already joined the fee for features club, but with a much lighter touch…you want heated seats? $18 dollars a month, please. 

As car makers work to introduce and sell more and more electric models, battery availability becomes an issue. Now, LG Chem has announced a factory to be built in Tennessee to make cathodes for EV batteries. Electrek.co reports that the new $3 billion plant will be in Clarksville. When up and running in 2027, it will be able to supply cathode material for some 1.2 million EVs. It will bring 850 jobs to Tennessee, too.

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘technified’ for now. 

Alexa Loses Big Money; iPhone 15-Rounded Back,Titanium Case; Musk Claims Twitter Hiring Again; Domino’s Readies for All-EV Delivery Fleet

Apparently, Meta’s Metaverse project isn’t the only big tech company division that’s losing huge money. Arstechnica.com reports that Amazon’s Alexa division is on its way to joining the ‘lose $10 billion a year’ club! One difference, however. In the 10 years Alexa and Alexa devices have been around, they have been considered something of a loss leader by Amazon. The problem is that the losses from the Alexa division are twice the amount of any other Amazon unit. Most of the Echo devices, which are among the “best-selling items on Amazon, most of the devices sold at cost.” The idea has been to make money on your using Alexa, not on the devices. Google is also not making any money on Google Assistant. Apple never did try to sell their Siri powered gadgets like the HomePod at cost…like Apple has EVER sold anything at cost…so they don’t seem to be in such a hole. Are voice assistants doomed? Stay tuned, we may find out before long.

Since Apple leaked into the first story, here is a new rumor about their iPhone 15. According to 9to5mac.com, quoting a leaker called ShrimpApplePro…who has a good, but not perfect record…the new iPhone 15 models may have a titanium casing, and rounded back. The titanium may only go to the Pro or Ultra models, though. The idea is to lighten the weight with the titanium. As for the rounded shoulders on the back, that is intended to help people pick the phones up off a surface. Even with the camera bump, you can’t always quickly grab your phone off a desk or table. The square corners top, rounded bottom isn’t completely foreign to Apple…the latest MacBooks also feature that design. 

Despite a few more layoffs this week, Elon Musk told an all hands meeting Monday that the company is done with layoffs and actively recruiting for engineering and sales help (like some of those he recently fired. The company is down to about 2700 employees from the 7500 before Musk took over. Theverge.com also noted that Musk said “This is not a right-wing takeover of Twitter. It is a moderate-wing takeover of Twitter.” In looking at what accounts he has allowed back on…from Trump to Marge Taylor Green…although drawing a line in the sand at Alex Jones, not many people would agree that it is a moderate take over!

Domino’s is going big on electric vehicles. The pizza delivery company has ordered 800 Chevy Bolt EVs for its delivery fleet. Theverge.com says the cars are sans any bells and whistles, but will be wrapped with custom Domino’s branding. The 855 EVs won’t mean one for each of Domino’s 6135 locations, but it will be a heck of a start! Domino’s thinks with local deliveries, the cars shouldn’t need to be charged more than every other or every 3 days. 

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.