Tag Archives: business

Business, Financial

Disney is catching up with Netflix

Disney’s streaming service continues to grow rapidly. In the second quarter of 2022, Disney caught up with its competitor Netflix.

Entertainment giant Disney has seen rapid growth with its streaming services in the most recent fiscal quarter. The on-demand services Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus together had a total of 221 million subscriptions at the end of June, as the group announced on Wednesday after the US stock market closed.

221 million user accounts – Disney catches up with Netflix

Disney has caught up with the previous market leader Netflix, which recently lost customers and also ended the past quarter with 221 million user accounts. “We had an excellent quarter,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Disney Plus and ESPN Plus flourished with annual growth rates of 31 and 53 percent, respectively, to a good 152 million and almost 23 million subscribers, respectively. Disney’s third streaming service Hulu increased the number of subscriptions by eight percent to 46 million users.

Image: Disney Castle, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

The Disney Plus streaming service, which was launched in November 2019 as a Netflix hunter, gained 14.4 million customers in three months – significantly more than experts expected. With the Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Marvel’s Ms. Marvel” he landed two big hits.

Disney immediately used the strong demand to introduce strong price increases. For example, the price for the ad-free standard subscription to Disney Plus for customers in the United States will increase by three dollars to $10.99 per month on December 8th.

But Disney – like Netflix – wants to introduce a cheaper version with commercial breaks. This offer is said to cost $7.99 a month – as much as the ad-free subscription used to be. With Hulu, the price goes up by $1 to $2 per month, depending on the subscription model. ESPN Plus also recently announced a price increase in the US.

Disney sees revenue growth

Financially, too, things were going well for the entertainment empire, which also includes the classic TV cable division as well as film studios, theme parks, holiday resorts and cruise ships. Sales grew 26 percent year-on-year to $21.5 billion. Profit rose 53 percent to $1.4 billion.

The quarterly figures significantly exceeded analysts’ expectations. The stock responded after hours with a price increase of more than four percent. Disney has recently had a difficult time on Wall Street – the share has been down 28 percent since the beginning of the year.

Business, Comes Next, TechNews

Elon Musk: New Tesla will come in 2023

Tesla is one of the first addresses when customers go looking for a new electric car. A common point of criticism, however, is the small selection of models: If you don’t want a limousine shape, you don’t need to look around at Tesla. This is about to change soon.

Tesla isn’t the fast type when it comes to new models. The selection at the e-car pioneer is sparse. Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y, the manufacturer does not have any other wheels in its range. At least so far, because CEO Elon Musk has other plans in store , two of which are to be implemented soon.

Image: Red Tesla Model S, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

Tesla truck coming in 2022, Cybertruck will be delivered in 2023

These are not previously unknown electric cars. Rather, Musk finally wants to keep his promises and expand Tesla’s product range with the Cybertruck, which has been planned for a long time. In a recent tweet, the Tesla boss announced that the Cybertruck could be delivered in 2023. We are excited to see what will come of it. After all, until recently it was still said that customers could look forward to the massive electric pick-up this year.

The slot in the schedule will probably not be wasted at Tesla, because Musk announces the launch of another newcomer. However, it should hardly be something for the valued private customer: the semi truck will be Tesla’s first electric truck. The e-car manufacturer advertises it on its website as the “safest, most comfortable truck ever” – quite a statement.

In such a huge electric vehicle there is a lot more space for batteries and so the Semi should also achieve the longest range of all Tesla vehicles to date: Depending on the selection, there should be just under 500 km or just over 800 km per battery charge. According to Musk’s Twitter message, the latter version should be delivered later this year :

The promises of Elon Musk: please use with caution

As far as prices are concerned, Musk is keeping a low profile as usual. There is also no fixed date for the Semi or the Cybertruck. The range “in 2023” for the electric pickup is wide – and Tesla customers are used to the fact that Elon Musk cannot keep some delivery promises.

Business, Comes Next, Science, Security

With drones and trucks: How AT&T wants to keep the network stable in the event of disasters

Image: Radio Tower, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

AT&T is actually a normal telecommunications company that takes care that the network in the USA is and remains stable. But the North Americans are also preparing for the really big catastrophe.

Ever heard of a Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) program? The US network operator AT&T has set up a so-called NDR site in a warehouse just outside of Atlanta. Here, a group of volunteers are testing how to quickly bring connectivity back up if a local site is destroyed.

Similar disaster protection initiatives are also being driven by providers such as T-Mobile and Verizon. AT&T’s big advantage over the competition is that it has been training for emergencies since 2008. As reported by Engadget , the company has already spent more than 650 million US dollars to set up the NDR program in the USA.

Versatile options

Part of the contingency plan is a four-wheel drive Club Cab pickup truck packed to the roof with cellular equipment to help restore portions of a collapsed network. For several years, the company has also been using Flying Cell-on-Wings – drones that fly around 90 meters above the ground and can provide 5G coverage of around 25 square kilometers.

Looking to the future, AT&T has also patented a long-distance flight system that can pilot drones thousands of miles away, and is researching solar-powered units that can fly autonomously for days.

As NDR employees stated, Robodogs are currently being tested, which could be used in a variety of scenarios. The ideas range from rescue operations in forest fires to bomb disposal.

AT&T is also represented on the water. What looks like a red mini tank is an in-house amphibious vehicle that can easily make its way through the water thanks to its rear propellers. The vehicle could be used to transport people and payloads in areas devastated by hurricanes.

Ready for all scenarios

Besides all these future scenario toys, the core of the NDR work is the Colt, short for Cell on Light Truck. These trucks can tap into the company’s existing fiber optic lines and provide cellular connectivity in a matter of hours. If the local infrastructure has been completely paralyzed, there are also Satcolts that can connect to satellites.

The company also stocks thousands of generators. While the primary goal is to restore connectivity for first responders and customers, AT&T’s commitment to Firstnet also ensures interoperability with competing carriers.

Business, Comes Next, Gaming

Logitech is partnering with Tencent on a portable cloud gaming device

Logitech has announced it is working on a portable cloud gaming device in partnership with Tencent Games, making it the latest entrant to the portable gaming market.

The device won’t be a direct competitor for the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, as it’s aimed at cloud gaming rather than on-device processing.

Fruit Pacman, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com
Image: Fruit Pacman, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

That means compatibility will be key. Logitech has confirmed that the device will at least work with Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce. Now when it launches later this year.

The launch date is a bit surprising as we are now in August and Logitech only just announced it without showing any pictures or any real details about the hardware.

However, the company has set up a website to sign up for updates about the device as they come out.

At the moment it seems to be called simply the Logitech G Gaming Handheld, but we can imagine that the name will change later on.

We expect to hear more about the device over the next few months if it does launch later this year, so keep your eyes peeled for more details.

Source: Logitech G and Tencent Games Announce Partnership To Advance

TechNews

Google Maps 3D Immersive View launched

London’s Big Ben, Alcatraz and then the Empire State Building: the new 3D view from Google Maps provides a bird’s-eye view of well-known sights.

At least planning the next sightseeing tour is made easier with the new map view from Google Maps: photo realistic aerial photos of almost 100 of the world’s most popular sights in cities such as Barcelona, ​​London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo – this is what the new Google Maps function delivers. Immersive View, a 3D view of the Maps platform that has now been rolled out in the Maps app for Android and iOS.

Google Maps Immersive View”provides impressive and very authentic images of numerous sights. (Image: Google)

In addition to the conventional street view, users can now view many images of the earth from a satellite view, partly from an airplane perspective or via user photos. These are collages created from thousands of images taken from Google Street View, aircraft footage and artificial intelligence. A virtual tour of some of the world’s metropolises – via smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Explore cities in wind and weather

Other and very handy updates that the feature brings: For easier route planning, Google has updated Maps’ bike navigation with more detailed route information, including heavy car traffic, stairs, steep hills and road types (e.g. a main road vs. a side road). The “live traffic” feature, including traffic jam forecasts, is also planned.

In addition, you can call up different weather displays (including live weather) or times of day. There are also plans to extend the application to include AI-generated views of restaurants and other popular places; so you can plan better before the trip and see opening times or occupancy.