Tag Archives: Financial

Business, Crypto, Financial, Science, Security

Cryptocurrency Revolution

Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Cryptocurrency: A Revolution in Digital Finance

In recent years, the financial landscape has witnessed a dramatic transformation with the rise of cryptocurrencies. These digital assets have taken the world by storm because of promising to reshape the way we conduct financial transactions, invest and even think about money. The story of cryptocurrencies begins with the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 by an anonymous entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin introduced the concept of a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency and powered by blockchain technology.

Key Features of Cryptocurrencies
  1. Decentralization: Cryptocurrencies are not controlled by any central authority, making them resistant to censorship and manipulation.
  2. Security: Transactions are secured through cryptographic techniques, making it extremely difficult for malicious actors to tamper with the system.
  3. Transparency: Blockchain technology records all transactions on a public ledger, ensuring transparency and accountability.
  4. Accessibility: Cryptocurrencies are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, opening up financial opportunities for the unbanked and underbanked populations.
Impact on Traditional Finance
  1. Reduced Transaction Costs: Cryptocurrency transactions often come with lower fees compared to traditional banking systems.
  2. Financial Inclusion: Cryptocurrencies can provide access to financial services for the billions of people worldwide so the traditional banking system can not exclude them.
  3. Innovation: The blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrencies has sparked innovation in various industries, such as supply chain management, healthcare, and voting systems.
  4. Investment Opportunities: Cryptocurrencies have become an attractive asset class for investors, offering the potential for high returns and diversification.
Key Players in the Cryptocurrency Revolution
  1. Bitcoin (BTC): The original cryptocurrency and so the most recognized. It serves as digital gold and a store of value.
  2. Ethereum (ETH): Known for its smart contract functionality, Ethereum has enabled the development of decentralized applications (DApps).
  3. Binance Coin (BNB): The native token of the Binance exchange and is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
  4. Cardano (ADA): Known for its focus on sustainability, scalability and interoperability in blockchain technology.
Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Business, Computer Chips, Financial, Gaming, TechNews

nVidia & Snowflake cooperation for AI models from cloud

nVidia and Snowflake announce cooperation for generative AI models from the cloud.

The US graphics card manufacturer nVidia and the US software company Snowflake have announced a cooperation. They want to offer companies generative AI from the cloud.

Image: Artificial Intelligence, AI (Inteligencia artificial), via: pixabay, by: geralt.
Image: Artificial Intelligence, AI (Inteligencia artificial), via: pixabay, by: geralt.

The nVidia Corp. and Snowflake Inc. announced at the Snowflake Summit 2023 that they have entered into a partnership.

The goal of the agreement: Providing companies to build generative AI applications using their own data within the Snowflake Data Cloud. Snowflake along with Nvidia enables enterprises to use data in their Snowflake account clouds. So they can build advanced generative AI service. This includs chatbots.

“Data is the foundation for building generative AI applications that understand the complexities and unique voice of each businesss” said Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of Nvidia.

“nVidia and Snowflake will create an AI factory that will help companies transform their own valuable data into custom generative AI models to build breakthrough new applications. Right from the cloud platform they can run their businesses” added Jensen Huang.

Expanding AI capabilities in Data Cloud enables these customers to build generative AI applications, just where the data they manage already resides. This will reduce costs and latency.

The Snowflake Data Cloud has more than 8,000 customers. In Future it will offer the companies the ability to unify, integrate, analyze and share data within their organizatio, customers, partners, suppliers.

Snowflake’s unified platform offers industry-specific data clouds. Advertising, media and entertainment, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, retail and consumer goods, technology and telecom are included.

Snowflake also recently launched the Government and Education Data Cloud to enable data-driven decision-making for the public sector.

Snowflake plans to host and operate NeMo. NeMo is nVidia’s cloud-native enterprise platform for building, customizing and deploying generative AI models, on the data cloud.

AI, Business, Comes Next, Financial, Science, TechNews

AI boom: These companies and stocks are benefiting

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the technology industry and bringing huge profits to some companies. Some come off particularly well.

Image: Programming, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.
Image: Programming, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

The hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) has increased significantly in recent years. AI is also increasingly finding its way into everyday work. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, AI will finally hit the mainstream in 2023 and is now “too big to ignore”.

Companies like OpenAI have gained great popularity with AI tools like the now world-renowned chatbot ChatGPT or the image generator Dall-E. Content generated by a bot quickly became the norm.

No wonder, then, that the demand for AI-enabled chips has risen sharply recently. Chip manufacturers like Nvidia benefit from this boom, because AI programs like ChatGPT require a lot of computing power, and GPUs are ideal for these requirements.

Nvidia at the top

With a share of 80 percent, Nvidia dominates the world market for graphics card chips and offers a wide range of products specifically for machine learning. “If the AI ​​trend proves sustainable, the immediate demand will be for chips and computing power, and that’s where Nvidia is the flagship at the moment,” Thomas Hayes, chairman of private equity firm Great Hill Capital, said of Nvidia’s strong gains, according to german news Tagesschau the past few weeks.

But not only Nvidia benefits from the AI ​​hype. For example, AMD, a direct competitor of Nvidia, specializes in developing microprocessors and chipsets. The company has announced that it will make its AI accelerator business its top priority, which could soon rival Nvidia.

Contract manufacturers such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and software companies such as Service Now also work closely with Nvidia and are benefiting from the AI ​​boom.

The stock markets are not unaffected by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence. Logically, the most popular stock among professional investors is Nvidia, but other AI-related stocks are also enjoying increasing popularity. Companies like Broadcom, TSMC, and Service Now have all rallied in recent months, significantly increasing their profits. ASML and Marvell were also able to post clearly recognizable growth.

Business, Comes Next, TechNews

Apple Pay Later: Pre version launched in the US

After delays, a preliminary version of Apple Pay Later has now been launched for selected users in the USA. This should be able to split payments into four installments.

Apple Pay users can now also pay in installments – at least in the USA. There, the tech giant from Cupertino has now launched a pre-version of Apple Pay Later. This was announced by Apple via a company announcement .

You can now pay in installments with Apple Pay. (Photo: nikkimeel/Shutterstock)
You can now pay in installments with Apple Pay. (Photo: nikkimeel/Shutterstock)

Pre-release version for select US customers only

However, even in the United States, initially only randomly selected users can benefit. You will receive an invitation for the pre-release version. Customers who want to enjoy this experience in the US must also have an iPhone with the recently released iOS 16.4 or an iPad with iPadOS 16.4.

It is not yet clear when the full version will start in the USA. Apple is talking about the next few months.

Apple had already presented Pay Later in June 2022 at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2022. However, due to delays caused by alleged technical problems, the playout was pushed back. Then, earlier this year, Apple tested the feature in beta, first by employees and then by retail staff.

This is how installment payments via Apple Pay work

With Apple Pay Later, users can split payments into up to four installments. These must be paid within six weeks. Interest and fees do not apply. In theory, you can pay at all retailers that support Apple Pay.

The loans that can be applied for through Pay Later range from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $1,000. According to Apple, a “gentle credit check” runs in the background for every transaction.

Refunds can only be processed via debit cards. Credit cards are not accepted as they could send customers deeper into a credit spiral.

Management of installments via Apple Wallet

Users can track and manage when the installments are due via Apple Wallet. Pay Later is fully integrated into the app. Just before the installments are due, Wallet sends a notification to the user.

To ensure security and privacy, Apple Pay Later authenticates transactions via Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode.

Business, Computer Chips, Financial, Science, Security, TechNews

Samsung has a new battery issue that can affect any Galaxy phone

Samsung has a new battery problem with its Galaxy smartphones. After the disaster with the Galaxy Note 7, which exploded and was recalled worldwide, older smartphones are now bloating and can become an undiscovered danger.

Image: Circuit Board Chip, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.
Image: Circuit Board Chip, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

Samsung smartphones are bloating

Samsung has promised that after the catastrophic incidents involving the Galaxy Note 7 , the batteries will be safe and there will be no more problems. As it turns out, Samsung has an even bigger battery problem than just one model. YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss has found many Samsung phones in his smartphone collection with swollen batteries. A reaction and gas formation probably occurs inside, so that the battery swells up and the back bursts open . In this case, there is no explosion or fire. The batteries are therefore fundamentally safe.

It becomes critical if the battery is still bloating and you don’t notice it immediately. In fact, the problem tends to affect older Samsung phones that are stored with an empty battery. Our Galaxy S6 edge has also ballooned, as you can see in the cover photo above . But Mrwhosetheboss has also noticed early signs of a swelling battery on his Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy Z Fold 2. And then it gets dangerous. If gases are produced and the battery swells, there could be a reaction and excessive heat development when charging the smartphone.

How should you store a Samsung phone?

Mrwhosetheboss gives an important tip on how to store your Samsung phones when you are no longer using them. Then you should charge the battery to about 50 percent. This should reduce the risk of the battery bloating. If you are still using an older Samsung cell phone, you should regularly check whether the battery has not already swelled up slightly. Then you shouldn’t charge your cell phone anymore and turn to Samsung. We will seek an opinion from Samsung on the matter.