Testing - Daily Tech Dispatch
Hey folks,
I’m thinking of revamping this newsletter a little to make it more regular. The idea would be a daily dispatch of the tech news, with more in depth and opinion pieces available for paid subscribers on occasion.
Here’s an example of what the daily version would look like. (And yes everyone paid or not would get the daily version)
Sega is set to acquire Rovio for €706 million, which is well-known for its popular mobile game Angry Birds. Rovio claims that its games have been downloaded over 5 billion times. Sega is hopeful that the acquisition will help to expand its reach in the mobile gaming market. You can read more about the acquisition on CNBC.
The Montana House of Representatives has passed a bill that would make it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok in the state. The bill is awaiting Governor Greg Gianforte's signature. The law will go into effect in January and app stores and TikTok will be fined $10,000 per day if they allow someone in Montana to download the app. However, it will not be illegal to use the app. You can find more information about the bill on BBC News.
Apple has launched a new savings account for Apple Card users, backed by Goldman Sachs, offering an annual percentage yield of 4.15%. Users can deposit their Daily Cash rewards from using the Apple Card and add outside funds to the account. They can also change the bank account for Daily Cash deposits at any time. For more details about the savings account, check out The Verge.
Merlin plans to conduct tests on its autonomous flight control systems on single-engine Cessna Caravan planes in the next few months. Merlin aims to demonstrate that the autonomous planes can deliver cargo to underserved communities in Alaska, with routes originating in Fairbanks. Human safety pilots will monitor the system. Logistics professional Big Jim says that there is a large amount of express cargo that moves via these smaller planes all over the US and Canada and that this could be a big deal. You can read more about Merlin's plans on FreightWaves.
Adobe has added new features to its Firefly suite of generative AI beta programs, including the ability to write text to enhance color levels, insert placeholder images, add effects, and recommend b-roll. Users can also adjust brightness and saturation or change the time of day or year using natural language prompts. For audio editing, users can write to text to add background music and sound effects. Firefly can also create personalized how-to programs to help users learn how to use the new features. Adobe's tools are built on its own Sensei program. You can find out more about the new AI tools on Engadget.
Netflix's live reunion special for the cast of Love is Blind, which was first delayed and then eventually canceled, caused thousands of reported outages on Sunday, April 16. The stream started at 8 PM but reportedly only a few people could see it, and after an hour and a half of delays, Netflix posted an apology, stating that they were filming it and would have it available on-demand as soon as possible. Some people could see it live, and it went up on-demand a few hours later for everybody else. It is still unclear what caused the issues, but there are two likely possibilities: connectivity failed at the studio where it was being filmed, or connectivity failed when it was sent out to regional CDNs to stream into homes. You can read more about the event on The Verge, Bloomberg, Variety, and Netflix's Twitter account.