2019
Latest
Apple's 10.2-inch iPad with LTE drops to $380 on Amazon
Amazon’s latest sale on the 10.2-inch iPad with cellular drops the price down from $460 to $380.
Uber expects to be profitable by the end of 2020
Uber's year-end earnings show the company is still losing money, but it expects to turn things around by the end of 2020. In an earnings call today, Uber CFO Nelson Chai said the company plans to be profitable in the final quarter of this year. "We recognized the significant work remaining to get to this milestone, and our teams are focused on executing our plan," Chai said.
Twitter doesn’t want to call its users ‘users’ anymore
Twitter has announced that, at least in its public documents, it's going to stop calling the people who use its platform "users." It's "an effort to demonstrate more empathy for the people who use Twitter," explains the company's most recent financial results covering the fourth quarter of 2019. Instead, it's reframing the talk to be about Monetizable Daily Active Usage, Twitter's shorthand for users people it can sell ads against.
Now certain 2019 LG TVs have the Apple TV app too
Late last year LG started to add AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its TVs with firmware updates. Then at CES last month the company announced it would add the full Apple TV app that adds all of the video bits from iTunes, as well as access to the Apple TV+ service. Now, if you have one of its 2019 OLED TVs or high-end NanoCell LCD TVs then you should start seeing the app, while "select" other LCDs (UM7X and UM6X series) should get access later this month. This way, you don't have to add an Apple TV device, or use the AirPlay features to watch Apple's various video offerings, and of course many of the shows are mastered in Dolby Vision HDR. Last year the app was exclusively available on Samsung's TVs, but in 2020 it's coming to a much wider selection of screens. For LG's 2020 TVs it will be available at launch, and the company reaffirmed that 2018 TVs will also get the app via a firmware update later this year.
Netflix changes how it counts viewing popularity, pumps up 'The Witcher'
Netflix's final earnings results for 2019 are out (PDF), and in a year where it suddenly started to face more competition than ever before, the company says its service and content is only becoming more popular. The letter to investors claims that its new series The Witcher "is tracking to be our biggest season one TV series ever," and explains a new method for measuring those statistics. The new phrasing it's using is "choosing to watch," and as such, 76 million households clicked play and let The Witcher stream for more than a couple of minutes in the first four weeks since it was released.
Tesla's car shipments grew by 50 percent last year
Tesla ended 2019 on a high note. According to the company, it delivered 367,500 vehicles in 2019. That's more cars than it delivered in the past two years combined, The Verge notes.
Pocket Casts wraps up 2019 with an updated look and 100 top podcasts
Outside of podcast apps from the likes of Apple and Google, or converted music playing options like Spotify and Pandora, Pocket Casts is one of our preferred options for multiplatform listening. In its latest mobile version -- available on Android and iOS for free with some premium subscription options -- there are some tweaks that change how it looks and give listeners more control over how it works. Now users can customize the bottom toolbar of the Now Playing screen, with the ability to choose which settings are available right away (from options like a Cast button, Share Podcast, Sleep timer and the like) and which ones are hidden in the more menu. It's also added a quick tab slider that makes it easier to see where show notes are while you're listening, while the Up Next list has been moved to its own screen so it has more room and it's easier to see what's going on with each episode in it.
Spotify's podcast strategy is starting to pay off
Spotify's strategy of owning a chunk of the podcast game appears to be paying off, at least according to its latest financial report. In the third quarter of 2019, Spotify says it saw "exponential growth" in podcasts, with a 39 percent increase in listens in just three months. The US is the biggest consumer of the format, but Spotify is also seeing bumps in a number of European countries. And those people who come to Spotify for podcasts are, according to the company, more likely to sign up for premium than others.
Twitter adds more users, but finds it hard to make money from them
In the last three months, Twitter added six million more users, but couldn't manage to sell any more ads to those eyeballs. At least, not in quantities enough to boost its bottom line, with net profit remaining the same as it was in the previous quarter. Then, as now, Twitter made $37 million in profit which, while nothing to sniff at, hints that the company may have a stasis problem.
Twitter reports small user growth and small profits
If you ever needed proof that Twitter has reached a natural ceiling for its user figures, then its second quarter numbers are perfect. In the last three months, the company added just five million new daily active users, and coined a net profit of $37 million. Those aren't blockbuster numbers, but they do show that the platform now exists in a pleasant, and profitable, form of stasis.
Roku has 29.1 million active users (and no profit)
Roku is finding that there are benefits to being the neutral player in the bloodthirsty wars for our hearts, wallets and streaming service subscriptions. The company's most recent financial figures show that it's possible to get ahead even when you're not backed by a big tech player like Amazon, Apple or Google. In the most recent quarter, Roku devices were used on an average of 3.5 hours a day, making it one of the most used devices in your home.
Google manually reviewed a million suspected terrorist videos on YouTube
In the first three months of 2019, Google manually reviewed more than a million suspected "terrorist videos" on YouTube, Reuters reports. Of those reviewed, it deemed 90,000 violated its terrorism policy. That means somewhere around nine percent of the million videos were removed, suggesting that either the videos must be rather extreme to get cut, or the process that flags them for review is a bit of a catchall.
Spotify has 100 million Premium users
Spotify has 100 million Premium users, the company has announced in its most recent financial figures. In total, the streaming service has 217 million users, 117 million of which are enjoying the free, ad supported tier.
Twitter still has a growth problem
If you read enough of the news, you might think that Twitter (and its CEO) is laying dead in the water for all to see. But, in its most recent financial statements, the company is proudly declaring that it isn't dead yet, and may not be for some time. In the last three months, Twitter's user numbers rebounded and its operating income continued its slow, but steady, rise.
Huawei MateBook X Pro review (2019): As good as before
For a company with relatively little experience making laptops, Huawei's MateBook X Pro was a revelation. The machine was one of the best you could buy, with a blend of style and performance that made it the equal of a brand-name incumbent. Now, the company has to deal with the raised expectations that come when your last device was regarded as class leading. It's the sort of problem that could lead some design teams to second-guess themselves as they wonder what made the first one such a hit. Do you stick with what works or try to push the envelope in the hope of reaching even greater heights? Huawei's wisely chosen not to reinvent the wheel, here, but that conservatism means there's really not much to distinguish this from its predecessor.
Kia's 2019 Niro EV is an electric crossover for the people
It was bound to happen to EVs eventually. No matter how mind-blowingly, world-changingly incredible an idea starts out, it will invariably reach the realm of the mundane before too long. Just look at smartphones, maglev trains and avocado toast. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's that vanillaness, that no-nonsense lack of flair, that makes the Kia Niro EV so great. I'll tell you right now: it's not going to turn heads (even when I honked), nor is it going to smoke sports cars off the starting line (unless you have a head start). What it is going to to do is get you, your friends and all of your gear where you're going in relative comfort and safety without stomping all over your budget.
Zero Motorcycles' 2019 line-up boasts more power and longer range
Zero Motorcycles has made a name for itself by producing electric bikes that appeal to motorcycle enthusiasts as well as alternative fuel fans. Its bikes have been a hit with thrill seekers and commuters alike, and its newly-announced 2019 line-up makes it easy to see why the company is consistently performing better than all of its competitors combined.
Free 'Pokémon Quest' RPG released today on Nintendo Switch
The newest Pokémon game is available right now for Nintendo Switch owners. Just announced at a press conference in Japan, Pokémon Quest features creatures from the series' Kanto region, but with a Minecraft-ish blocky appearance. The game is advertised as "free to start" so we'd expect some pay options, but it also includes new Power Stones that can upgrade your monsters and help them become any kind of Pokémon you'd like. Plus, if you don't have a Switch, Nintendo plans to release versions of Pokémon Quest for iOS and Android. Beyond that free-to-play game, the company also announced a new "core series" game that will be released in the second half of 2019, and two new Pokémon Let's Go games for Switch that connect to the Pokémon Go mobile game.
Apple’s 2019 iPhone could have a rear-facing 3D sensor
Apple has made no secret of its interest in augmented reality (AR) -- in interviews CEO Tim Cook gives it as much attention as sales growth. Now, it's rumoured that the company's 2019 iPhone release will come with a rear-facing 3D sensor, potentially turning the model into a leading AR device.
Porsche's Mission E pricing might give Tesla buyers pause
Porsche boss Oliver Blume has dropped some details about the Porsche Mission E that should perk up the ears of EV and sports car fans. The all-electric vehicle will look much like the dramatically-styled concept that first appeared in 2015 and get to an 80 percent charge in just 15 minutes. It will also go on sale in 2019 and have a (relatively) reasonable price of an "entry-level Panamera," which is around $80,000-$90,000, he told Car Magazine at the Frankfurt Auto Show.
