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Nintendo lowers Switch sales forecasts but still expects a healthy year
Nintendo has announced a solid quarter of earnings, but has lowered its forecast for total Switch sales.
The Switch is now Nintendo's best-selling home console ever
While Sony's holiday console sales were down due to parts shortages, Nintendo managed to have a strong quarter with the Switch.
Sony drops PlayStation 5 sales forecast again due to chip shortage
Sony is still struggling to make enough PlayStation 5 consoles to keep up with demand.
Sony reportedly cuts PS5 production again as chip shortages and shipment issues bite
Sony's PlayStation 5 may not be able to beat the PS4's first year sales record due to an ongoing component shortage.
Nintendo lowers its Switch sales forecast due to global chip shortage
Nintendo has cut its Switch sales forecast due to ongoing semiconductor shortages, the company announced in its earnings report.
Facebook is opening its experimental predictions app to all users
For better or worse, Facebook's Forecast will crowdsource users' predictions about important issues like the 2020 election and COVID-19.
Facebook asks its users to predict the future with its Forecast app
Facebook's new iOS app, Forecast, has experts make predictions on users' questions.
US weather forecast model gets a much-needed upgrade
Meterology revolves as much around good weather models as it does good weather data, and the core US model is about to receive a long-overdue refresh. NOAA has upgraded its Global Forecast System with a long-in-testing dynamical core, the Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere (aka FV3). It's the first time the model has been replaced in roughly 40 years, and it promises higher-resolution forecasts, lower computational overhead and more realistic water vapor physics.
Senators ask the FCC to limit 5G auction to protect weather forecasts
In March, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began auctioning blocks of the 24 GHz spectrum, which could be used to implement future 5G networks. Shortly afterward, the US Navy released a memo warning that 5G in the 24 GHz band could interfere with weather satellites. Now, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) are urging the FCC not to allow wireless companies to operate 5G in that spectrum until weather forecasting operations are protected. The Senators wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai yesterday, citing the Navy's memo and accusing the FCC of ignoring "the serious alarms the scientific community is raising."
Samsung's earnings warning shows the impact of slower iPhone sales
Samsung usually publishes an earnings guidance so investors know what to expect when its full earnings come in. Now, the tech giant has pre-empted its guidance with a warning in what Reuters says is an unprecedented move, perhaps in an effort to prepare its investors for a bad first quarter as early as possible.
IBM is turning to your smartphone to improve weather forecasts
IBM and its subsidiary The Weather Company are working on a new weather forecasting system, one that they say will boost forecast accuracy quite a bit. It's called the Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting System, or GRAF, and it will pull data from weather stations, aircraft sensors and smartphone pressure sensors -- a massive amount of information that will be analyzed by the IBM technology that powers the US Department of Energy's powerful Summit and Sierra supercomputers.
Tesla's promised $35,000 Model 3 is still a long way off
When Tesla first unveiled the Model 3, it pitched it as an EV for the masses that would have a reasonable $35,000 price. Ten months after the first deliveries, however, the cheapest version costs $49,000, and Tesla just announced a hot rod AWD Model 3 that will cost $78,000 -- more than the Model S 75D. That situation isn't going to change anytime soon, either -- CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that the $35,000 Model 3 now won't ship until three to six months after Tesla achieves its 5,000 vehicle-per-week production goal.
NASA satellite launch promises accurate week-long forecasts
NASA and NOAA know that multi-day weather forecasts can be crucial to tracking hurricanes and their aftermath, and they're about to significantly boost the reliability of those forecasts. They just launched JPSS-1 (Joint Polar Satellite System-1), the first of a series of NOAA satellites that should improve the accuracy of weather forecasts extending as long as a whole week. It includes five upgraded instruments (including an infrared imaging sensor and a microwave sounder) that can track weather-influencing factors with exacting detail, such as atmospheric temperature, clouds, ice cover, ocean colors and volcanic ash.
Drone pilots are getting their own weather forecasts
Whether you think drones are super-great or want to shoot them out of the sky, they've become increasingly vital for missions like crop spraying, inspection and filming. Yet, it's impossible for operators to get the kind of detailed weather info that airplane pilots have because UAVs generally fly at much lower altitudes. Now, a company called Earth Networks is unveiling Sferic DroneFlight, "hyperlocal, low-altitude weather weather forecasting for drone operators.
Forecast data model warns you of tornadoes hours in advance
Meteorologists usually only issue warnings for tornadoes when they're imminent, which gives you precious little time to take cover -- the American average is just 13 minutes. NOAA researchers may soon give you much more time to get to safety, though. They recently conducted the first practical test of a new model, Warn on Forecast, that gives you up to 3 hours' notice. The technique merges radar, satellite and surface data into a highly detailed prediction model. When you make frequent-enough predictions (every 15 to 20 minutes), you can tell when incoming weather patterns are very likely to trigger warnings.
Nintendo cuts forecasts as 3DS sales fall short
Nintendo may want to send its crystal ball back for a refurb, because it has once again failed at forecasting. It just announced a downgrade to its 2016 estimates because the new 3DS and 3DS XL portable consoles haven't been selling as well as hoped. The company thought it would move 7.6 million units across the world between April 2015 and March 2016, but it's now revised that figure to 6.6 million. It also lowered its 3DS software sales estimate by 9 million units. With Wii U sales estimates unchanged, that means the company expects 2016 revenue to fall 70 billion yen, or approximately $620 million.
Dark Sky uses your iPhone's sensors to improve weather forecasts
Your iPhone gives you weather forecasts right from the get-go, but it's now ready to shape those forecasts as well. Dark Sky has given its iOS app a big overhaul that, if you like, uses the barometer on your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus to contribute pressure readings. The hope is that these will dramatically improve short-term forecasts in the future -- you'll know that it's about to rain because iPhones nearby gave you a heads-up. There have been apps that crowdsourced pressure data before, but rarely with the intent to directly improve forecasts -- and not on the scale of Dark Sky, one of iOS' best-known weather tools.
'Super Smash Bros.' and exchange rates help keep Nintendo in profit
Nintendo's slow and arduous journey back to financial prosperity continued today with the release of its latest financial results. The company posted a second consecutive quarterly profit in its financial Q3, which counts sales from September through to December. Revenue was 271 billion yen (roughly $2.3 billion), generating a profit of 31.8 billion yen (around $270 million). A large part of the company's profits can be attributed to a weak yen, which dramatically increases the value of North American and European sales when converted to Japanese currency. Though the figures are generally pretty healthy, it's worth noting revenue for the holiday quarter dropped by around 13 percent year-over-year, something that will have a serious knock-on effect on the company's finances for the financial year. Why the slide? Well, Wii U sales were down slightly yearly -- 1.91 million consoles versus 1.95 million the year earlier -- but this drop was easily offset by software gains. Nintendo moved 11.2 million Wii U games in Q3, its best results since the console launched in 2012. Key to this success was Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, which sold around 3.4 million copies since late November. So for once, it's not the Wii U's fault. No, instead, the under-performer this quarter was the 3DS family of handheld consoles.
Korean investment firm forecasts Guild Wars 2 expansion
This year's biggest trend thus far in the MMO space is to talk about the Guild Wars 2 expansion as if it's already here. But it's not! It hasn't even been announced yet. Gamers are speculating on whether or not it even exists. This didn't stop Daewoo Securities from predicting that NCsoft's income will see a nice boost in Q3 thanks to the sales of the presumed Guild Wars 2 expansion. Daewoo Securities is not an official NCsoft source, of course, but it sure does throw another bit of kindling on the fire. ArenaNet will be at PAX South very soon to discuss the future of Guild Wars 2, and while the word "expansion" hasn't been used, the expectation that it's going to be the big announcement has been echoed by our own Guild Wars 2 columnist. Whether or not it'll be out by Q3 2015 is another story altogether.
Moving wind forecast puts beautiful weather in your browser
It's hard to get excited about weather forecasts unless they promise warm and sunny days, but you might just make an exception for Windyty. The browser-based meteorological tool shows you living, breathing view of the world's wind patterns along with overlays for everything from temperature to humidity. Arguably, it's both beautiful and useful -- those mesmerizing swirls will help you understand why it's going to be unusually blustery or chilly on a given day. The page works on both your phone and desktop, too. There are still some definite holes in Windyty's map (it doesn't show borders or cities right now), but it's worth a look if you're done with old-fashioned weather charts and radar views.
