Since launch, Sony has already sold almost 8 million PlayStation 5 consoles, with 3.3 million of those picked up since January. The company has even sold a further million PS4s. The lifetime total for the last-gen PlayStation now stands at roughly 116 million. Predictably, the overall PlayStation business is now making a record operating profit for Sony, cementing its place as the crown jewel for the company.
While the company's next-gen VR headset won't arrive until next year, Sony is currently testing a video pass for PlayStation Plus users in certain territories. If it works, we could see PS Plus subscribers picking up video goodies alongside monthly free games. In short, it's keeping busy.
Microsoft announced a 19 percent increase in revenues for the third quarter ($41.7 billion), compared to last year. Even more impressive, the company's profits jumped by 44 percent to reach $15.5 billion. Revenue for the More Personal Computing segment, which includes Windows, Xbox and Surface devices, reached $13 billion (up 19 percent). And while Microsoft didn't reveal specific Xbox sales figures, it said console sales were up 232 percent compared to last year. Continue reading.
It could arrive as early as July in time for next-gen MacBooks.
Apple's successor to its M1 Apple Silicon chip could arrive in MacBook computers by the second half of this year, according to a report from Nikkei. Tentatively known as M2, the processor has reportedly gone into production and could start shipping by July 2021.
For anyone who hasn't been following, Apple's M1 chip is now in its newest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and, most recently, the new 24-inch iMac and iPad Pro. However, the majority of models still run on Intel CPUs. Apple still plans to phase out Intel chipsets within two years, which would be around the end of 2022. Continue reading.
Dell's new Latitude detachable packs thinner bezels around a larger 13.3-inch Full HD display. Dell says the machine has a smaller, thinner footprint than previous models, while still including a fingerprint reader, IR camera and a pair of standard camera sensors.
Behind those Surface-style looks, the 7320 detachable has an 11th-gen Intel processor (up to Core i7) with integrated Iris Xe graphics, and you can have up to 32GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM. The Latitude 7320 detachable starts at $1,549 and is available now. Continue reading.
Spotify's odd audio accessory is available in "limited release" but, as Billy Steele explains, it could be a useful upgrade for subscribers trying to enjoy the service in older cars that don't have Bluetooth or voice control built-in. Continue reading.
DownDetector started tracking reports of issues shortly after 5 PM ET, but according to PlayStation's status page, everything was back and working again by 7 PM. There's no word on what caused the problem. Continue reading.
Open Source Joins Efforts to Create Gene Therapies for Rare Diseases
The father of a boy born with a rare disease created the RareCamp project and the OpenTreatments Foundation to enable patients to create gene therapies for rare genetic diseases; then work with their doctors and nonprofits to develop drugs.
Investors have $20 billion to acquire businesses. Is yours one of them?
Our Technology M&A: 2021 Outlook gives owners, founders and entrepreneurs insight into why e-commerce is dominating technology acquisitions, what this means for multiples, when investors are looking to allocate capital and more.
Digital Payments Lead March Toward a Cashless Society
From coin shortages and curbside operations to contactless transactions, how consumers pay for their purchases has been completely transformed during the pandemic. Marketers expect that transformation to continue and expand. It is not just family staples that are seeing a jump in consumer digital payment options. The retail and gaming sectors are also leading the digital charge.
Cybercops Scrub Botnet Software From Millions of Computers
The notorious Emotet botnet software began uninstalling itself from some one million computers Sunday. The uninstall command was part of an update sent to the infected computers by law enforcement servers in the Netherlands after Emotet's infrastructure was compromised in January during a multinational operation mounted by eight nations.
How to Avoid the Cost of Churn With Better Customer Experiences
Customer churn is costing mid-market companies an average of $5.5 million per year. Retailers need to avoid the expensive mistakes that result in such disastrous churn. This presents a clamorous alarm to marketers. One solution to this costly predicament is to get sales teams to work effectively, and consistently, in CRM platforms.
Need More From Your Digital Ad Spend? Adopt Contextual Alignment
Many digital marketers spend too much on targeting an already loyal customer base rather than tapping into new streams. Dr. Jorge Barraza, professor of applied psychology at the University of Southern California, has a plan to help advertisers reach consumers that would not normally buy their products, by using the principle of contextual alignment.
CPG Brands Doubling Down on Direct-to-Consumer E-Commerce
An increasing number of consumer-packaged goods companies are shifting to the direct-to-consumer e-commerce model, thus bypassing retailers as middlemen. This raises questions of how manufacturers can meet customers' needs without jeopardizing relationships with their retail distribution partners. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several DTC experts to help shed some light on these issues.
DuckDuckGo has announced an add-on to the Chrome browser that blocks Google's new scheme to provide marketers with information for targeting advertising at Internet users. The scheme called FLoC -- Federated Learning of Cohorts -- is being tested ...
With an increasing amount of workers turning to part-time, freelance, and contract work for a variety of reasons, a growing number of businesses are now based on the gig economy model. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several experts familiar with ...
The creation of the Rust Foundation marks a noteworthy instance in which proprietary software companies took the initiative to found and steward a nonprofit project. It’s not groundbreaking, but it doesn’t happen every day.
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Contact Center AI Explained by Pop Culture | eBook
What if learning Contact Center AI were as engaging as “Blade Runner”? If understanding how it works could be less painless than how it's portrayed in “2001: A Space Odyssey”?
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