Innholdsfortegnelse for #444 i Techlife News

Facebook reported its slowest quarterly growth as a public company, pressured by the coronavirus pandemic and a resulting global slowdown in digital advertising. The social network, like Google, said it’s feeling the squeeze but expects to weather it with only modest long-term effects. The company said it saw a “significant reduction” in ad prices and demand in the last three weeks of March. It declined to give revenue guidance for the rest of the year, but said in the second quarter so far, it has seen “signs of stability” in the first three weeks of April. Ad revenue during this time has been flat compared with the year-ago period, Facebook said. It was a “decent quarter, all things considered,” said eMarketer social media analyst Debra Aho Williamson. But the fact…

The six-year fan campaign for a standalone Black Widow movie was paying off: at long last, a film would put Scarlett Johansson’s popular Avenger front and center. And, like many of Marvel’s biggest spectacles, it was set to open the weekend of May 1. “Black Widow” was to kick off what promised to be a typically lucrative summer moviegoing season, which runs Memorial Day through Labor Day and generally accounts for $4 billion, nearly 40% of the yearly North American box office. And there was a lot more to look forward to: Tom Cruise’s return to one of his most iconic roles, a “Wonder Woman” sequel, original fare from Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson and more. Then the unthinkable happened. Now modern Hollywood is faced with a gutted summer season…

More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s. Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began forcing millions of employers to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than one in six American workers. With more employers cutting payrolls to save money, economists have forecast that the unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20%. That would be the highest rate since it reached…

Microsoft’s chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, oversees thousands of engineers and scientists working in artificial intelligence, computer science and other research. But right now he’s laser-focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest projects include setting up a chatbot for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and repurposing Microsoft’s supercomputers to help in drug discovery. He’s also out with a new book. “Reprogramming the American Dream” connects Scott’s rural upbringing in Gladys, Virginia, to his optimistic view that AI could help bridge the digital and economic divide. Scott spoke with The Associated Press about the pandemic’s effects on his day-to-day responsibilities. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. Q: Fewer than 20% of Americans live in rural areas but you, and Microsoft generally, have put a big emphasis…

After testing on public roads, Tesla is rolling out a new feature of its partially automated driving system designed to spot stop signs and traffic signals. The update of the electric car company’s cruise control and auto-steer systems is a step toward CEO Elon Musk’s pledge to convert cars to fully self-driving vehicles later this year. But it also runs contrary to recommendations from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board that include limiting where Tesla’s Autopilot driving system can operate because it has failed to spot and react to hazards in at least three fatal crashes. In a note sent to a group of Tesla owners who were picked to test the stop light and sign recognition feature, the company said it can be used with the Traffic Aware Cruise…

Studies have begun to emerge that try to determine how many Americans have been infected by the new coronavirus. But are they accurate? The results depend on where and how the research is done, and it can be difficult to draw firm conclusions from the early findings, experts said. For instance, a study in New York state, one of the nation’s most infected, estimated that the true number of infections is about 10 times the official count. In Santa Clara County, California, which includes San Jose, research indicated infections were at least 50 times greater. And in Los Angeles County, scientists put the true number of infections at around 40 times the actual case count. Until recently, researchers had to rely on statistical models, some of which estimated that for…

Movies that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run will be eligible for the Oscars, but only for this year. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Tuesday announced the change for the 93rd Academy Awards as a response to how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the film industry. The film academy also said it will condense the two sound categories into one and prohibit DVD screeners for 2022’s 94th Oscars in an effort to become more carbon neutral. Oscars eligibility has been a major question since stay at home and social distancing orders led to both the cancellation of major film festivals and the closure of movie theaters. Previously, a film would have to have a minimum seven-day theatrical run in a Los Angeles County…

California regulators strengthened a proposed first-in-the-nation rule that would force auto makers to sell more electric delivery vans and work trucks in a state with the country’s worst air quality. The updated rule proposed by the California Air Resources Board would require auto makers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission trucks each year. By 2035, the board estimates at least 20% of these trucks on the road would be electric. “This will be transformative,” said Paul Cort, an attorney for Earthjustice’s Right to Zero campaign. “At some point, these manufacturers are going to kind of realize it doesn’t make sense to be making zero emission trucks and combustion trucks to serve the same market.” The new rule is a big jump from the one the board had previously proposed,…

Imagine a major-college quarterback with a sizable social media following who posts entertaining and informative updates about his life on and off the field. Now imagine a restaurant hiring him as its pitchman and paying him $500 or $1,000 each time he posts content with its messaging. That scenario could become reality as soon as 2021 as the NCAA figures out the details of how college athletes can be compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness. Blake Lawrence crunched the numbers on earning potential for that imaginary quarterback based on the QB having 40,000 followers on Twitter and 50,000 on Instagram. The co-founder and CEO of athlete marketing platform Opendorse based his projection on a popular college athlete having a market value approximate to that of a…

Musetta Vander has been to several of the most iconic national parks and landscapes in the U.S., capturing herself doing a yoga pose among the Joshua trees, driving on a tree-lined highway framed by Yosemite’s towering rock formations and sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking a horseshoe-shaped bend in the Colorado River. “Sometimes it’s so beautiful you want to share it with the world immediately,” said Vander of West Hollywood, California. “However, I feel that you miss out on the magical experience nature provides you when you don’t let go of social media or whatever else is consuming your mind.” Vander’s travels illustrate a long-running debate over how connected national park visitors can or should be to the internet. Parks are grappling with the best way to expand…

Comcast’s net income slid in the first three months of the year as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shut down its theme parks and its movies were kept out of shuttered theaters. Comcast also reported Thursday that it lost 409,000 cable TV customers, the biggest source of the company’s profits, as cord-cutting accelerated. That’s already more than half the 671,000 customers it lost in all of 2019. But it added 477,000 internet customers, which it said was its best quarterly number in more than a decade. It came as U.S. workplace shutdowns began in March and a mass work-from-home migration underscored the role home internet plays in Americans’ lives. Comcast’s net income slid in the first three months of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shut down…

In cities around the world, public transportation systems are key to getting workers back on the job and restarting devastated economies. Yet methods of getting around, ranging from trains and buses to ferries and bicycles, will have to be re-imagined for the coronavirus era. In Europe in particular, mass transit is shaping up as a new focus of governments working to get their countries back on track while responding to the pandemic that now has a death toll of over 120,000 people across the continent. In the capitals of hard-hit Italy, Spain, France and Britain, standing cheek-to-jowl with fellow commuters was as much a part of the morning routine in pre-coronavirus times as a steaming shot of espresso or a crispy croissant. That’s going to have to change as authorities…

It was a partnership that nobody saw coming, for a virus none of us expected. As Apple and Google’s historic collaboration sees them develop contact tracing tech to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, many are asking how it will work, and how our privacy will be respected. BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTIONS In these times of global emergency, nothing is shocking. Not even a joint project between tech giants Apple and Google, who announced in April their plans for a Bluetooth-based universal contact-tracing app that will work across both iOS and Android operating systems . In a press release, the two companies confirmed their intentions to launch the new application programming interface in May. But rather than rolling out a global health tracing system, the firms revealed that health organizations around the…

Demand for digital advertising is shriveling after a decade of explosive growth amid the pandemic-fueled downturn. That could complicate things for Google and Facebook, who for the first time may have to contend with revenues that are actually shrinking. With consumers mostly at home and unemployment soaring, advertisers are slashing promotional spending — in some cases, all the way to zero. For Google and Facebook, who together account for 70% of the U.S. market for digital ads, that so far has translated into tighter restraints on spending without the layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs that publishers and other industries have already imposed. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has already told employees the company will curtail its hiring for the rest of the year and is considering deep cuts in its own…

It’s good to see familiar faces and hear familiar voices, and several are returning this week in ways retro and new. JoJo, Kenny Chesney and Offset are among those with new projects out this week, while Indiana Jones will be back fighting Nazis and hating snakes on network TV. There’s plenty of new arrivals headed to devices this week as well, with Netflix offering a comedy from Mindy Kaling and a teen romance film. Other offerings will allow the housebound a chance to marvel at the splendors of Los Angeles, Dover, England, and Dublin on screens this week. Here’s a collection curated by entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark With everyone talking…

Film festivals worldwide are teaming up to launch “We Are One: A Global Film Festival,” which will play out over 10 days and be available for free on YouTube. Tribeca Enterprises, the company behind the Tribeca Film Festival, and YouTube announced the online festival this week. Other festivals will also contribute curated programming, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and those in Berlin, Tokyo and New York. The festival will benefit the World Health Organization and local relief organizations, and encourage viewers to donate to COVID-19 relief efforts. Tribeca Enterprises declined to say what movies would be included but “We Are One” isn’t expected to feature prominent feature films that were set to premiere at canceled festivals like May’s Cannes Film Festival or…

All it takes is a few words from a storybook to connect kids over the crackle of an AM radio station. It’s not 1950s entertainment, but a nostalgic way children in even the most remote Alaska communities — many with unreliable internet — can overcome further isolation brought on by the coronavirus. The public library in the small town of Homer got creative when it had to close during the pandemic, partnering with a radio station to bring a popular story hour to preschoolers stuck at home. Youth services librarian Claudia Haines reads some children’s books — chosen to appeal to older kids or adults listening in, too — Thursday mornings on KBBI, which serves the town of 5,000 and surrounding villages. The AM station is among several radio broadcasters…

A few states may have found a way to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes by converting some of them into “recovery centers” set aside mostly for residents who have left the hospital but still might be contagious or lack immunity. Critics worry about harming frail, elderly residents by transferring them to make room in repurposed nursing homes. But some public health experts and advocates see potential in combating further infection and freeing up hospital space, and many relatives embrace the concept as a way to protect their loved ones. Debra Ellis agonizes over whether to bring her 87-year-old wife home if a coronavirus case appears in her nursing home, which currently isn’t reporting any. Ellis lives in Meriden, Connecticut, a state where three of nine…

A single mother hunkering down at home with a teenage daughter, Sharon Litwin sees her friends, like most people these days, only virtually. Even so, they’ve been a crucial lifeline. “Sometimes I just need to have a conversation with adults,” she says. “And sometimes I just need to cry, which I really don’t want to do in front of my daughter.”Two of Litwin’s friends, especially, have become valued sounding boards in daily calls she coordinates with her walks outside. But then there are friends she’s tried to check on — good friends — who haven’t answered. She doesn’t know what that means. Are they struggling? Are they or a loved one sick? Or are they afraid SHE is sick or struggling and don’t want to add to her stress? “I…

American Airlines reported a staggering loss of $2.24 billion for the first quarter, when the coronavirus pandemic triggered a sharp drop in air travel. The airline said that revenue fell 19% while costs continued to rise even as the virus spread. The situation facing the airline industry has grown more dire since the first quarter ended. Air travel within the U.S. has plunged 95% from a year ago, judging by the number of people screened at the nation’s airports. “Never before has our airline, or our industry, faced such a significant challenge,” Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said. American’s massive loss compared with a profit of $185 million in the same quarter last year. It was American’s largest quarterly loss since merging with US Airways in 2013. American said that…

Hotels and home-sharing companies are beefing up their cleaning efforts in order to soothe jittery travelers. Hilton said it’s teaming up with RB — which makes Lysol and Dettol disinfectants — and the Mayo Clinic to develop new cleaning procedures that will be in place by June. The news follows Marriott’s announcement last week that it’s creating a cleanliness council to develop new standards. Marriott’s council includes infectious disease specialists and an expert from EcoLab, which makes commercial cleaning products. Airbnb also said that it’s developing cleaning protocols for its hosts with guidance from former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and EcoLab. Airbnb said starting in May, guests will be able to see if a host commits to Airbnb’s new cleaning protocol, which includes requirements for cleaners to wear…

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, this has become an era of Zoom birthdays, virtual happy hours, FaceTime story times and Google yoga classes. Our friends, coworkers, teachers — and doctors, if we’re lucky — now largely exist as faces in rectangles on our phones and computer screens. With people’s social lives moved indefinitely online, a bevy of big and small tech companies want to unseat fast-rising Zoom from its perch atop the heap, given security concerns and other issues with the video-calling service. There were already several smaller contenders for the throne, and now there’s a big one as well: Facebook. Zoom, which boasts 300 million users, had the luck to be in the right place at the right time just as millions of employees around the world suddenly found themselves…

When the coronavirus struck the United States hard last month, 22-year-old entrepreneur David Zamarin knew his company needed a Plan B — fast. As the economy essentially shut down, demand for his stain-resistant coatings was sure to drop. So Zamarin decided to retool his company, DetraPel, in Framingham, Massachusetts, to start making disinfectants to help fight the virus’s spread. Within weeks, “we completely changed our whole system.” Sales of the DetraPel ecoCleaner & Disinfectant have been strong, he said, and Zamarin expects to produce the cleaner even after the health crisis has passed. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” he said. “I don’t want to capitalize on this to make short-term money.’’ The COVID-19 pandemic has been an epic catastrophe for American business. Economic life is all…

You can thank “The Wretched” if you suddenly want to add another item to stock up with during this pandemic: salt. That’s one of the only things that apparently keeps witches at bay. Pro tip: buy it in big bags. Brothers Drew and Brett Pierce — co-directors and co-writers — have put together dark little modern fairy tale with “ The Wretched,” their second film together. It has an awfully good twist at the end, but that’s barely worth the first-half slog. It’s the story of a 17-year-old who one summer lands a job at his dad’s marina (bummer, man) and then finds himself the only thing standing up to a skin-walking, flesh-eating witch’s reign of terror (double bummer, man.) “The Wretched” suffers from a title problem — who exactly…

Seth Markman was just as nervous as NFL coaches and general managers about the unknown factors involved with a virtual draft. But the ESPN executive producer said he was overwhelmed with how everything came together over the three days. It also ended up being must-see TV as the first significant live sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic ground everything to a halt. The draft averaged a record 8.4 million viewers over all three days, according to the NFL and Nielsen. The previous high was 6.2 million last year. “I thought a coach or general manager might put a towel on the camera or point it another direction, but there were zero issues,” Markman said. “There were a couple times that we lost a feed or two, but it quickly came…

With staff wearing masks, checking customers’ temperatures and using disposable paper place mats, some of the nation’s restaurants reopened for dine-in service Monday as states loosened more coronavirus restrictions. But many eateries remained closed amid safety concerns and community backlash. Restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee and Anchorage, Alaska, welcomed diners back, albeit for a different dine-in experience than before the pandemic forced restaurants to close or limit their services to take-out and delivery. In Louisiana, the governor said restaurants will be allowed to seat people outside starting Friday, though without wait service at the tables. In Georgia, dine-in service and movie screenings were allowed to resume a few days after some other businesses, including barbershops, gyms, tattoo shops and nail salons, began seeing customers Friday. “We’re ecstatic to have them…

Doctors in Britain, Italy, and Spain have been warned to look out for a rare inflammatory condition in children that is possibly linked to the new coronavirus. Earlier this week, Britain’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society issued an alert to doctors noting that, in the past three weeks, there has been an increase in the number of children with“a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care”across the country. The group said there was“growing concern”that either a COVID-19 related syndrome was emerging in children or that a different, unidentified disease might be responsible. “We already know that a very small number of children can become severely ill with COVID-19 but this is very rare,”said Dr. Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He said the syndrome was likely…