Innholdsfortegnelse for #695 i Techlife News

Ready to buy a new car? Well, you might want to wait because there are some cool and compelling models coming soon to a showroom near you. They range from a retro-themed performance sedan with a traditional gasoline engine to a rugged off-road SUV powered by electricity. There’s even a pickup truck that offers a gas engine and electric propulsion simultaneously, which could be a game changer. Experts highlight what they think will be the most interesting vehicles for car shoppers coming out later this year. 2026 DODGE CHARGER SIXPACK SEDAN Maybe you’ve seen the Charger Daytona R/T, Dodge’s new electric performance coupe that draws design inspiration from the classic 1969 Charger. But what if you don’t want an EV? And what if you need four doors? Good news is…

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding posted its fastest revenue growth in more than a year, beating analyst expectations as it capitalizes on the artificial intelligence boom in China. Alibaba said Thursday that its revenue for the quarter ended December grew 8% to 280.2 billion yuan ($38.38 billion) compared to the same period last year. Net income surged to 48.9 billion yuan ($6.71 billion). Alibaba’s New York-traded stock was up over 12% following the earnings results. In an earnings call, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said that Alibaba plans to “aggressively invest” in artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure in the coming three years, with upcoming spending expected to exceed what the firm has already invested over the past decade. “This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’…

Apple has debuted the iPhone 16e, a new model that “completes” the iPhone family. Positioned as a powerful yet affordable option, the 16e combines cutting-edge performance, breakthrough battery life, and a 48MP Fusion camera system with a focus on value. INTRODUCING IPHONE 16E As Apple continues to refine and expand its product lineup, the iPhone 16e stands out as a device designed to cater to both tech enthusiasts and those looking for an accessible entry into the world of the iPhone. At the heart of the iPhone 16e lies the powerful A18 chip, the same chip used in the standard Apple iPhone 16, which has been designed to offer both speed and efficiency. Building on the legacy of Apple’s custom silicon, the A18 is up to 80 percent faster than…

Even as he’s vowed to push the United States ahead in artificial intelligence research, President Donald Trump’s threats to alter federal government contracts with chipmakers and slap new tariffs on the semiconductor industry may put new speed bumps in front of the tech industry. Since taking office, Trump has said he would place tariffs on foreign production of computer chips and semiconductors in order to return chip manufacturing to the U.S. The president and Republican lawmakers have also threatened to end the CHIPS and Science Act, a sweeping Biden administration-era law that also sought to boost domestic production. But economic experts have warned that Trump’s dual-pronged approach could slow, or potentially harm, the administration’s goal of ensuring that the U.S. maintains a competitive edge in artificial intelligence research. Saikat Chaudhuri,…

Troubled electric vehicle maker Nikola has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection months after saying that it would likely run out of cash early this year. Nikola was a hot start-up and rising star on Wall Street before becoming enmeshed in scandal and its founder was convicted in 2022 for misleading investors about the Arizona company’s technology. At the trial of founder Trevor Milton, prosecutors say a company video of a prototype truck appearing to be driven down a desert highway was actually a video of a nonfunctioning Nikola that had been rolled down a hill. But the hype around the company was immense. In 2020, Nikola was valued at around $30 billion, exceeding the market capitalization of Ford Motor Co. Nikola filed for protection in the United States Bankruptcy…

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had no idea 25 years ago that the Tech Summit would turn into much of anything, much less one of the hottest tickets at All-Star weekend. Then again, nobody could have seen this coming. The NBA celebrated 25 years of tech summits on Friday, a full-circle moment of sorts. The event started when the league’s All-Star weekend was most recently in the Bay Area in 2000 — and now, a quarter-century later, with this weekend’s events in San Francisco the tech summit is back and still growing. The question at that first summit was a simple one: “What’s next?”Turns out, nobody had the entire answer. “Our first Tech Summit feels like a distant memory because there has been so much innovation around media and technology over…

Winson Lau has always had contingency plans. But he wasn’t prepared for data centers. Lau relies on water and electricity to operate his thriving export business in Malaysia’s Johor province, where he raises a kaleidoscope of tropical fish in rows of aquariums, including albino fish with red spots that can fetch up to $10,000 from collectors. His contingency plans in the event of an outage involve an intricate system of purifying wastewater through friendly bacteria and an alarm system to quickly switch to backup power. But these measures can’t compete with the gigantic, power-guzzling and thirsty data centers being built in Johor. The province is on track to have at least 1.6 gigawatts of data centers at any given moment from nearly nothing in 2019, making it the fastest-growing data…

In a James Bond shakeup that stirred the film industry, Amazon MGM announced Thursday that the studio has taken the creative reins of the 007 franchise after decades of family control. Longtime Bond custodians Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said they would be stepping back. Amazon MGM Studios, Wilson and Broccoli formed a new joint venture in which they will co-own James Bond intellectual property rights — but Amazon MGM will have creative control. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close sometime this year. “With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects,” Wilson said in a statement. “Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted…

On sunny days in the Hill Country, Tom Cook taps open an app on his phone and watches the power generated from the solar panels on his roof flow to his home — and out to the state power grid. Cook has a battery storage system on the side of his home in Bandera to power things during outages. The rest of the time, his retail electric provider sends power from his battery back to the grid. In turn, he gets a monthly bill credit and a sense of community service in supporting the grid. “We get the sun beaten down on us, and it’s good to have the sun pay us back,” Cook said. Cook, 72, installed solar panels and a battery in September as part of a program…

TikTok has returned to the app stores of Apple and Google in the U.S., after President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a TikTok ban. TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, was removed from Apple and Google’s app stores on Jan. 18 to comply with a law that requires ByteDance to divest the app or be banned in the U.S. A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s move. Apple did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The popular social media app, which has over 170 million American users, previously suspended its services in the U.S. for less than a day before restoring service following assurances from Trump that he would postpone banning the app. The TikTok service suspension briefly prompted thousands of users…

Tesla’s AI ambitions are hitting a new gear in 2025, fueled by a massive investment in Nvidia’s H100 GPUs—the gold standard for machine learning horsepower. Elon Musk confirmed this month that Tesla redirected 12,000 of these chips to xAI late last year, but plans to spend $3-4 billion on Nvidia hardware this year alone are stealing the spotlight. These powerhouses are supercharging Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems, aiming to outpace rivals in the autonomous driving race. For Apple users, this raises a provocative question: can Siri, even with its OpenAI-powered glow-up in iOS 18.2, keep up with a Tesla that parks itself while you stream Apple Music? Here’s a deep dive into Tesla’s AI leap, the tech behind it, and what it means for the iPhone crowd—both on…

Major League Soccer (MLS) kicks off its 2025 season today, February 22, and Apple is syncing up the action with a fresh addition to Fitness+. As the MLS Season Pass streams every match live on the Apple TV app—now available on Android devices too—Fitness+ is rolling out soccer-inspired warm-up workouts to get fans moving. These sessions, crafted with MLS trainers and Fitness+ experts, aim to bring agility, endurance, and strength to subscribers, whether they’re prepping to cheer from the couch or hit the field themselves. Paired with Apple Watch integration, this expansion signals Apple’s growing ambition in the fitness space. What’s behind these workouts, and how do they fit into your routine? Here’s the breakdown. THE LAUNCH: SOCCER MEETS FITNESS+ Apple’s timing couldn’t be sharper. With MLS Season Pass launching…

Airbnb is suing the City of New Orleans for requiring the company and short-term rental platforms ensure properties they market are in compliance with city laws. “What we’re looking at now due to Airbnb’s lawsuit is that they do not want to be regulated,” City Council President J.P. Morrell said in a late afternoon Tuesday statement. Airbnb said its lawsuit comes “after exhausting all available paths toward sensible solutions.” For years, New Orleans leaders have struggled with how to manage the influx of illegal short-term rentals catering to the millions of visitors who flock to The Big Easy annually while managing a lack of affordable housing. A federal court struck down a 2019 New Orleans policy barring short-term rentals at properties owned by out-of-state residents. The city responded by adopting…

President Donald Trump’s administration has said no one at the Federal Aviation Administration with a “critical safety” position has been fired as it cuts the federal workforce, but some FAA jobs that were eliminated had direct roles in supporting safety inspectors and airport operations, according to their union and former employees. About 400 personnel were let go starting Friday. There is still not a complete picture of who was fired, but the union representing about 130 of them said the staffers included aviation safety assistants, maintenance mechanics and nautical information specialists. They are the types of workers tasked with helping aircraft safety inspectors, repairing air traffic control facilities and updating digital maps that pilots use in flight, such as making any changes that the FAA may direct for airplanes flying…

The tech stock market has been a rollercoaster these past two weeks, with investors placing big bets on an unexpected contender in the AI battlefield: Apple. The spark? DeepSeek, a Chinese AI outfit, has unveiled software tricks that slash the need for hulking processor farms, hinting at a future where decentralized, edge-based AI could reign supreme. Posts on X and market chatter suggest industry insiders see Apple—armed with its lean Apple Silicon and unified memory architecture—as poised to capitalize, potentially outflanking giants like Nvidia and OpenAI in the race for AI dominance. Could this shift turn your iPhone into the nerve center of tomorrow’s AI revolution? Here’s a deep dive into the tech, the market moves, and what it means for Apple users—and the industry at large. THE MARKET BUZZ:…

Huawei on Tuesday held a global launch for the industry’s first tri-foldable phone, which analysts said marked a symbolic victory for the Chinese tech giant amid U.S. technology curbs. But challenges over pricing, longevity, supply and app constraints may limit its success. Huawei said at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur that the Huawei Mate XT, first unveiled in China five months ago, will be priced at 3,499 euros ($3,662). Although dubbed a trifold, the phone has three mini-panels and folds only twice. The company says it’s the thinnest foldable phone at 3.6 millimeters (0.14 inches), with a 10.2-inch screen similar to an Apple iPad. “Right now, Huawei kind of stands alone as an innovator” with the trifold design, said Bryan Ma, vice president of device research with the market…

Apple rolled out the iOS 18.3 beta earlier this week, and it’s already stirring conversation among iPhone users. A new feature tagged “Battery Intelligence” is at the heart of it, hinting at practical upgrades to how devices charge and hold up. Drawing from beta tester feedback and insider insights, this update could offer a meaningful edge for everyone from casual users to Apple devotees. Here’s what’s unfolding, how it’s designed to work, and why it might deserve a spot on your radar. WHAT’S NEW: CHARGING GETS CLEARER One of the most talked-about additions is a charging estimate—like “Full in 40 minutes”—that pops up when you plug in. This gem surfaced from 9to5Mac’s code dives into earlier betas, and now it’s live for testers to confirm. Posts on MacRumors forums show…

The idea for a new TV show came to Craig Sweeny as he was driving. The producer and screenwriter, thinking about how to put his own stamp on a medical series, had to pull over when a familiar figure popped into his mind: Sherlock Holmes. Why not combine a hospital procedural with the lore of Britain’s greatest detective? It would have a medical mystery every week and also tell stories of Holmes’ good friend, Dr. John Watson. It was a mashup of two popular draws, the TV equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. “They’re sort of each their own show-worthy premise in a way. And we’re blessed to have both. So they compete for space in a really interesting way,” says Sweeny. So was born “Watson,” a CBS series starring…