COVID-19 lockdown restrictions forced three Apple suppliers to halt production in China, including key iPhone assembler Pegatron. Taiwan-based Pegatron makes 20% to 30% of all iPhones, making it the second-largest supplier of the devices after Foxconn Technology Group. More: - In a filing on Tuesday, Pegatron said it suspended operations at its two iPhone manufacturing bases in Shanghai and Kunshan in China to comply with government regulations.
- The shutdowns could have a wider impact on iPhone availability, given that they are Pegatron's only manufacturing sites worldwide.
- By contrast, Foxconn paused Phone assembly in Shenzen, China last month but was able to rely on backup facilities and exemptions for closed-loop production, lessening the blow.
- Besides Pegatron, iPad assembler Compal and MacBook maker Quanta also halted production at manufacturing sites in Kunshan and Shanghai, respectively.
- Electronic makers in the regions are suspending operations or struggling to maintain production due to lockdown rules and a shortage of components such as chips and battery modules.
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Twitter has acquired OpenBack, a mobile platform that specializes in privacy-centric push notifications, Twitter's head of consumer product Jay Sullivan announced in a tweet. Twitter has declined to share the financial terms of the deal, which is expected to help Twitter improve its notifications and increase user engagement. More: - Mobile apps use OpenBack's service to process data on-device rather than go through third-party servers.
- OpenBack's platform can make apps "more engaging" by allowing this device-side control of push notifications, Sullivan said.
- The company can help Twitter enhance its privacy for users and deliver the right notifications at the best time, he added.
- Dublin-based OpenBack will shut down its current business on April 19. Its team will join Twitter’s Bluebird product team.
- Twitter has made several acquisitions in recent months, including group chat app Sphere in October, long-form thread app Threader in November, and messaging service Quill in December.
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China has started issuing gaming licenses again after a nine-month-long freeze that weakened its market for video games. At least 14,000 Chinese gaming studios have shut down as a result of the licensing freeze. More: - China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), a regulator for video game licensing, announced new licenses for 45 games since the ban was lifted recently.
- The NPPA stopped approving new licenses to publish and sell games last summer.
- This forced many game developers, particularly smaller studios, to scale back, halt or downsize projects, or even shut down.
- On Monday, the NPPA released a list of newly licensed games for April:
- They included games from Baidu and XD Inc's "Party Star," DreamSky, 37Games, and others.
- The batch included 39 mobile games, five PC games, and one Nintendo Switch game.
- The freeze was part of China's latest efforts to crack down on gaming and fight online gaming addiction. Last year, it introduced rules to keep underage gamers from playing at certain times, among other regulations.
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Honda Motor Co. said it will invest 5 trillion yen ($40B) in electric vehicles over the next decade and plans to launch 30 new EV models by 2030. Honda, Japan’s second-biggest automaker after Toyota, is seeking to build production capacity for 2 million EVs a year by 2030. More: - The company has “clear plans in place” to electrify its fleet and make its EV business profitable, CEO Toshihiro Mibe said on Tuesday.
- Honda wants to launch two all-electric sports cars in the mid-2020s, Mibe noted.
- R&D for next-generation batteries is a particular focus for Honda. The carmaker has spent 43 billion yen ($343M) to develop solid-state batteries that could come to market in the second half of the decade.
- Honda wants EVs to comprise 40% of its fleet by 2030. Last year, it said it would fully phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2040.
- Tuesday's announcement comes a week after Honda and General Motors announced an agreement to develop lower-priced EVs using GM's battery tech starting in 2027.
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Meta is now testing tools for creators to sell virtual items and experiences in its metaverse VR platform, "Horizon Worlds." Meta will take a nearly 50% cut from the sales due to multiple fees. A user selling a $1 item, for example, would pay $0.30 to the Meta Quest Store and $0.17 to the Horizon Platform, leaving them with $0.53 before taxes, Business Insider confirmed. More: - Meta said it's allowing a "handful" small group of creators to monetize their wares, such as avatar accessories and access to customized worlds, in Horizon Worlds.
- All platform users in U.S. and Canada who are 18+ will be able to purchase the items.
- In a statement, Meta said the tools are a step toward its long-term plans for the metaverse, where creators could eventually "earn a living" as people buy digital goods, experiences, and services.
- "Horizon Worlds" is specifically for VR headsets but could come to mobile later this year. The platform passed 300,000 monthly VR users in February and now has over 10,000 worlds.
Zoom-out: - Meta launched a $10 million Horizon Creators Fund in October and is testing a Horizon Worlds Creator Bonus program for U.S. users.
- The company, which has previously criticized Apple's 30% in-app purchase fee, confirmed that it will charge creator fees through both the Meta Quest VR system and Horizon Worlds system, for a cut of up to 47.5%.
- “We think it’s a pretty competitive rate in the market,” Horizon VP Vivek Sharma told The Verge.
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California's Miso Robotics said its new automated coffee system is now being piloted at Panera Bread locations. The move highlights the growing trend of restaurants moving toward automation amid industry worker shortages and rising labor costs. More: - Miso is known for its robotics systems that can make tortilla chips, flip burgers, and fry foods.
- Its new CookRight Coffee system can monitor metrics like temperature, volume, and time data for coffee.
- When combined with predictive analytics, the system can eliminate the need for employees to manually check coffee urns and brew coffee at the optimal times, according to Miso.
- Panera said the system will support the "Unlimited Sip Cup" membership it launched two years ago.
Zoom-out: - Miso, which specializes in AI-driven robots for restaurants, also has a 2-year partnership with White Castle, which is bringing its robot for frying food items to 100 more locations.
- Last month, Chipotle announced it's testing an AI-powered chipmaking robot designed by Miso, with plans to debut it in a southern California restaurant later this year.
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- Elon Musk's “ask-me-anything” session with Twitter staff was canceled after Musk declined to take a seat on Twitter's board of directors.
- Plex said it will end support for podcasts and web shows on Friday, April 15.
- Apple could be working on game controllers for the iPhone, iPad, and other hardware, according to a patent filing made public in Europe.
- Nintendo said it will spend ~$40M to acquire land next to its Kyoto headquarters, where it plans to build a second Corporate Headquarters Development Center for R&D.
- Meta is exploring the possibility of adding "social tokens" or "reputation tokens" to its social platforms as a way to generate new revenue.
- An autonomous Cruise vehicle was pulled over in San Francisco for not having its headlights on. The interaction was captured in a video posted on Instagram.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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