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Wechat one mobile phone number registers two accounts and is still in grayscale testing
On February 3, it was reported that WeChat has fully opened the function of using the same mobile phone number to register auxiliary accounts, and announced the registration process. However, many netizens reported that “cannot be successfully registered.” Finally, “Due to security reasons, it is temporarily impossible to register a new account through the current mobile phone number bound to WeChat.” It is understood that this function is still in grayscale testing. At present, the function of registering two accounts with one mobile phone number on WeChat has not been fully released. (Source: China News Network)
WeChat/ Image source: Visual China
Google Invests $300 Million in ChatGPT Competitor
According to news on February 4, Google has invested about $300 million in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. According to three people familiar with the matter, Google will obtain about 10% of the shares through this transaction. The cloud computing sector purchases computing resources.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic seek to develop generative artificial intelligence, complex computer programs that can write scripts and create art in seconds.
While Microsoft seeks to integrate OpenAI’s technology into many of its own services, Google’s relationship with Anthropic is limited to serving as the company’s technology supplier in the AI arms race, according to people familiar with the matter. Anthropic has developed an intelligent chatbot called Claude that is comparable to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but it has not yet released it publicly. (Source: Tencent.com)
Amazon’s net profit in the fourth quarter of last year was 278 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of about 98%
On February 3, Amazon released its financial report for the fourth quarter and full year of last year. The financial report shows that Amazon’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 will be US$149.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%, and its net profit will be US$278 million, compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. The quarterly figure of $14.323 billion was down about 98%. Diluted earnings per share were $0.03, down 97.8% from $1.39 in the same period in 2021.
In terms of geography, the operating loss of Amazon North America in the fourth quarter of 2022 was US$240 million, compared with an operating loss of US$206 million in the same period last year, an increase of 17% year-on-year. The operating loss of the international department in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 2.228 billion US dollars, and the operating loss in the same period last year was 1.627 billion US dollars, an increase of 37% year-on-year. The operating profit of the AWS cloud service division in the fourth quarter of 2022 was US$5.205 billion, compared with US$5.293 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 2%.
Amazon expects the company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2023 to be between $121 billion and $126 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4% to 8% from the first quarter of 2022. (Source: Beijing News)
Musk says Twitter will start sharing ad revenue with creators on February 3
Twitter’s new owner is making moves to build more revenue streams for creators — or at least he’s tweeting about it. Elon Musk announced on Feb. 3 that the company will soon begin sharing advertising revenue with creators on the platform for the first time. However, eligible users must sign up for Twitter Blue, which starts at $8 per month.
Twitter’s enthusiasm for the creator economy was low, but the largely text-based social app eventually jumped in after Musk took over. Twitter’s Creator feature emphasizes connecting creators and their followers directly with monthly paid subscriptions and ticketing, but Musk is clearly interested in including a share of advertising revenue in there.
It’s unclear if Twitter actually has a way to start sharing its ad revenue with creators. This change will bring a whole new monetization option that will likely require a lot of construction on the back end to track, calculate and pay users the ad revenue they earn from their replies. Until now, Twitter’s monetization options for creators have been limited to the relatively simple direct payment of subscription fees. (Source: cnBeta)
my country’s first international trading center for electronic components and integrated circuits officially opened
On February 3, my country’s first international trading center for electronic components and integrated circuits was officially put into operation. This is also a landmark move in the context of my country’s electronic information industry building a unified market and innovating market access models.
The International Trade Center for Electronic Components and Integrated Circuits was established in Shenzhen with the joint approval of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce. The trading center provides three types of models: user centralized procurement, aggregated bidding and self-service matching, and uses “larger transaction scale” to achieve “lower total procurement cost” and “high-efficiency transactions”, thus realizing the self-driven “accumulation engine” develop.
In recent years, my country’s electronic components and integrated circuits have rapidly grown into the world’s largest market. From 2011 to 2021, my country’s global share of integrated circuit sales will increase from 10% to 30%. After the establishment of the International Trading Center for Electronic Components and Integrated Circuits, it will effectively boost the high-quality development of my country’s electronic information industry. (Source: CCTV News)
Daily views of short YouTube videos exceed 50 billion
Daily views of short videos on YouTube have surpassed 50 billion, up from 30 billion a year ago, Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said on a fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 2. Shorts’ growth was a rare bright spot in a quarter when revenues from Alphabet’s search, YouTube and advertising divisions fell. YouTube, in particular, saw its revenue decline for the second straight quarter from a year earlier as it faced stiff competition from TikTok.
YouTube short video/image source: cnBeta
While announcing the strong ratings for Shorts, YouTube is also allowing creators to share ad revenue for short videos with the company. Once accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, streamers will earn a certain amount of revenue from advertising on both long-form and now short-form videos. As a result, some creators are already considering moving more of their content to YouTube Shorts. (Source: cnBeta)
Microsoft promises to remain committed to HoloLens 2 and MR tech
On February 3, Microsoft issued a statement reiterating its business commitment to HoloLens 2 and mixed reality (MR). Robin Seiler, corporate vice president and chief operating officer of Microsoft’s Windows + Devices Organization, posted a short blog on the tech community to make the statement.
Robin Seiler started by saying that Microsoft is fully committed to the development of HoloLens 2, maintaining regular software updates and releasing documents that are helpful to customers. She also emphasized that HoloLens is one of the key components of the vision behind the “Industrial Metaverse.” While the executive didn’t explicitly confirm whether the entire MRTK team has been fired, she did hint at it, saying the project will live on through open source contributions. Microsoft remains “committed” to ensuring compatibility between MRTK and HoloLens 2.
Robin Seiler also confirmed that AltspaceVR, which Microsoft acquired in 2017, is shutting down to focus on Microsoft Mesh. This reaffirms Microsoft’s strategy to bring VR into the enterprise environment, which the company is already previewing with some customers. (Source: IT House)
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple’s AirPods Max 2 wireless headphones will launch in the second half of 2024 at the earliest
On February 3, Guo Mingchi said that Apple will not launch the second-generation AirPods Max wireless headset until at least the second half of 2024, and may not update the headset until the first half of 2025.
Kuo said he believes Apple’s “next major acoustic product update” will be between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025. Ming-Chi Kuo listed three products that will be upgraded during this time, including the HomePod mini 2, AirPods Max 2 and Apple AirPods “low-cost version.” (Source: Sina Technology)
Jikr officially announced its third model:Named ZEEKR X, known as “new luxury all-round SUV”
According to the news on February 3, Jikr announced the name and appearance design of its third model. The new car is called ZEEKR X, not ZEEKR 3 as previously speculated. The official name of the new car is a “new luxury all-round SUV”.
According to the official statement, ZEEKR X is “intelligent, luxurious and individual, and requires control, technology and quality.” The new car has extremely kryptonian control and 3-second-level acceleration from 100 kilometers. It is known as the A-class SUV ceiling and has a 2750mm super long wheelbase. , providing a variety of Rubik’s Cube space.
Jikrypton X / Image source: IT Home
It is worth mentioning that the car also uses a design without door handles, and also uses frameless exterior rearview mirrors. (Source: IT House)
CCTV’s 2023 Lantern Festival Gala will be broadcast soon, using new technologies such as AR, XR, stereoscopic video, and 3D colorful sound
According to news on February 3, China Central Radio and Television’s “2023 Lantern Festival Gala” will be broadcast at 20:00 on February 5. China Central Radio and Television held a press conference to introduce a number of technological innovations and program creation highlights of the Lantern Festival.
The official stated that this Lantern Festival will greatly enhance the immersive effect of program video and audio through the application of new technologies such as AR virtual special effects, XR virtual and real fusion production, stereoscopic video and 3D colorful sound; Fully realize centralized control of live sound reinforcement and live sound reinforcement, greatly improving stage visuals, live sound reinforcement effects and safe broadcasting levels. The CCTV client will also use two modes of “vertical screen + 3D colorful sound” and “horizontal screen + 3D colorful sound” to broadcast the evening show. (Source: IT House)
