Month: January 2023

Twitter said Monday that it plans to lift the ban on political ads in the “coming weeks.” The company originally enforced the ban back in 2019. At that time, it said that “political message reach should be earned, not bought.” Twitter charted a different path from other social networks like Facebook and Instagram, which allowed political ads.

The social network’s announcement comes at a time when advertisers have been pulling back spending on the platform. In November, the company’s owner Elon Musk blamed “activist groups” for putting pressure on advertisers to suspend ads on Twitter. Musk also had a spat with Apple as the company briefly paused ads on the platform and accused the iPhone maker of hating “free speech in America.”

What’s more, Twitter said that it’s relaxing its norms about cause-based ads — ads related to topics like social equality and environmental change — in the US. The company didn’t really lay out details about what terms it’s changing, but it mentioned on its ads policy page that cause-based ads should be geo-restricted.

“Advertisers whose cause-based ads target only within the United States are exempt from the above-listed restrictions,” it said.

Historically, Twitter allowed cause-based ads with a condition that advertisers can’t apply specific target filters on those campaigns. But Musk’s management team is set to change that. In terms of having guardrails around these kind of ads, Twitter said it will “first ensure that our approach to reviewing and approving content protects people.”

One of Musk’s priorities after taking over Twitter has been to boost the company’s revenues. While he has launched a pricier Twitter Blue subscription service that costs $8 per month, the company still has to rely a lot on ad revenues. Reports suggest that since the start of Tesla CEO’s Twitter ownership, many top advertisers left the platform and the company has been cutting down its internal revenue projections.

As the US is gearing up for elections in 2024, political entities will spend all the money possible to sway voters in their favor. It’s not clear if Twitter will gain a lot of revenue by allowing political ads. In 2019, Twitter’s then-CFO Ned Segal said political ads accounted for $3 million during the 2018 US midterms.

Like previous policy announcements under Musk, this change is thin on details and there are hardly any specifics about how this will shape advertising and misinformation related to it on Twitter. Musk had also promised to run polls before making major policy changes, but there was no such poll before reversing its political ad ban.

You can contact this reporter on Signal and WhatsApp at +91 816-951-8403 orim@ivanmehta.comby email.

Twitter is set to reverse the political ad ban to bolster up its revenue by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

One year ago at CES in Las Vegas, Stellantis showed the world what a Chrysler EV might look like — a transformation that will occur by 2028 when it becomes an all-electric brand.

Now, we’re getting a peek at the company’s vision for future car cabins. The upshot? Chrysler, the 97-year-old brand under global automaker Stellantis, wants its in-car technology to make “real life” easier.

The brand is showcasing its vision at CES 2023 through Chrysler Synthesis, a two-seater demonstration of in-car tech and how drivers and passengers might use it. As part of the demonstration, the company created a typical day in this future car life that includes a virtual personal assistant that uses biometric recognition, automated driving that allows the driver to conduct video calls and entertainment and wellness experiences like mediation, games and karaoke. There’s even a feature that allows customers to create and synthesize their own music

While this may be a design exercise aimed at exciting consumers and shareholders, the core technology is a real part of Stellantis’ strategy. Stellantis has said it will invest more than $33.7 billion through 2025 into software and electrification. The end goal is to have 34 million connected cars on the road by 2030 that Stellantis can generate revenue from for years after they’re sold to consumers.

To hit that lofty goal, Stellantis is developing three components that will be integrated into future products, starting with the underlying electrical and software architecture called STLA Brain. This underlying system is integrated with the cloud that connects electronic control units within the vehicle with the vehicle’s central high performing computer via a high-speed data bus. It will allow the company to upgrade software to vehicles “over the air,” or wirelessly.

On top of this “brain,” Stellantis will add its “SmartCockpit,” a platform built in partnership with Foxconn that will deliver applications to the driver such as navigation, voice assistance, e-commerce marketplace and payment services. A third automated driving platform called “AutoDrive,” developed with BMW, will complete the automaker’s software plan.

All three of these platforms will be in new Stellantis vehicles by 2024.

Visitors to CES 2023 get to see the “brain,” “smart cockpit” and “autodrive” in action through the Chrysler Synthesis concept, which includes a 37.2-inch sculpted black glass infotainment screen for both front-row occupants. The two-seater cockpit, inspired by Chrysler Airflow Concept unveiled last year that represents the brand’s future design direction, is outfitted with sustainable materials. No chrome allowed.

The suspended vegan seats are wrapped with an arctic upcycled chrome-free soft trim, the instrument panel is constructed from 100% post-industrial plastics and ocean plastics, and the flooring is “responsibly sourced” walnut. LED lighting completes the look.

However, the real goods showcased in the Chrysler Synthesis is the software.

The software in the Chrysler Synthesis — and theoretically, future Chrysler vehicles — includes a virtual personal assistant, the ability to learn the owner’s behaviors and preferences and frequent wireless software updates to provide new and fresh content.

The assistant is designed to make everyday life easier like installing updates and synching to calendars for schedule and route planning, allowing multi-tasking while driving autonomously, recommending parking and charging options, assisting with e-commerce services, connecting to devices and smart homes. (It should be noted that Tesla vehicles, new Mercedes models with the MBUX infotainment system and other vehicle models have some of these ‘smart’ features).

Chrysler also envisions a more automated driving future. The Chrysler Synthesis demonstrates so-called Level 3 automated driving that allows the driver to keep their hands of the steering wheel and eyes off the road.

This is Chrysler’s vision for your future car cabin by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

India’s tax rules on crypto, which went into effect last April, has resulted in local exchanges ceding the lion’s share of the market to those operated by foreign players, according to a new report.

Binance, Coinbase and other foreign exchanges commanded 67.6% of the crypto market share in India as of October 2022, up from 50% in November 2021, according to New Delhi-based think tank Esya.

During the period between February 2022, when India unveiled its crypto taxation policy, and October 2022, $3.8 billion of trading volume shifted from domestic centralized exchanges to those operated offshore, the report said (PDF).

Indian exchanges including WazirX, CoinSwitch and CoinDCX lost a whopping 81% of their trading volume in four months between July and October, Esya said, attributing the trend to the local TDS rules.

India is among the nations that has taken a stringent approach at cryptocurrencies. It began taxing virtual currencies in April last year, levying a 30% tax on the gains and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction.

The report argues that traders are moving to foreign exchanges because they believe they will be able to mask their activities from the local authorities. Many of the foreign exchanges, including Binance, offer a peer-to-peer on-ramp and off-ramp ability, allowing users to avoid having to make transactions to a business.

Additionally, many foreign exchanges including KuCoin and Gate allow crypto trading within certain capital limit (typically a few thousand dollars a day) without KYC details. Decentralized exchanges such as DYDX, by design, require no KYC. In the past top Indian exchanges executives have warned that India’s tax regime will force users to switch to unregulated entities.

“These imply that India is not only losing out on international competitiveness in the VDA (virtual digital asset) ecosystem, which is closely linked to several emerging technologies, but also on scarce liquidity which is important for concurrent economic value creation in the country,” Esya wrote.

“Importantly, the implications of the current VDA architecture on the government’s tax revenue are also unclear.”

The report urges the Indian government to reevaluate its crypto taxation, suggesting it at least waives off the 1% TDS levy on transactions.

The vast majority of local authorities remain some of the most vocal opponents of crypto. The Indian central bank’s governor warned last month that private cryptocurrencies will cause the next financial crisis unless its usage is prohibited.

The central bank said last week that India, under its ongoing G20 presidency, will prioritize the development of a framework for global regulation of unbacked crypto assets, stablecoins and decentralized finance and will explore the “possibility of [their] prohibition.”

India’s crypto tax pushing traders to foreign exchanges by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Nintendo’s Power Glove was, to quote one of the 80s’ finest films, “so bad.” The NES peripheral transfixed a generation of youngsters, only to later realize that the “bad” in this instance should perhaps have been taken a bit more literally. Nintendo ultimately sold one million of the things, but the technology just wasn’t there, and the dream controlling gameplay with a robo-glove appeared to have died along with it.

With the newfound (relative) prominence of virtual reality, perhaps it’s time give the idea another go. Certainly interacting in this way make a heck of a lot more sense in VR than it does an 8-bit side scroller. This is the promise behind ContactGlove, a new product from the Japanese firm, Diver-X, which debuted this week at CES.

In addition to picking up an Innovation Award at the show, ContactGlove is also the subject of an on-going Kickstarter campaign, which has already passed its $200,000 goal, with 16 days left to go. The product combines hand tracking with haptic feedback to give the user a more hands-on approach to interacting with the virtual environment around them.

After calibrating the system, ContactGlove tracks finger movements for more natural interaction, as well as button/stick movements made with the hand for a more traditional gaming experience. Battery life is around two hours with haptics on and eight hours with it turned off. You can also hot swap the battery to keep it up and running.

The product claims to be a cheaper/more accessible approach to VR gloves than what’s currently out there. Of course, when dealing with VR hardware, “cheaper” is certainly relative. The firm puts the final retail price of the product at just under $500 for the pair.

It’s compatible with HTC Vive headsets, as well as Steam VR hardware. The company is also making an SDK available for Unity and UnrealEngine developers to make better use of the system. Diver-X expects to start shipping in July, at which point we’ll find out which kind of bad ContactGlove truly is.

It’s like the Power Glove, but for VR by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

From the team that brought you the weird and wonderful robot cat pillow comes an equally weird and wonderful breathing pillow. Japanese boutique robotics firm Yukai Engineering returns to CES with Fufuly, which follows in Qoobo’s footsteps, by quite literally breathing some life into a cushion.

The hardware startup says the product utilizes “respiratory entrainment,” which refers to a phenomenon where in the rhythm of a patient’s breathing matches that of a respirator. Here that basically means the person’s breathing matches up with the robot cushion, rather than the other way around.

Yukai says the product was developed based on research from the University of Tokyo. Certainly plenty has been written about the power of breathing in improving one’s mental state and reducing anxiety. It’s precisely the reason breathing is tied so closely to meditation, for example.

There’s no app, and really, not much in the way of smarts here (and unlike Qoobo, it doesn’t directly respond to user stimulus). Instead, you cycle through three modes: regular, deep and third designed to help the user relax.

Per the Fulfuly website [translated from the Japanese], “It’s very easy to use. Switch it on and hug it. This is all you need.” Would that the rest of life could be so simple. Like past Yukai products, the pillow will be launched via a crowdfunding campaign. No word on pricing as of yet, though CEO Shunsuke Aoki tells me that the product will likely cost more than Qoobo, which is currently priced a bit north of $100.

Also new for the show is Lightony, a robotic lamp designed to “doze off” with the user.

Breathe along with the robot pillow by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

CES isn’t as consumer-focused as it once was, despite the overt branding. (CES stands for “Consumer Electronics Show.”) Indeed, automotive and enterprise vendors have encroached on the Las Vegas show floor in recent years as some major consumer brands pull back. But there’s still consumer tech news to be had, fortunately. Case in point: Nanoleaf, the brand behind the iconic wall-mounted, geometric LED lighting, is introducing an array of products this week to showcase its latest technical innovations.

First up is the Sense+ Controls, which Nanoleaf is calling its first “learning smart light switches.” The lineup of devices — which comprises the hardwired Smart Light Switch, Wireless Smart Light Switch and Nala Learning Bridge — work with Matter, the smart home interoperability protocol, and run on the low-power mesh networking standard Thread. All three Sense+ Controls products have motion and ambient lighting sensors to automate routines, while the Nala Learning Bridge — which connects Thread devices including Nanoleaf’s to Wi-Fi or ethernet — works as a color-changing night light with a soft glow.

Perhaps the real star of the show where it concerns Sense+ Controls, though, is Nala, an intelligent assistant that attempts to learn preferences from how a person uses and programs Nanoleaf products around the house. Running on the Nala Learning Bridge or an existing Nanoleaf Thread Border Router (coming via a free firmware upgrade), Nala creates personalized automations and attempts to handle certain actions informed by its learnings, like turning off the lights, adjusting the brightness and color and choosing lighting scenes.

“We wanted to push the boundaries of what a ‘Smarter’ home can look like. With app and voice controls, the smart home is still very much based on manual controls and has not reached its full potential of what smart can be,” Gimmy Chu, the CEO of Nanoleaf, told TechCrunch in an email interview. “Combined with the vision of a hands-free smart home, we wanted to pair this with a smart lighting assistant that was user-friendly and relatable, which is when Nala was born.”

Nanoleaf certainly isn’t the first to attempt to inject intelligence and proactivity into the smart home. Amazon has long made a show of Alexa’s “ambient intelligence” capabilities, while Google has dipped its toes in the space repeatedly over the years. Nanoleaf isn’t claiming that Nala is the best attempt at the intelligent home yet. But it is asserting that, because Nala’s control is strictly limited to lighting, the assistant is more likely to behave in a desirable way. Simply put, there’s less that can go wrong.

“Nala creates smart automations for your home, which can either be set to appear as suggestions or automatically applied to your lighting,” Chu said. “Nala’s learning capabilities grow more intelligent and accurate with the amount of sensors within the space. Each smart light switch will help Nala to learn better and offer more accurate predictive actions like turn on and off, seamless brightness adjustments, scene selection and more.”

Beyond Nala and Sense+ Controls, Nanoleaf unveiled Nanoleaf 4D, an ambient (and Matter-compatible) backlighting kit for large-screen TVs. Similar to AmbiVision and other such systems, Nanoleaf 4D relies on an LED light strip and a camera to record what’s happening on the display and “extend” the picture by illuminating corresponding LEDs. Nanoleaf 4D features four screen modes, with 50 addressable zones on the five-meter light strip, and comes bundled with snap-on brackets as well as adhesives for easy (in theory) installation.

Nanoleaf 4D is also the first to ship with Nanoleaf’s Sync+ technology, which synchronizes it with other Nanoleaf products on the same network. Sync+ can mirror what’s on screen to both Nanoleaf 4D and other Nanoleaf lighting fixtures, and it can additionally sync colors and animations so a single scene plays continuously across a room.

Not to be outdone (and clearly firing on all cylinders), Nanoleaf announced the Nanoleaf Skylight, a modular flush-mount ceiling fixture that works with Matter, alongside the Sense+ Controls and Nanoleaf 4D. Coming in a square modular RGBW LED form factor that delivers 16 million colors, the Skylight can be arranged with other Skylights to create overhead designs and comes with features for adjusting the brightness, colors and color temperatures and setting schedules.

As a bonus, the Skylight can act as a Thread Border Router and packs Sense+ sensors to enable motion and light sensing.

Last but not least, Nanoleaf debuted the Matter-certified Essentials Bulbs and Lightstrip, which offer “mesmerizing” animations for different activities (in the company’s words). Existing Nanoleaf owners needn’t rush out to buy them strictly for the Matter connectivity, though — Nanoleaf says that its full line of modular light panels and light bars will be Matter-upgradeable later this year.

The Sense+ Controls line and Skylight are expected to launch in Q3 2023, Nanoleaf says — a few months after the Essentials Bulbs and Lightstrip (which will arrive sometime in Q1). Nanoleaf 4D will come to market in Q2 in two length options, meanwhile — 55″-65″ and 70″-80″. No word on pricing yet.

Nanoleaf debuts smart lighting for ceilings, TVs and more by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Bosch is expanding its security footprint in the ride-hailing economy.

The global supplier introduced Tuesday evening as CES 2023 kicked off in Las Vegas a new connected smart camera and accompanying 24-hour support line for drivers of ride-hailing apps. Bosch said it’s working with Gridwise, an app for rideshare and delivery drivers, to conduct user research and ensure it’s the right fit for the market.

The device designed with ride-hailing drivers in mind, includes an interior and exterior camera and a lighting element on the front to let drivers and riders know the service is active.

The product also comes with a wireless SOS button in the vehicle that the driver can press to activate an emergency call to a Bosch call center. The emergency call operators are available live 24 hours a day and can access a camera view from the RideCare companion device to determine if emergency services need to be contacted.

“What takes the Bosch RideCare companion beyond a simple dashcam is that it is paired with a service that provides active help by trained call center specialists when required,” Christoph Hartung, president of cross-domain computing solutions for Bosch said in a statement.

All rides are monitored. But the footage, which includes encrypted data such as location and a timestamp, is only uploaded to the cloud if an event is triggered via the SOS button or a request from the driver. Data is handled according to applicable data privacy regulations, according to the company. The device is equipped with a number of tamper-resistance features and will send an alert if the field-of-view of the device is compromised or blocked.

The product will be available for sale in the early part of 2023, according to a company spokesperson. It will be marketed to drivers as well as fleets. Bosch didn’t release pricing for the hardware product and accompanying support service. A company spokesperson said there will be an upfront cost for the device and a subscription model for the support service.

RideCare companion builds off of the company’s previous sharing economy product “RideCare insight,” which was introduced in 2021. That product detects smoke, damage and harshe driving in shared vehicles.

This newest product not only signals the company’s bet on the growth of human-driven ride-hailing services, its also an investment in the future of ridesharing: robotaxis. The company wouldn’t reveal which rideshare companies (including those working on robotaxi services) it is working with. A spokesperson did acknowledge Bosch has spoken with a “number of companies” in the market.

The company is clearly eyeing the automated ride-share services industry as a possible market for the RideShare product.

“As automated ride-share services continue to emerge, a solution like RideCare companion becomes even more relevant for passenger transparency and safety,” Hartung added.

The product was honored as a CES 2023 Innovation Awards Best of Innovation honoree in the In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety category.

Bosch is rolling out a security dashcam designed for rideshare drivers by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

There are a lot of YouTube videos out there that we’d rather not smell, but Kyoto-based tech startup Aromajoin today showed off the option to add a multidimensional experience to the mix. Using its ‘Aroma Shooter’ technology and a programmable ‘AromaPlayer,’ a neck-wearable smell dispenser can add six different aromas to your video-watching shenanigans. We tried it out at CES in Las Vegas today.

The AromaPlayer tool is easy to use, and can combine the company’s tools with any video from YouTube or videos from your own library. The color-coded interface makes it possible to add scents, timed perfectly with the video playing in front of you. The smell, timing, and duration can be programmed, and you can mix and match smells to trigger at the same time. The scents themselves come in tiny replaceable cartridges.

we had the opportunity to try it. The smells available are crisply delivered, and remarkably recognizable. Fresh grapefruit, a crackling campfire smoke, freshly baked bread, burning rubber – and when synced with video, the smells help the visuals come to life.

The tech was initially used in high-end digital signage applications, with a dispenser that can jet smells your way from up to 6 feet away, but the company today showed off tools for anyone to create their own content and aromatic experiences – a demo is available at AromaPlayer.com. The neck-worn device is far more targeted than its commercially focused product and cannot be perceived beyond a foot or so away from the viewer.

“Our technology gives a controllable smell, and with Aromashooter, you can choose the direction of the aromas. They can be timed to 0.1 second accuracy, and you sync them with music or videos,” says Dong Wook Kim, CEO at Aromajoin in an interview with TechCrunch at CES, adding that the company has more than 25 patents on the technology.

To emit a scent, the device first takes in ambient air, which then passes through the cartridge to add the scent to the air. The nozzles are aimed directly at the user’s nose, delivering the smell. The device can connect to smartphones, computers, or VR headsets using Bluetooth.

During normal use, the battery life of the device is around two days. The device will be released ‘soon,’ the company says, although exact pricing and availability are not yet set.

Aromajoin brings videos to life by squirting your face with smells by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon has secured an $8 billion loan in anticipation of market headwinds.

Provided by DBS Bank, Mizuho Bank and others, the loan — which will mature in 364 days (January 3, 2024), with an option to extend for another 364 days — will be used for “general corporate purposes,” Amazon said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch that the loan adds to the range of financing options the company has tapped in recent months to hedge against the “uncertain macroeconomic environment.”

“Like all companies we regularly evaluate our operating plan and make financing decisions — like entering into term loan agreements or issuing bonds — accordingly,” the spokesperson said via email. “Given the uncertain macroeconomic environment, over the last few months we have used different financing options to support capital expenditures, debt repayments, acquisitions and working capital needs.”

Amazon’s income dipped toward the end of 2022 as the economy took its toll. The tech giant spent billions doubling the size of its fulfillment network during the pandemic, a play that served it well initially but which proved to be short sighted.

Amazon was forced to shut down or delay plans for over a dozen facilities as e-commerce sales last year grew slower than expected. Another headwind — soaring energy prices — impacted Amazon’s business in a major way, with the company’s spending on shipping climbing 10% to $19.9 billion in Q3 2022.

To cut costs, Amazon plans to reduce its workforce in early 2023, reportedly by as much as 10,000 employees. The layoffs, which would be the largest in the company’s history, are said to be concentrated in Amazon’s human resources, Alexa and retail divisions.

In other penny-saving measures, Amazon has frozen hiring for corporate roles in its retail business, shut down its Amazon Care telehealth service, closed all but one of its U.S. call centers, and scaled back Amazon Scout, its long-running delivery robot project. Those moves haven’t been enough to prevent the company’s market cap from falling below $1 trillion for the first time since April 2020.

Amazon secures $8B loan, anticipating market headwinds by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

The all-electric Volkswagen ID 7 sedan — the next EV in the German automaker’s lineup — was unveiled Tuesday at CES 2023 in Las Vegas.

And the most exciting part of the debut wasn’t the vehicle’s multi-layered explosion of yellow, orange, red and blue camouflaged electroluminescent paint that lights up on command. (although it is eye-catching for the near-production version of the vehicle). Instead, it was a few features and changes from its previous ID models that showed VW is trying to up its software and human-machine interface design game with an approach that is closer to what consumers might find in Tesla models, the Porsche Taycan and the Rivian R1S and Rivian R1T.

The ID 7 sedan, previously shown as a concept vehicle in China under the name ID Aero, is one of 10 new electric models that will into production by 2026, according to Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schäfer. The EV will launch in China, Europe and North America.

Like its other ID siblings, the ID 7 is based on the MEB platform, a flexible modular system — really a matrix of common parts — that VW Group brands including Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen use to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of producing EVs. The Volkswagen ID.3, an electric hatchback that is only sold in Europe and the Volkswagen ID.4 SUVandID.5, along with various variants of the Audi Q4 e-tron are built on the MEB platform. By 2025, the automaker expects more than 80% will be.

The ID 7 does have a few standout changes and features worth noting, starting with a new interface on the car’s infotainment system. The central display is larger at 15 inches. But more importantly, the way users will access and interact with the functions located on the screen, has changed.

The climate functions are now prominently and permanently displayed on the bottom of the central infotainment screen. Along the top and upper left is where the driver and quickly access information on the vehicle and advanced driver assistance features.

In what promises to be controversial in some automotive circles, VW has adopted a new air conditioning system that uses digitally controlled air vents similar to what Tesla vehicles are equipped with. That means no more physical air vents that a driver or passenger can move to change the direction of air flow. Instead, users can access voice controls or the central touchscreen to change the direction of the air flow.

The air conditioning system is also designed to be more intuitive. If a driver approaches the vehicle with their key, the system should turn on and begin cooling the interior on hot days or heat it when the temperature is colder.

Volkswagen is also trying to step up its natural language processing game. The company said users will be able to give specific verbals cues, like Hello Volkswagen, my hands are cold!,” and the system will respond by starting the steering wheel heating function and directing warm air to the driver’s hands.

Other additions and changes featured in the ID 7 includes an augmented reality head-up display and illuminated touch sliders on the bottom of the touchscreen.

The exterior design does fit within the current EV portfolio at VW. The sedan has an aerodynamic front section and roof that has a coupe-like slope to the rear. The design, which can be difficult to discern amid the illuminated multi-colored camouflage, is designed to both help to reduce energy consumption and increase the range, according to the company. Air intakes are located in the front end, to guide the air through them and down the sides of the vehicle to the rear, forming an air curtain, which calms the air flow at the sides of the vehicle.

The end result is an estimated range (under the European ELTP cycle) of around 700 kilometers, or about 434 miles of range.

The Volkswagen all-electric ID 7 sedan’s most interesting feature isn’t its light-up paint by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch