Technology news

Japan’s Suzuki to Make ‘flying cars’ with SkyDrive

For the development of flying cars, Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has agreed upon a deal with SkyDrive Inc. These EVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) airliners will be produced by both businesses at the former’s facilities in central Japan and the production is planned to begin in the spring of the next year.

Following the arrangement, Suzuki will assist with production arrangements, such as staffing, whereas SkyDrive will form an independent division to build the aircraft.

Multi-rotor aircraft capable of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) are known as flying automobiles. The vehicles are primarily designed to transport a limited number of passengers, while certain types may also be used on land.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, several prototypes have been constructed employing various flying technology. The majority have been built to use a runway for traditional takeoff and landing. VTOL projects are growing, although only a small number of them have been completed so far.

Also Read: Microsoft notches record high valuation of nearly $2.6 trillion

The central Japanese city of Toyota is home to SkyDrive, whose principal shareholders include the trade corporation Itochu Corp, the technology giant NEC Corp, as well as a division of the energy firm Eneos Holdings Inc. It agreed to collaborate with Suzuki on the study, and development, along with the commercialization of flying automobiles in March, last year.

Both businesses announced in a joint press release previously this year that two will collaborate to establish emerging markets, with their initial concentration on India. The Japanese carmaker will enter the fourth transportation market with its latest agreement, joining the ranks of cars, motorbikes, and marine motors.

Ex-engineers from Toyota founded SkyDrive in 2018, and they want to use their flying cars at the Osaka World Exposition happening in 2025.

One of the transportation sectors with the quickest growth is flying automobiles, with established brands like Toyota & Japan Airlines joining the industry via start-ups with strong development skills.

By the end of this decade, it’s very feasible that flying automobiles will rule the sky. In a recent conversation, Michael Cole, the top executive of Hyundai, UK, said that by the finish of the decade, such cars may be widely available throughout the globe.

“We could see some intra-city type application with the Urban Air Mobility for cargo, but maybe for passengers. But that’s towards the end of this decade and obviously smaller scale,” he said.
Source: auto.hindustantimes.com

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Microsoft notches record high valuation of nearly $2.6 trillion

Since public enthusiasm over the potential of AI (artificial intelligence) has contributed to lifting the tech conglomerate to a peak market value of 2.59 trillion dollars, Microsoft Corp stocks went up to a new all-time high finish on Thursday.

Because of its substantial funding in OpenAI, which is based in San Francisco that created the hugely successful chatbot ChatGPT, Microsoft has been recognized as a leader in the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the software industry.

To compete with Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., Microsoft started releasing several AI enhancements, such as ChatGPT, the company’s Bing search engine, and Azure cloud services within the past month.

Also Read: LinkedIn to test ad product for video streaming services

On Thursday, Microsoft’s prices increased 3.2 percent and closed at 348.10 dollars for each share. The price of the stock, which has increased by more than 45 percent so far this year, hit its previous record close of 343.11 USD on November 19, 2021. On November 22, 2021, the share’s intraday highest level ever was 349.67 USD.

Additionally, on Thursday, the stock of Apple Inc. closed at a record high of 186.01 USD, while those of the manufacturer of graphics chips Nvidia hit a brand-new intraday record of 432.89 USD.

The increasing demand for Microsoft’s items is being driven by AI, according to JPMorgan experts who increased their price objective on the business’s stock sooner on Thursday. Following data from Refinitiv, 44 of the 53 experts that follow Microsoft suggested purchasing the stock, with a consensus price objective of $340.

“We reaffirm our bullish-outlier viewpoint on generative AI and continue to see it driving a resurgence of confidence in key software franchises,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

On June 5, the Microsoft 365 software suite, which includes Teams and Outlook, was unavailable for over two hours to over a thousand customers, with a brief reappearance the next morning. For Microsoft, it was their fourth of these events in a calendar year.

Also Read: Why is Microsoft Teams integration being removed from Win11?

Microsoft has claimed that cyberattacks were to blame for the outages that the firm had during some of the first days of this month, but it claimed that there was no proof that any information about clients had been obtained or compromised.

“Beginning in early June 2023, Microsoft identified surges in traffic against some services that temporarily impacted availability'” the company said in a blog post.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Suhani Jain

LinkedIn to test ad product for video streaming services

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft Corp., announced on Thursday that it was developing a video advertising solution that would enable advertisers to target LinkedIn users as they watched content on streaming platforms.

In an effort to grow its advertising business during a period of economic uncertainty, LinkedIn has released AI technologies to aid marketers in creating ad content.

Penry Price, vice president of marketing solutions at LinkedIn, told Reuters that in-stream video advertisements might alter how businesses and consumers connect with and engage with their audiences.

Also Read: Google launches AI-powered advertiser features

With trailing 12-month sales of over $14 billion and an 8% year-over-year revenue growth as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, LinkedIn is doing well.

LinkedIn makes money by selling ads and subscriptions to salespeople, job searchers, and recruiters. A significant revenue stream for LinkedIn is its Marketing Solutions.

This includes advertising and marketing tools such as Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, Text Ads, Dynamic Ads, and Display Ads. These offerings enable businesses to promote their content, products, and services to LinkedIn’s professional user base, reaching a targeted audience for their marketing campaigns.

It provides advertising opportunities for businesses and marketers to reach its professional user base. One of the key advertising products available on LinkedIn is Sponsored Content, which enables businesses to promote their content directly in the LinkedIn feed.

Sponsored Content can consist of text, images, and videos, allowing companies to increase brand awareness and engage with their target audience effectively.

Another advertising option is Sponsored InMail, which allows businesses to send personalized messages directly to LinkedIn users’ inboxes. This feature facilitates targeted messaging and can be used to promote events, products, or content.

Text Ads are also available on the platform, appearing on the right-hand side of the desktop version of the app. These ads typically include a headline, description, and a small image.

Also Read: Nasdaq to buy fintech firm Adenza for $10.5 billion

Additionally, it offers Dynamic Ads that utilize a user’s LinkedIn profile data to create personalized and engaging ad experiences. Banner-style Display Ads are another option, appearing on the website and mobile app with images, videos, and interactive elements.

Video Ads, which can be placed within the feed and autoplay while users scroll, are also part of LinkedIn’s advertising offerings. It’s advisable to visit LinkedIn’s official website or contact their advertising team directly for the most up-to-date information on their advertising products and features.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Nasdaq to buy fintech firm Adenza for $10.5 billion

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

The financial marketplace, which runs the stock exchanges in Boston, New York, as well as Philadelphia, reached an agreement to pay a total of 10.5 billion USD on Monday for the software firm Adenza.

In addition to being possibly the most pricey trade in the 52-year history of Nasdaq, it also represents the most recent effort by stock exchanges to go outside transaction-related services to include data and risk management.

Treasury management software systems are produced by Adenza, which was formed by the combination of Calypso Technology and AxiomSL. The acquisition of Adenza by Nasdaq from the private equity firm Thoma Bravo was not one of its kind.

Also Read: AI startup Cohere raises funds from Nvidia, valued at $2.2 billion

Nasdaq purchased the owner of the Nordic markets which is OMX, for a price of 3.7 billion USD, invested $1.1 billion in the ISE (International Securities Exchange) in 2016, and paid $2.75 billion for the anti-financial offense software provider Verafin in 2020.

Banks as well as brokerages are the main users of Adenza’s applications, and experts predicted that Nasdaq’s acquisition of the business would enable it to broaden even further from its core business of running stock exchanges.

Thoma Bravo will receive a 14.9 percent share in Nasdaq in fulfillment of the agreement, establishing the private equity firm as one of the stock market operator’s largest shareholders. It is anticipated that Holden Spaht who is a managing partner of Thoma Bravo, will join the Nasdaq board.

“The whole here as part of Nasdaq is worth more than the sum of its parts – there are revenue synergies with Nasdaq, there are expense synergies and Nasdaq is a great global brand that I think will accelerate sales in Adenza,” said Spaht in an interview.
Source: cnbc.com

Investors perceived the agreement as a risky wager, and Nasdaq stocks dropped almost ten percent to $52.39 on Monday. To fund the merger, Nasdaq plans to issue around 5.9 billion USD in debt, which is roughly thirty-one times the business’s EBITDA for this fiscal year. Adenza was appraised at this price by Nasdaq.

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The transaction involves 5.75 billion USD in cash plus the common stock’s 85.6 million shares of Nasdaq. By the moment the agreement is finished, Nasdaq’s leverage will be 4.7 times greater thanks to the debt it’s going to issue. Within 18 months from now, Nasdaq wants to reduce leverage amounts to 4 times. In a period of six to nine months, the transaction is anticipated to finalize.

The medium-term organic growth in revenue expectation for Nasdaq’s Services Organisations, which manufacture and create software to manage finances for investors, is anticipated to go up following the acquisition of Adenza from 7 to 10 percent to 8-11 percent.

Suhani Jain

Google launches AI-powered advertiser features

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

Google announced on Wednesday the debut of two new features for advertisers powered by artificial intelligence. These features will help advertisers identify the most effective ad placements for their brands across all of Google’s services.

The tech industry has been dominated by AI in recent months as a result of Google and other companies creating inventive chatbots that can engage people in open-ended conversations. In order to better serve advertisers, who provide companies with money, AI is also being used more and more.

Google’s launch of AI-powered advertiser features represents its ongoing commitment to automation and harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to enhance advertising capabilities. By leveraging AI, Google aims to provide advertisers with advanced tools and features that streamline campaign management and optimize ad performance.

Also Read: Google AI to power virtual travel agent from Priceline

Google has already provided AI advertising tools, but it is now utilizing the technology to assist brands in achieving more focused objectives for their advertisements. Google’s AI algorithms can analyze various factors, such as historical campaign data, user behavior, and contextual signals, to optimize bidding strategies automatically.

This helps advertisers achieve their campaign goals more efficiently while reducing the time and effort required for manual bid adjustments.

Demand Gen, one of the new capabilities, uses AI to distribute an advertiser’s video and photo advertising across a number of platforms, including Gmail, the YouTube feed, and Shorts, YouTube’s answer to the well-known short-form video app TikTok.

According to Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president and general manager of advertising at Google, AI will make it unnecessary for advertisers to consider where to place their ads and would instead concentrate on identifying spots that are “shiny, visual, and immersive.”

According to Google, the second new feature will employ AI to identify the ideal ad placements in order to maximize the number of views for a brand’s video advertisements.

According to preliminary testing, brands used the new tool to get 40% more video views overall, Srinivasan added. Brands will be able to concentrate more on their advertising plan and storytelling by employing AI to take some of the “grunt work” away from advertisers, she continued.

Also Read: Google quietly ends support for decade-old Chromecast

AI can assist advertisers in creating effective ad campaigns. By analyzing past performance data, user behavior patterns, and industry trends, Google’s AI can generate campaign structures, ad copies, and targeting options that are likely to yield better results.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Netflix shareholders withhold support for executive pay package

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

In a non-binding vote on Thursday, Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O) shareholders decided not to endorse the company’s CEO pay package in response to a plea by Hollywood writers on strike to reject the proposed 2023 remuneration.

The Writers Guild of America West argued that such a vote would be “inappropriate” during the strike, which is now in its fifth week, and urged investors to vote against the remuneration package proposed to Netflix’s top executives.

Meredith Stiehm, president of the Writers Guild West, wrote: “Investors have long objected to Netflix’s executive pay, but the compensation structure is more egregious in light of the strike.”

Similar correspondence was submitted by the union to Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, which will conduct its annual shareholder meeting on June 7.

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According to Stiehm, if Netflix had the money to pay its top executives more than $166 million in salary last year, it could afford to pay authors who are looking for greater pay $68 million annually.

In a non-binding “say on pay” vote, Netflix shareholders declined to accept the CEO remuneration structure for 2023. The voting results, according to the firm, will be disclosed in a regulatory filing. Just 27% of the shareholder votes cast last year supported the company’s executive compensation plan.

Following the vote from the previous year, Netflix claimed to have made adjustments, such as implementing a wage cap for its co-chief executives and a performance-based bonus program. Executive Chairman Reed Hastings will make $500,000 in salary and $2.5 million in stock this year. CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters will share a $3 million yearly pay.

Sarandos is entitled to a bonus of up to $17 million and an extra $20 million in stock. Peters will receive up to $14.3 million in bonus money in addition to $17.3 million in shares. Executive salary for Hollywood executives is a point of discussion in negotiations, according to the union.

The top 10 pay packages given to CEOs of publicly traded firms in Equilar’s 2022 research included Endeavour CEO Ari Emanuel and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

In an effort to get the media corporations back to the negotiating table, the union has been exerting pressure on them. The standoff over better pay, residuals, and working conditions caused contract negotiations to cease on May 1st. An additional difficulty is the application of artificial intelligence.

The Directors Guild’s current contract expires on June 30, and negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is representing streamers like Netflix and the studios in those talks, are presently underway. On June 7, negotiations with the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA will start.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

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