Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • UBS It’s Major Shareholders Pull in Opposite Directions

    UBS It’s Major Shareholders Pull in Opposite Directions

    UBS can’t grow fast enough for newly onboarded financial investor Cevian. Meanwhile, two other major shareholders are now expressing concerns about the size of the new megabank in Switzerland.

    The program for integrating Credit Suisse is in place, and UBS will start acquiring the clients and legal units of the crisis-hit bank over the next few months. But the company’s major shareholders are now flexing their muscles.

    Shareholder representative Ethos Foundation expressed its concerns. The even larger banking behemoth could influence regulation in the country and undermine Switzerland’s ability to rein in banks’ risk-taking, the Western Switzerland-based organization says. Ethos advises investors who own up to 5 percent of all UBS shares.

    That is not all. Another investor, apparently one of the bank’s top ten shareholders, also voiced unease on condition of anonymity.

    According to the report, the professional investor fears a conflict may arise between UBS and the Swiss authorities and lawmakers over the bank’s size. Such a dispute could hamper the smooth running of the institution.

    In fact, an evaluation commissioned by the Federal Council on the «new» UBS and expected to be published in April is already causing nervousness. Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter recently said that the primary goal of bank regulation was to protect the state and taxpayers.

    While Ethos and Co. may be expressing concerns in this regard, the big bank cannot grow quickly enough for Cevian. The Swedish financial investor acquired UBS shares worth around 1.2 billion euros last December and expressed high hopes when it stepped onboard. Cevian thinks the major bank could double its stock price to 50 Swiss francs within a reasonable period.

    Among major shareholders, this has produced a tug-of-war between these parties – another focal point that the bank management, already busy with the Credit Suisse integration, has to grapple with.

    UBS has already commented on the report. The bank believes the focus on its balance sheet is misleading. About 20 percent of total assets are highly liquid, while 15 percent are mortgages for retail clients and wealthy private clients, which would only pose very low risks.

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  • Pandora switches to 100 per cent recycled gold and silver

    Pandora switches to 100 per cent recycled gold and silver

    Pandora has shifted to using recycled silver and gold for all of its jewelry, a move it said will avoid significant greenhouse gas emissions.

    The new strategy aims to reduce 58,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. According to the company, the carbon footprint of recycled silver is one-third compared to mined silver, while recycling gold emits less than 1 per cent of the carbon emissions from mining new gold.

    The target was previously set for 2025, but has been achieved early thanks to the strong commitment from the firm’s suppliers.

    Suppliers have had to switch their operations to only source materials that are certified recycled according to the Responsible Jewelry Council Chain of Custody.

    Pandora currently produces its jewelry with 97 per cent recycled silver and gold and is expected to increase to 100 per cent from this year’s second half.

    “Precious metals can be recycled forever without any loss of quality. Silver originally mined centuries ago is just as good as new, and improved recycling can significantly reduce the climate footprint of the jewelry industry,” said CEO Alexander Lacik.

    The Copenhagen-based company sells its products in more than 100 countries through more than 6500 points of sale, including some 2500 concept stores.

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  • Karma Drinks launches limited-edition Lemmy bottle for Melanoma awareness

    Karma Drinks launches limited-edition Lemmy bottle for Melanoma awareness

    Kiwi beverage company Karma Drinks has launched a limited-edition bottle of its Lemmy Lemonade to support Melanoma New Zealand. The partnership aims to raise awareness about melanoma prevention and early detection.

    According to Melanoma NZ, more than 6000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with melanoma every year, and approximately 300 people die from the disease. However, the condition can be preventable; if detected and treated early enough, it is almost always curable.

    National sales manager James Boshier said that Karma Drinks is all about being kind and doing good for others through the sales of its drinks.

    “It seems all Kiwis know someone who has unfortunately experienced some form of skin cancer. Key stakeholders at Karma are part of this group, so we highly value the great work Melanoma New Zealand is doing,” said Boshier.

    “Being a beverage company, often consumed outdoors in the summer, the idea of a partnership made complete sense.”

    The new limited edition bottle features the brand’s popular lemonade character, Lemmy, being “sun smart”, including wearing sunscreen and sunglasses and getting into the shade.

    The beverage company will donate proceeds from every bottle and can with the Melanoma New Zealand sticker until $10,000 is raised.

    Andrea Newland, CEO of Melanoma New Zealand, says that the funds will go towards helping to save lives.

    “Melanoma New Zealand is very grateful for Karma’s generous support – the funds will be used to help raise awareness about melanoma prevention and early detection,” added Newland.

    “We love that Lemmy is wearing his sunscreen and sunglasses, getting into the shade, and helping us to educate about the importance of being sun smart.”

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  • Huawei to take on iPhone 16 line in China with the Mate 70 series this coming September

    Huawei to take on iPhone 16 line in China with the Mate 70 series this coming September

    Huawei shocked everyone last August when it announced the Mate 60 series, powered by the first 5G Kirin chipset in over three years. The component was produced by China’s largest foundry, SMIC, using its dated 7nm process node. Chinese consumers took the announcement as a sign that somehow Huawei and SMIC were able to defeat the sanctions placed on Huawei by the U.S. and this nationalism helped Huawei sell 30 million units of the series.

    The Mate 70 series will be released next September, timed to go up head-to-head with the iPhone 16 line, at least in China. Back in October, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was the best-selling smartphone in China with a 5% share of the market compared with the 4% share earned by the Mate 60 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro. For the entire fourth quarter of 2023, Apple owned a leading 20.2% of the Chinese smartphone market while Huawei was third at 15.2% following a 71.1% year-over-year hike thanks to the Mate 60 series.

    For the whole year, Apple led with 17.3% of smartphone sales in the world’s top smartphone-buying country. Former Huawei sub-brand Honor was second with a 17.1% share. Huawei was not in the top five. Weibo blogger @SmartPikachu says that the Mate 70 line could be the most powerful handset series in the market later this year. That seems impossible unless Huawei is able to get access to cutting-edge application processors built using a 3nm process node. Currently, SMIC isn’t able to produce chips with a node under 7nm.

    Lower process nodes mean smaller transistors, meaning more can fit inside a chip. The higher a chip’s transistor count, the more powerful and/or energy-efficient a chip is. We could see a new Kirin chip power the Mate 70 line, but with SMIC unable to buy an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine from ASML, breaking the 7nm barrier will be extremely difficult for SMIC and Huawei.

    The next flagship series due from Huawei is the photography-based P70 line. Huawei is also said to be working on the Pocket S2, the second-generation clamshell foldable from the company. As for the Mate 70, @SmartPikachu says that the Mate 70 could sport a quad-curved display. It could also debut 5.5G technology and include a 1-inch type camera sensor, and a display with thinner and more uniform bezels.

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  • The iOS stopwatch gets Live Activities support in iOS 17.4

    The iOS stopwatch gets Live Activities support in iOS 17.4

    The iOS 17.4 beta update that was recently released by Apple includes a new feature for the Clock app’s Stopwatch. Once iOS 17.4 is installed on your iPhone, (we expect the update to be released as soon as March 4th), you’ll be able to start the Stopwatch from the clock app and watch it count the seconds, minutes, and hours on the Dynamic Island and the Lock Screen.

    The Dynamic Island will display an up-to-the-second look at the Stopwatch and tapping on it will give the user an option to pause the timer, or start a new lap. The same controls are all available for the Stopwatch on the Lock Screen. After pausing the Stopwatch on the Dynamic Island, you can clear it by tapping on the “X” button. On the Lock Screen, you can clear the Stopwatch by pausing it and swiping it off the screen.

    While timers have worked with Live Activities since the feature was introduced with iOS 16, the Stopwatch could only be viewed in the Clock app. But with iOS 17.4, that is going to change. And with an active Stopwatch running on the iPhone showing up front and center, you will no longer forget that you have one running.

    Because iOS 17.4 will bring major changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the EU thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA mandates that Apple make these changes by March 8th which is why we expect the update to arrive on Monday, March 4th. As we noted the other day, iOS 17.4 will also add a switch to the Stolen Device Protection feature allowing users to have the feature work everywhere. Currently, users can arrange to have the feature work at unfamiliar locations or they can disable it.

    Stolen Device Protection requests that Face ID and Touch ID verify your identity to complete certain actions. More sensitive tasks, such as changing your iPhone passcode, changing your Apple ID password, resetting Face ID or Touch ID, and disabling the Find My app, require that an hour pass before the requested changes take place. And even then, after an hour, you must verify your identity via Face ID or Touch ID.

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  • Beeper halts iMessage integration after reported user bans on Macs

    Beeper halts iMessage integration after reported user bans on Macs

    In its ongoing dispute with Apple for access to iMessages, Beeper, the universal messaging app, appears to have given up. In a recent announcement, the company revealed their decision to disable new iMessage connections on their main app, Beeper Cloud. This move effectively marks the complete shutdown of the service, at least for now.

    Following user reports, it came to light that Beeper users that were using the workaround method of the connecting the “Cloud” or “Mini” app to iMessage via their Mac computers, were somehow being banned from using iMessage altogether. Despite this only affecting a minority of Beeper users (about 30 out of 3,500), the bans were enough to spark worries about Apple’s aggressive approach when it comes to unauthorized third-party access to its messaging service.

    According to Beeper, the bans began shortly after the app pushed an update last month, which coincided with the company’s transition from relying on its own servers and instead having users seek authorization using their owned Macs. This worked for a little while, but apparently Apple eventually caught on and reportedly banned some of these connections.

    Beeper effectively reached out to Apple directly, but never received a response or any explanation for the bans. Nevertheless, after receiving media attention from The New York Times, Apple seemingly quickly resolved the issue and lifted the ban on affected users within a span of two days. This was documented in great detail on an X/Twitter post the company published.

    Apple claimed that the bans were due to “spam,” but Beeper and the affected users argue that they did not receive any warnings or notice any suspicious behavior. As a result, Beeper has decided to disable new iMessage connections on its platform completely. While the company does not completely rule out the possibility of reactivating iMessage accessibility through Beeper in the future, the current situation effectively puts an end to it.

    Beeper had previously announced its intentions to refocus its efforts into improving their desktop and mobile apps, as well as adding support for more messaging services down the line. Beeper’s desktop and mobile apps (except Beeper Mini) remain fully operational, offering a convenient solution for multiple messaging services, and currently supporting an impressive range of 14 different platforms. This is what Beeper will become from now on, a universal messaging app, without iMessage, of course.

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  • Ukiyo Spirits unveils Tokyo Dry Gin

    Ukiyo Spirits unveils Tokyo Dry Gin

    Drinkslogy Kirker Greer subsidiary Ukiyo Spirits has launched a new small-batch classic dry gin that celebrates Japanese flavours and fragrances.

    The range includes three variants: Ukiyo Tokyo Dry Gin, Ukiyo Blossom Gin , and Ukiyo Yuzu (citrus dry gin). Ukiyo Tokyo Dry Gin will be offered to on- and off-trade merchants in Australia, the UK and the Netherlands beginning next month.

    According to the company, the products are traditionally distilled and made using high-quality Japanese ingredients. The components include indigenous rice farmed in the surrounding regions as well as five native Japanese botanicals: yuzu peel, mikan peel, sakura flower, sakura leaf, and sansho pepper.

    “These carefully chosen ingredients combine to express the diverse terroir and tastes of Japan – resulting in an elegant and delicately aromatic classic dry gin offering warm and well-balanced citrus and spice notes, and a smooth finish,” said Ali Pickering, chief marketing officer at DKG.

    “Tokyo Dry Gin is beautifully presented in Ukiyo’s iconic two–colour graduated bottle, a world-first design offering a stylish and uniquely Japanese aesthetic that reflects Ukiyo’s home by mirroring the mountains and oceans of Japan.”

    The range is aimed at city livers aged 25 to 50 who enjoy travelling and visiting high-end cocktail bars.

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  • DHL Express adds more capacity on Singapore-US route

    DHL Express adds more capacity on Singapore-US route

    DHL Express and Singapore Airlines welcomed the final Boeing 777 freighter as part of a 5-aircraft deal signed in 2022 that will add further add capacity between Asia Pacific and the Americas via the DHL South Asia Hub in Singapore. 

    The aircraft, sporting a dual DHL-SIA livery, joins four other B777F, providing 1,224 tonnes of payload capacity to accomodate international express shipments on the US-Asia route.

    As early as December 2023, three of the five freighters were operated on the Singapore-Bangkok/Taipei-Incheon/Nagoya-Cincinnatti-Honolulu-Sydney-Singapore route seven times a week. The other two cover the Singapore-Nagoya-Los Angeles-Honolulu-Singapore route five times a week.

    DHL is capitalising on Singapore’s main hub status and location to cut the delivery times between Asia Pacific and the US West Coast to one day for time-sensitive shipments.

    In March 2022, DHL Express and SIA signed the crew and maintenance agreement, where the airline would operate and oversee the maintenance of the five Boeing 777 freighters deployed at the South Asia Hub. These five freighters are part of the express operators’ 28-unit order of the type since the first purchase was made in 2018. The first freighter as part of the deal saw its debut in August 2022.

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  • Ministry wants another electricity price hike

    Ministry wants another electricity price hike

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed a hike in electricity prices this year after pushing it up 7.5% last year to narrow down the loss of national utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

    The ministry eyes increasing prices in May this year to cover rising costs and help the state-owned EVN to pay for power generators. Vietnam allows an electricity price hike once every six months if production costs rise 3% or more. The last increase was in November last year, and before that, May.

    EVN recorded a combined loss of VND37 trillion ($1.5 billion) in 2022 and 2023. It also has VND14 trillion in debt incurred from previous years due to currency exchange rate changes.

    Last year, prices were raised 7.5% to VND2,092.78 per kilowatt-hour after years of staying flat.

    Analysts of Vietcobank Securities have recently anticipated an electricity price hike as the El Nino effect causes low water level at northern hydropower plants.

    Dinh Trong Thinh, an analyst from the Academy of Finance, said that raising prices was necessary to cover increasing costs but EVN needed to be transparent in its financial situation to avoid raising controversy among the public.

    Analyst Ngo Duc Lam, former head of the Energy Institution under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that Vietnam needed to be “very cautious” in raising electricity prices as it would push up the prices of transport and many essential goods.

    Phan The Cong, an analyst from Thuongmai University, said that two hikes last year have already had an impact on the economy and inflation, and therefore the timing of another hike needs to be considered carefully.

    Thinh added that in the long run electricity retail price needs to be regulated under market principles, which means it will rise when costs increase and fall when costs decrease. Changes in retail price therefore will become a normal part of people’s lives and will not have a major impact.

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  • Pernod Ricard launches zero alcohol Beefeater 0.0%

    Pernod Ricard launches zero alcohol Beefeater 0.0%

    Liquor company Pernod Ricard has launched Beefeater 0.0% to join its zero alcohol portfolio.

    Beefeater 0.0% is produced by adding the essence of Beefeater London Dry Gin’s recipe to the base, keeping the latter’s taste – minus the alcohol.

    “Beefeater 0.0% is our very first zero alcohol expression, which captures the energy of our timeless London classic but without the alcohol,” said Murielle Dessenis, global VP for marketing gins at The Absolut Group, a company under Pernod Ricard.

    “We are proud to be bringing to the no-alcohol category an elevated option, removing the need for consumers to compromise or miss out on the occasion.”

    Pernod Ricard will initially launch Beefeater 0.0% in Spain, complementing Beefeater’s existing moderated drinking range.

    Last year, the company opened a production line in Thuir, France, for non-alcoholic drinks production, research and development, and innovation.

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  • Why are Moissanite Stackable Bands the Best Choice for Gifting Your Friend?

    Why are Moissanite Stackable Bands the Best Choice for Gifting Your Friend?

    You can dress up an outfit easily if you have a collection that works well for formal and informal settings. That is what jewelry made of moissanite gives. Because of their versatility and everlasting beauty, moissanite jewels are indispensable accessories for any event. Not only does moissanite make excellent engagement rings, but it’s also far more reasonably priced than diamonds, making it a wonderful gift for anniversaries, holidays, or birthdays.  It’s always lovely when someone grins sparkles tend to have that effect. Just in case you’re seeking a significant character moment. Who doesn’t adore Moissanite rings and jewelry? It shines brilliantly and lasts forever. Regardless of the occasion for giving, this is a hit when you factor in its incredible cost.

    Symbolism of Friendship

    Stackable bands, with their interlocking design, symbolize the interconnectedness and strength of friendships. Each band can represent a different aspect or make it a profoundly personal and meaningful gift. Moissanite, known for its brilliance and durability, further adds to this symbolism, representing the enduring and radiant nature of your bond.

    A good giver of gifts

    All set to dominate the gift-giving scene? A gorgeous present, moissanite rings may make a big impression with their dazzling little—or not so little—stone. As patient with any current, choose how much to give and proceed. Prioritize your budget before making purchases. You can choose your perfect design or go a little bigger if you’re feeling adventurous with moissanite since it’s far less expensive than a diamond.

    Moissanite is a terrific place to start searching for excellent present ideas. Especially if you wish to add something a little extra or not into necklaces.

    A Gift That Grows With Your Friendship

    The beauty of stackable bands lies in their ability to add over time. You can start with a single moissanite band and, on future occasions, add more rounds to the collection. This way, the gift evolves and grows like your friendship, marking milestones and special moments shared between you and your friend.

    Timeless Elegance

    Moissanite is renowned for its sparkling brilliance and clarity, rivaling that of diamonds. This timeless elegance makes moissanite stackable bands a gift that will never go out of style. They can be cherished for years to come, serving as a constant reminder of your enduring friendship.

    Personalization Options

    Moissanite stackable bands offer numerous customization options. From choosing the cut and size of the moissanite to selecting the metal for the band (like gold, silver, or platinum), these bands can be tailored to your friend’s taste. Engravings can add an extra personal touch, whether a significant date, initials, or a short message.

    Moissanite jewelry’s portability and adaptability are further benefits.

    Having Moissanite rings and jewelry portable, strong, and lightweight is essential when you’re on the go. The ideal material is moissanite. A few essential parts may create various designs because their versatility and durability guarantee that they will resist demands to travel. Stow a pendant necklace, a stackable ring, and a pair of moissanite stud earrings in your luggage for an easy transition from day trips to fancy dinners.

    Moissanite’s features and quality

    Understanding a moissanite engagement ring’s quality and beauty is crucial when contemplating one. You can choose from a range of colors for moissanite, including fancy-colored alternatives, greenish-yellow, black, and colorless stones, to fit your taste and style. Moissanite exhibits fewer defects than most natural diamonds, making it a highly sought-after material in terms of clarity. Your engagement ring will dazzle brilliantly and strikingly because of the gemstone’s extraordinary clarity.

    Double Your Sparkle

    While two to three carats may be considered a mid-sized moissanite, they are particularly sparkly. And use Kristen’s 10x multiplier if you can’t get enough of that gorgeous shine. The ring moves a lot thanks to the marquise and round diamonds set in the band. The added brilliance of the moissanite is greatly enhanced by two bright stones. We wish to live there full-time since it’s a “shining city.” A space rock weighing two carats is quite substantial and purchased for a minuscule portion of the cost of a diamond.

    Factor Chonk

    What is the ideal moissanite size? Avoid going overboard to avoid turning the entire neighborhood two primary criteria determine the size of a rock.

    Budget.

    What is your desired spending amount? You may be pleasantly surprised at how much you can get by if you first determine your price point.

    Style.

    Her style strongly influences the appropriate size. Go big or go home if she likes dramatic outfits and heroic events. You might choose something more subdued if she prefers a classic, modern, or minimalist look. Ultimately, it all comes down to money and arrogance. A moissanite ring can give off a hint of glimmer or even turn on like a Christmas tree. The mood is everything.

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  • Apple announces big changes coming in March to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the EU

    Apple announces big changes coming in March to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the EU

    Apple is making big changes in the European Union, which will allow, among other things, iPhone users to sideload apps from third-party app stores. From the start, the late Steve Jobs intended to prevent iPhone users from sideloading apps on the iPhone for security reasons. Apps from third-party app stores are installed without Apple checking them out to see if they are security risks; apps downloaded from the App Store have been vetted for malware and other malicious behavior, although sometimes developers with evil intentions can get an app through.

    Developers will also be able to choose alternative payment platforms to handle in-app transactions in the EU across all of Apple’s operating systems including, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The commission that Apple will take on in-app purchases that it processes through its own in-app payment platform, the so-called Apple Tax, will be reduced in the EU from the 15%-30% range seen in the rest of the world, to 10%-17%. Apple won’t see a dime from in-app transactions completed through alternative payment platforms.

    The 27 member countries of the EU benefit from the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which forces Apple to make these changes in this market. Another change being made by Apple will show users a new “choice screen” the first time they open Safari in iOS 17.4 or later. While EU iPhone users can already change their default browser away from Safari, the new “choice page” will bring to their attention that they can choose a default browser and include a list of third-party browsers to help them make that change immediately.

    Apple makes it clear that it doesn’t like being forced to put up the “choice screen” because it means “that EU users will be confronted with a list of default browsers before they have the opportunity to understand the options available to them. The screen also interrupts EU users’ experience the first time they open Safari intending to navigate to a webpage.”

    The company also said, “Inevitably, the new options for developers’ EU apps create new risks to Apple users and their devices. Apple can’t eliminate those risks, but within the DMA’s constraints, the company will take steps to reduce them. These safeguards will be in place when users download iOS 17.4 or later, beginning in March…” One of the changes Apple is making in the EU will bring additional malware protections that will prevent iOS apps from launching if they are discovered to contain malware after being installed on a user’s device.

    Changes are coming to iOS in the EU as well. EU iPhone users can choose a third-party contactless payment app to replace Apple Pay and select an alternative app marketplace as their default to replace the App Store.

    Apple Fellow Phil Schiller said, “The changes we’re announcing today comply with the Digital Markets Act’s requirements in the European Union, while helping to protect EU users from the unavoidable increased privacy and security threats this regulation brings. Our priority remains creating the best, most secure possible experience for our users in the EU and worldwide. Developers can now learn about the new tools and terms available for alternative app distribution and alternative payment processing, new capabilities for alternative browser engines and contactless payments, and more. Importantly, developers can choose to remain on the same business terms in place today if they prefer.”

    Apple says that all of these changes will take place in March with the release of iOS 17.4 in the region.

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  • Meta launches much stricter message setting for teens on Facebook and Instagram

    Meta launches much stricter message setting for teens on Facebook and Instagram

    Following its recent changes to the teen experience on its social apps, Meta announced a harsher change intended to protect teens from unwanted contact.

    After limiting teens’ ability to see sensitive content on Instagram and Facebook, Meta introduced today a stricter message setting for teens who are using these two social apps.

    Until now, Meta restricted adults over 19 from messaging teens who don’t follow them. Also, the company limits the type and number of DMs people will be able to send to someone who doesn’t follow them to one text-only message.

    The new setting announced today makes it possible to turn off teens’ ability to receive DMs from anyone they don’t follow or aren’t connected to on Instagram, including other teens, by default.

    When the new setting is toggled on, teens will only receive messages from people they already follow or are connected to. According to Meta, teens in “supervised accounts” must get their parents’ permission to change this setting.

    The new default setting will apply to all teens under the age of 16 (or under 18 in certain countries). Those affected will receive a notification about the new changes on Instagram at the top of their Feed.

    Apart from Instagram, Meta revealed that it’s also changing teens’ default settings on Messenger, so those under 16 (or 18 in certain countries) will only receive messages from Facebook friends, or people they’re connected to through phone contacts.

    Finally, Meta plans to launch another feature that will help protect teens from seeing unwanted and potentially inappropriate images in their message from people they’re already connected to.

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  • iOS 17.4 beta released with App sideloading and alternative browser engines in the EU

    iOS 17.4 beta released with App sideloading and alternative browser engines in the EU

    Apple has just released the iOS 17.4 beta developer beta 1. Following the wide public release of iOS 17.3 just a few days ago, the writing was on the wall for a new developer build. And it’s here for all those adventurous enough to test out a developer beta, which are these days free to test-drive.

    An earlier beta of iOS 17.3 served as a stark reminder that betas are nothing to scoff at and shouldn’t be used on daily drivers without an adequately recent backup. In particular, that ill-fated beta caused some iPhones with the Back Tap feature enabled to get stuck in a bootloop, which is never a good thing to experience.

    What’s major here, however, is Apple complying with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and adopting tons of changes to Safari, the App Store, and iOS itself. The directive, which essentially allows iPhone users in the EU to benefit from sideloading apps from third-party app stores, enjoy non-WebKit-based browsers, and additional safeguards to tone down risks for users will arrive with the public release of iOS 17.4.

    Essentially, iOS 17.4 will allow users in the EU to:

    • sideload apps from third-party app stores (currently only developers can sideload apps)
    • use browsers based on another engine (all iOS browsers right now rely on Apple’s WebKit engine)
    • choose their default browsers the first time they launch Safari after iOS 17.4 (currently not available in the beta)

    Apple says that it has included more than 600 new APIs as well as expanded app analytics but doesn’t miss the opportunity to once again voice concerns about “new avenues for malware, fraud and scams, illicit and harmful content, and other privacy and security threats.” One way to combat this is a new safeguard protection dubbed Notarization for iOS apps, which aims to reduce risks by authorizing marketplace developers can peddle apps or take alternative payments.

    Still, the word “risk” appears some 22 times in the press release, revealing that Apple is adopting this EU-mandated change very casually.

    Some developer-intended new iOS features that will arrive with iOS 17.4 but aren’t necessarily part of the newest beta include:

    • New options for distributing iOS apps from alternative app marketplaces
    • New framework and APIs for creating alternative app marketplaces
    • New frameworks and APIs for alternative browser engines
    • Interoperability request form
    • Notarization for iOS apps
    • App installation sheets
    • Authorization for marketplace developers
    • Additional malware protections

    When sideloading, iOS users in the EU won’t be able to benefit from some of the regular perks. For example, purchases of app ouside of the App Store won’t be detailed in the latter and Apple won’t be able to issue a refund. Family Purchase Sharing and Ask to Buy also won’t be compatible with apps downloaded and/or purchased outside of the App Store.

    However, App Tracking Transparency will still work with apps coming from alternative stores, so users will be able to forbid apps from sharing tracking their data and sending it to the respective app developer.

    Apple says that all of these changes will come into effect in March, so we should most certainly expect iOS 17.4 to go out of beta and arrive as a public release to all iPhone users before March. Of course, non-EU iOS users needn’t worry as seemingly nothing will change for them. No sideloading and no alternative app stores and browser engines are to be expected in the US.

  • Nvidia chief visits China for first time in years

    Nvidia chief visits China for first time in years

    Jensen Huang, President and CEO of California-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia, recently visited China for the first time in years, to attend the company’s new year party with local employees.

    Last week, Huang traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in Guangdong province in a low-key manner, according to a report by China Daily, which cited sources with knowledge of the matter.

    Social media videos captured Huang dressed in a traditional outfit, dancing at Nvidia’s new year party in Shanghai.

    Huang’s trip did not include meetings with government officials, as it was primarily focused on spending time with Nvidia’s employees in China, Yicai Global reported.

    Major Chinese cloud companies are favoring domestic chips, like those from Huawei, over Nvidia’s less advanced AI chips. This development is linked to U.S. restrictions on exporting Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China.

    In October, the U.S. revised export controls on advanced AI chips to China. As a result, Nvidia’s RTX 4090 chipset, a top-performing graphics card in the consumer market, is now banned from export to China.

    “Huang’s trip may have been in response to US government restrictions on Nvidia’s exports of chips to China. Nvidia may need to seek cooperation with local Chinese players to ensure that its products have access to the Chinese market,” Zhang Xiaorong, director of the Beijing-based Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute said.

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