- Arvind's Newsletter
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- Arvind’s Newsletter
1.Korean electronics major Samsung will manufacture its latest artificial intelligence-loaded Galaxy S24 series at its India factory for both domestic sale as well as exports
The company unveiled its latest flagship device -- Galaxy S24 series -- with focus on Artificial Intelligence- (AI)-based applications to enhance productivity like real-time voice call and message translation in select languages, including Hindi, improved image editing, camera effects to woo content creators, and Corning Gorilla Armor glass to enhance durability of display.
"This is a device of the future. While the world talks about AI as the next big thing, the Galaxy S24 series brings it live to you. I am very happy to announce that Galaxy S24 series will be manufactured at our Noida factory in India," Samsung India President and CEO J B Park said.
Samsung Electronics has unveiled smartphones capable of running generative artificial intelligence features “on-device”, as handset makers hope the cutting-edge technology will revive a market that suffered its worst year in a decade in 2023.
The South Korean tech group launched the 2024 versions of its flagship Galaxy smartphone series at a Silicon Valley event on Wednesday. The devices feature the latest AI-capable Snapdragon processor from US chipmaker Qualcomm and its own Galaxy AI software and services. The S24 Android phones appear to give Samsung a technological edge over its main rival Apple, which has taken its usual cautious approach to adopting new advances. Their January launch also provides about a nine-month lead before the release of the next iPhone.
2.After ditching its venture with Vedanta, Foxconn is joining hands with HCL to set up a chip packaging and testing company. It will pick up a 40% stake in it for $37.2 million.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said it is partnering with India’s HCL Group to start a chip packaging and testing venture in the country.
Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, a unit of the Taiwanese contract manufacturer, will invest $37.2 million for a 40% stake in the joint venture, a regulatory filing to Taiwan’s stock exchange said.
The chip packaging and testing venture, known as OSAT in industry lingo, comes after Foxconn abandoned a joint venture with India’s Vedanta in July. HCL Group previously said it was holding active discussions with the Karnataka state government to set up an OSAT facility.
3.China’s population declines by 2million in 2023.
China’s economy grew 5.2% last year, hitting the official growth target for 2023. But the data released by Beijing also underscored that China’s economy hasn’t shaken of the problems that are most persistently weighing on domestic demand and confidence. A slew of indicators for home prices and property-related spending disappointed as the real estate crisis continues to bite.
Deflationary pressures aren’t going away, with recent data showing prices dropped in December for a third consecutive month. China’s population also extended a historic decline, which could be an additional headwind down the road. It’s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to an all-time high of 286.1%, largely driven by non-financial corporate and government debt.
To encourage women to have more children, China has offered housing, tax and cash incentives — and even appealed to their patriotism, calling on them to be “good wives and mothers.”
It’s not working: Last year, the population shrank for the second straight year, official data released yesterday showed, and births fell for the seventh year in a row, threatening China’s efforts to stabilize its shrinking and aging population.
Now attention turns to the government’s response—and Beijing up to this point has kept stimulus conservative for the world’s second biggest economy.
4.California Forever
A company backed by Silicon Valley tech titans unveiled details of an ambitious plan to turn thousands of acres of rural land between San Francisco and Sacramento into a walkable new city of at least 50,000 residents. The proposal has support from LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs.
The company, California Forever, purchased 60,000 acres of land in Solano County for roughly $800M over the last five years. It plans to convert 18,600 acres into a city between Travis Air Force Base (the largest employer in the county) and the small city of Rio Vista. California Forever promises to offer $400M to help county residents buy an initial 20,000 homes in the new city and create 15,000 jobs that pay above-average wages. The proposal also includes creating a buffer from the Air Force base to alleviate concerns about interfering with military operations.
However, decades-old county protections prevent farmland from turning into urban space. To bypass those protections, organizers will need to collect at least 13,000 signatures for the issue to appear on the November ballot and win voter approval
5.The number of smokers worldwide dropped from 1.36 billion in 2000 to 1.25 billion in 2022, despite the world population rising by a third in that time.
A report for the World Health Organization found that 33% of adults smoked in 2000, compared to 22% now. The drop will not quite meet WHO targets, and some countries’ rates have dropped faster than others, but millions of lives will nonetheless be saved each year.
Relatedly, the gap between men’s and women’s life expectancies has been dropping for decades. In the longest-lived countries, women lived on average 4.84 years longer in 1990. By 2010, that figure had dropped to 3.4 years, new research found, partly driven by reduced smoking and alcohol driven deaths, which disproportionately affect men.
6.Hybrid Cars Enjoy a Renaissance as All-Electric Sales Slow, reports New York Times
As Teslas and other electric vehicles dazzled car buyers with futuristic technology and dreams of a gasoline-free future, hybrid cars began to seem like yesterday’s news. Sales of the Toyota Prius, the standard-bearer for hybrids, fell 85 percent over a decade. Now, a slowdown in the growth of electric car sales has led General Motors, Ford Motor and Volkswagen to walk back ambitious targets for those vehicles. And sales of hybrids are robust, underscoring what may be the enduring reality check of 2023: Many Americans are hugely receptive to electrification, but they’re not ready for a fully electric car.
Americans bought a record 1.2 million electric vehicles last year, a gain of about 46 percent and a 7.6 percent share of all new car sales, according to Cox. But hybrid sales rose even faster, up 65 percent to more than 1.2 million, lifting their market share to 8 percent from 5.5 percent, according to Edmunds. Throw in plug-in hybrids, and nearly one in 10 new cars pairs a gasoline engine with electric motors to save fuel and boost performance.
Meanwhile, Tesla slashed car prices again — this time in Europe.
Tesla has slashed prices of its Model Y Long Range and Model Y Performance in Germany by €5,000 to €49,990 ($54,340) and €55,990 ($60,583), respectively. The price cuts follow similar ones made in China on the Model 3 and Model Y about a week ago.
Once an early leader in electric vehicles, Tesla is facing growing competition not just from the EV market in China but now an increasingly competitive one in Europe.
7.The Consciousness Wars
One of the most fundamental mysteries in science is explaining consciousness, what it is, and how it arises. A new approach may allow us to begin testing some of the many theories attempting an explanation.
