AC Information Weekly
Information Weekly is our column, the place we spotlight and summarize among the week’s high tales so you’ll be able to make amends for the newest tech information.
That is Android Central’s Information Weekly, your go-to supply for a concise roundup of the week’s most vital tech tales. That is the place we delve into the highest headlines that present the newest developments and improvements contributing to the digital panorama.Â
This week, the tech world noticed Google’s contemporary spherical of layoffs, HTC’s comeback with a brand new telephone, Samsung teasing extra of its units, Qualcomm’s Q2 level to a restoration, and Google messages simply bought higher. Let’s get into it.Â
Google makes job cuts, once more.
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Not per week goes by when Google does not make it to the headlines. This time, in a contemporary spherical of layoffs, Google let go of 200 of its ‘core’ staff to maneuver quicker and align with the corporate’s targets.
These core groups have been accountable for the technical basis behind a lot of Google’s services and products for safety and on-line security. The corporate has additionally reportedly began a “reorganization” that strikes roles to India and Mexico.
Paperwork obtained by CNBC additionally recommended that staff discovered about these cuts per week earlier than they have been introduced, with Google stating that it might assist it align with its “broader targets.” Google’s vice chairman of its Developer Ecosystem, Asim Husain, knowledgeable employees that “this was the largest deliberate discount” for the workforce in 2024, throughout a city corridor. These cuts come at time, after Google’s Q1 earnings report introduced a whopping $80.5 billion in income with “robust efficiency” throughout companies.Â
Google confirmed these layoffs, and a spokesperson added that these affected can reapply for different roles throughout the firm.
HTC’s new telephone may get a serious improve
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HTC is a reputation that you just would possibly assume is off the market, nonetheless, they’re nonetheless within the smartphone scene. Whereas they do not churn out smartphones as usually as different manufacturers, a brand new leak indicated that its U24 Professional may give them one other entrant available in the market.
In keeping with Android Headlines, it appears to be like just like the Taiwanese firm is perhaps on the brink of introduce the HTC U24 Professional this month. Despite the fact that there is not any official phrase on the precise date but, the U23 Professional was launch in Might final yr, which has might be a purpose to count on the identical with this yr’s addition.
A number of days in the past, MySmartPrice caught sight of a tool on Geekbench and speculated that it’d belong to the HTC U24 collection. The telephone has mannequin quantity 2QDA100, however that does not give away an excessive amount of.
On the design entrance, the HTC U24 Professional will in all probability look rather a lot like its predecessor. That stated, it’d sport a quicker processor —the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. As for the value, the U23 Professional hit retailer cabinets at $350, and the U24 Professional is prone to keep in that vary. We will count on the gadget to have Android 14 out of the field with both 128GB or 256GB of inside storage.Â
Samsung’s Q1 report provides extra information on wearables
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Samsung posted its income report for Q1 2024, and the corporate states it earned 71.92 trillion KRW in consolidated income and 6.61 trillion KRW in working income. Throughout its earnings name, the corporate acknowledged that its Q1 earnings noticed a 12.8% bounce in comparison with final yr.
Samsung feels that Galaxy AI is the driving drive behind its telephone gross sales, stating it should “search annual development.” The corporate additionally hinted at increasing its Galaxy portfolio by bringing Galaxy AI to “current and new flagship” merchandise like foldables and tablets. The opposite aspect of this enterprise is its wearables, to which Samsung mentions the Galaxy Ring—one thing that might enhance income later this yr.
Smartwatches can even play a task, with Samsung stating it should look to “meet demand for upgrades by means of the launch of latest premium fashions.” It is unclear precisely what Samsung means right here, however rumors of an expanded Galaxy Watch profile have been circulating, with discuss of a Galaxy Watch 7, 7 Traditional, and seven Extremely.Â
Qualcomm’s Q2 earnings are wanting up
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Earlier this week, Qualcomm posted its fiscal yr Q2 2024 monetary earnings. The corporate reported $9.39 billion in income for the quarter, a rise of 1% over the identical quarter in 2023.
Qualcomm’s headset enterprise, which makes up most of its general income, additionally noticed a 1% improve through the quarter, reaching $8.03 billion. Whereas this may occasionally not seem to be a big achieve, it indicators wholesome development within the smartphone business after a little bit of a droop only a yr in the past. By comparability, Qualcomm’s FY Q2 2023 earnings revealed a 17% drop in headset and general income, so the latest numbers look optimistic.
“We’re enthusiastic about our continued development and diversification, together with reaching our third consecutive quarter of file QCT Automotive revenues, upcoming launches with our Snapdragon X platforms, and enabling main on-device AI capabilities throughout a number of product classes,” says Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon in a press release.
With its present chipsets, Qualcomm is specializing in AI, which it expects will allow extra use circumstances in varied units, be they telephones, PCs, or automobiles. The corporate highlights its AI hub for builders to assist drive this adoption.
“I wish to step again and say, on the whole, I believe AI goes to profit all of the units,” Amon says. “I believe AI, when extends to operating on-device—moreover the advantage of working alongside the cloud—they’ve utterly new use circumstances privateness, safety, latency price, personalization, and so forth.”
*Drumroll please* Audio emojis are right here
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Google is rolling out a singular new function on its telephone app that lets customers categorical themselves with six new sounds.
As noticed by Google News on Telegram, the corporate is beginning to roll out “Audio Emojis” within the Cellphone app. Customers will have the ability to toggle the function within the app’s settings. From there, Google describes the function as one that may assist customers “categorical feelings and moods with appears like applause, laughter, unhappy, trombone, and extra.”
When enabled, customers can name their family and friends and begin experimenting with the brand new sounds. On the Cellphone app’s name display screen, there can be an choice to develop the Audio Emoji’s row of faces above the default toolbar.
Nevertheless, the function is arriving first within the app’s beta model. In keeping with DroidLife, Audio Emojis have been noticed on a Pixel 8 Professional operating model 128.0.6 of the beta Cellphone app.
These are among the greatest tales from this week. In the meantime, listed below are another tales which might be price catching up on:
