Thursday, April 4, 2024

Even With Many Legal and Regulatory Issues, Apple’s Revenue is Still Expected to Grow a Lot Until 2025

According to CounterPoint Research’s Apple 360 service, one third of Apple's total revenue is going to be captured by Apple’s services segment by 2025. 2025 will also be the year for Apple when the company’s revenue will cross the $100 billion per year mark. As Apple is mostly being supported by its hardware and services segment, the company is also going to reach the $400 billion revenue mark in 2024.

Apple is facing a lot of regulatory and legal issues in the United States and European Union. Research Director, Jeff Fieldhack, says that they are aware that Apple is taking a risky route right now but it is just the start right now. So, there is nothing to worry about in terms of Apple monetization in the iPhone. There are also some hints that Apple is adaptoping AI in its iPhones but no official announcement has been made in these regards. But people can expect to hear something from Apple soon.

Apple’s installed base of nearly 2 billion devices has opened the gates of endless revenue to the company. Many of the brand’s services businesses like Apple Care+, Apple Music, Apple Store and Apple One subscription have contributed a lot in increasing the device base of Apple. Apple One was introduced in 2023 and it has the potential of becoming the biggest contributor in revenue of Apple services. It provides great software and services to users. Moreover, the premium subscribers play an important role in its revenue growth.

Despite all of this, iPhones are still the biggest contributors in Apple’s revenue. They make about half of Apple’s revenue and many of Apple's premium services also play a part in increasing the revenue. The revenue for iPhones is expected to grow this year while there were some volume declines seen in China at the starting of 2024. Many users are now experiencing IOS and as the iPhone's market will grow, Apple’s revenue will also grow.


Read next: YouTube's New Updates Might Be a Game Changer for Live Streaming
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Why Is Google's Search Generative Experience Providing Subpar Answers?

Nearly a year ago, Google introduced AI to its search engine in what it dubbed the Search Generative Experience, or SGE for short. However, it bears mentioning that the SGE is known for providing answers that are misleading or false. Initially, this included absurd statements such as eggs being able to melt and even assertions that slavery was a good thing, and research has shown that it continues to hallucinate in this manner to the present day.

For example, when asked about a fictional Chinese restaurant, the AI confidently mentioned that it had extremely long wait times and long lines of people waiting to place orders. What's more is that it provided false citations for the assertions it was making.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that accounting is yet another thing that SGE seems to be struggling with as well. When asked to calculate financial totals, the AI often ended up spewing bizarre results with all things having been considered and taken into account. In one example, the Washington Post asked the AI to provide Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth, which is just under $170 billion.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, the AI ended up claiming that he earned $46.24 per hour, or $96,169 per year. A further breakdown of the financial totals led to it asserting that he earned over $230 million on a daily basis.

Google has been hard at work trying to fix these issues because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing reputational damage to the company. It will be interesting to see where things go from here on out, since Google is still dead set on expanding SGE and making it a core part of the SERP despite all of its pervasive issues. The way it performs at this current point in time could end up determining whether or not Google will be able to keep it going in the near to distant future whilst maintaining the quality of its search results.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: YouTube's New Updates Might Be a Game Changer for Live Streaming
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

3 Essential Functions Of Office Acoustic Booths For Individual And Teamwork

Hybrid and flex offices are increasingly equipped with acoustic booths for collaborative or individual work. Not only do they allow you to focus in a noisy environment, they also offer space for confidential conversations or team meetings.

If you are considering bringing such a solution to your workplace, you should consider three key aspects that determine comfort. Read the following article and find out what features office acoustic booths should have in order to be truly functional and meet the needs of today's employees.

Mobility of acoustic booths

In a dynamic office environment where adaptability can be decisive for a competitive advantage, acoustic booths are the answer to the ongoing adaptation needs of workplaces. They are characterized by mobility and flexibility, which allows you to quickly adapt the space to changing needs – both individual and team.

Office acoustic booths are a cost-effective alternative to traditional, expensive office expansion or rearrangement. They allow configurations to be adapted to changing requirements, offering innovative arrangement possibilities. Thanks to their ease of assembly and disassembly, they can be moved and configured as needed. They perfectly fit the needs of modern companies that want to stay on top of office space design trends.

Wheels or the possibility of using a pallet truck

Manufacturers of office acoustic booths often equip them with lockable casters or removable front panels that allow the booth to be moved with a pallet jack. Therefore, when choosing the right booth, it is worth paying attention to its design – the best are those that are mobile and easy to assemble and disassemble. In this way, you can transform your office in a short period of time, adapting it to new requirements, and then quickly return to daily work. What's more, if you change the location of the office, you can take them with you.

Full concentration guaranteed – acoustic and visual privacy

Acoustic booths in the office are becoming an indispensable tool for employees who need focus and privacy in the hustle and bustle of their daily work. To ensure optimal working conditions, pods must meet certain defined standards. First of all, their acoustics should be at the highest level, according to the requirements of Class B or higher of ISO 23351-1:2020. Muffled noise of about 40 dB reaches the acoustic booths from the open office. At the same time, they effectively stop sounds inside, thereby reducing noise in open space.

What is speech privacy?

Ensuring the privacy of workplace conversations is important for confidentiality and comfort. It refers to the soundproofing of speech in such a way that those outside the acoustic booth are unable to understand the conversation taking place online or face-to-face. Office booths that provide speech privacy are an ideal place to hold discussions on sensitive or confidential topics.

It should also be noted that overheard intelligible speech is one of the main factors that make it difficult to focus in an open space. Therefore, specially designed acoustic booths, on the one hand, protect the privacy of conversations and, on the other hand, significantly improve work efficiency.

Visual privacy – limiting unwanted observations

Visual privacy is not only protection from unwanted glances, but also a sense of security while working. That's why, when designing an office, you should look to create conditions that limit unwanted observation. Hushoffice acoustic booths can be ordered with additional glass decals that give a frosted effect. They allow you to complete work that requires focus, while protecting you from direct observation by others.

Visual confidentiality also includes the aspect of leveling visual distractions. This involves eliminating or reducing factors that can interfere with concentration and distract from the tasks at hand. Learn more about this topic from the article: Privacy in the office – acoustic, visual and architectural.

Ventilation system – excellent air quality inside the booths

Office booths, used for both individual and collaborative work, must meet certain key requirements to ensure the comfort and efficiency of the duties performed in them. In the enclosed spaces they create, efficient ventilation is necessary. The air in an office acoustic booth must remain clean and fresh the entire time it is in use. To achieve this, it should be equipped with an automatically activated ventilation system that continuously supplies air from the office space.

Depending on the model of the booth, the fans have a capacity of 100 m3/h to 140 m3/h. As a result, even if there are more people in the hushAccess.L acoustic booth, there is the right temperature and air quality. What's more, for maximum comfort in conducted meetings or videoconferences, manual control of light intensity and ventilation system is available. Each employee can create a work environment in which they feel best and work most efficiently.


by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Meta Introduces Age Checks for Quest VR Headsets

Meta announced on Tuesday that users of its Quest 2 and 3 virtual reality headsets will need to enter their birthdates again. This step is to make sure users get features, games, and safety measures that are right for their age.

The company shared in a blog post that knowing users ages helps Meta and game makers create better experiences for everyone, especially younger users.

Adults over 18 can choose to have a private or public profile and decade if others can see when they are online. Teenagers, between 13 and 17, will have private profiles by default. Their activity will be hidden, and there will be tools for parents to monitor and adjust their experience.

Children aged 10 to 12 will have accounts managed by their parents. These accounts need a parent's okay to be set up and are private from the start. Parents can control what apps their children can download or use and can block certain apps whenever they want.

Meta is giving users 30 days to confirm their ages. If they don't, their accounts will be temporarily blocked until they provide their birthdate. If someone lies about their age or makes a mistake entering it, they will have to prove their age with an ID or credit card.

To help game creators make stuff that is suitable for different ages, Meta is working on a system. This system lets creators know which age group their apps are for. It makes it easier for Meta to tell creators about the right audience for their games.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, talked about the importance of age verification at a safety hearing in Congress in January. He thinks app stores like those run by Apple and Google should also check users' ages. This would help control what apps people can download based on their age.


Read next: Top 10 Job Searches Show Amazon Reigns Supreme
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Top 10 Job Searches Show Amazon Reigns Supreme

If you’re on the lookout for a new job at this current point in time, it bears mentioning that there is a tremendous amount of competition out there. What's more is that Amazon is by far the most widely searched employer of all, at least according to data presented by Peppermonkey Media. Researchers at this company stated that the search term “Amazon job” was far more prevalent than the other nine job that were in the top 10.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Amazon has around 1.5 million employees around the world. With approximately $574 billion in revenue generated in 2023 alone, it’s a global juggernaut that pays employees anywhere from nearly $17 per hour all the way to $159,000 per year for managerial posts.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, the massive swell of Amazon job searches might have something to do with side hustles. For example, becoming an Amazon selling partner can be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up creating a whole new source of income for yourself.

Based on the facts presented in this study, there were around 889,000 job searches related to Amazon made over a six month period last year. Virtual assist came in second with a massive gap, with an estimated 217,000 searches around the world. A little over 100,000 searches, or 101,00 to be precise, were made within the US alone with all things having been considered and taken into account.

The term “data analyst” came in at a distant third, with 71,000 global searches. That’s less than 10% the quantity that Amazon received, which just goes to show how much sway the ecommerce behemoth holds around the world. Coming in fourth was flight attendant with 46,000 searches, followed by delivery driver rounding off the top five list with 33,000 searches, although software engineer wasn’t all that far behind with 32,000 searches made over a six month period.
Read next: Is X's Time Up? New Survey Exposes Twitter's Nosedive After Musk Takeover
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Is X's Time Up? New Survey Exposes Twitter's Nosedive After Musk Takeover

A report 'Infinite Dial Report' by Edison Research shows that X (formerly Twitter) usage is declining in 2024. The report talks about different social media trends based on a survey of over 1,000 US citizens over the ages of 12. The data indicates that many social media users are turning away from using X.

In November 2022, X claimed to have around 46 million monetized users on the app from the USA.

The report shows a 30% year-over-year decline in the rate of people using X in 2024 compared to 2023 among those surveyed. This aligns with other third-party reports also indicating X usage is dropping.

In October 2023, Apptopia's data showed X seeing a 13% decline in its monthly users ever since Elon Musk took over the app. SimilarWeb reported around a 14% decrease in X's mobile and web visits since September 2022. In March 2024, Sensor Tower reported X seeing a decline, but X immediately denied these claims without offering data to clarify.
X's own data shows it has around 250 million daily active users in 2024, the same as November 2022 after Musk's acquisition, suggesting stagnant user growth.

The Infinite Dial Report also shows that X's ad revenue has declined by around 60%, but Musk claims many advertisers who left are now returning to the app. This suggests advertising success on X depends more on engagement with a brand's particular audience rather than overall trends.

X, previously Twitter, witnesses a significant usage drop in 2024, according to the 'Infinite Dial Report' by Edison Research.

Reportedly, X usage plummets by 30% in 2024, reflecting a changing social media landscape, per Edison Research's findings.

Read next: Amazon, Microsoft and Google Are the World’s Biggest Cloud Service Providers
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Amazon, Microsoft and Google Are the World’s Biggest Cloud Service Providers

Three of the largest cloud computing service providers have made up 66% of the total revenue in the global market. The three of the biggest cloud computing service providers are Amazon, Microsoft and Google. These three providers have generated billions of dollars only because of their reliable clouds that help many big companies store their data. Moreover, many AI models have also been running on clouds that has increased the demand of cloud service providers.

According to Synergy Research Group, the biggest cloud service provider is Amazon Web Services with 31% of the total market share. Microsoft Azure is in second place and has 24% of the total market share. 11% of the market shares are taken by Google Cloud. All three of these service providers are based in the USA. Fourth place is taken by China’s Alibaba Cloud with 4% market shares. Salesforce has 3% shares of the total market shares. IBM Cloud, Oracle and Tencent Cloud, all have 2% market shares each. The remaining 21% of the market shares are from other cloud service providers.

With 31% of the market shares, Amazon Web Services have generated $24.3 billion revenue in Q4 of 2023. The annual sales growth of Amazon has increased by 13% from Q4 of 2022. Microsoft’s sales increased by 30% and Google’s sales increased by 26% as compared to in Q4 of 2022. As it is quite prominent, USA companies have taken over the cloud service market and China makes up 5% of the total market shares.

As AI is running on clouds, it is expected that the market for cloud service providers will be in more demand in the coming years. About 98% of the companies in the world rely on cloud for their data so as AI will incorporate itself in these companies, demand for cloud will grow.


Read next: XR Headsets by Meta are Seeing a 19% You Decline in Their Shipments
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World