AC Information Weekly
Information Weekly is our column, the place we spotlight and summarize a number of the week’s high tales so you possibly can compensate 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 important 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 gadgets, 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’ workers to maneuver sooner and align with the corporate’s targets.
These core groups had been answerable for the technical basis behind lots of Google’s services 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 advised that workers discovered about these cuts per week earlier than they had 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 workers 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 providers.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 significant improve
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HTC is a reputation that you simply would possibly assume is off the market, nevertheless, they’re nonetheless within the smartphone scene. Whereas they do not churn out smartphones as typically as different manufacturers, a brand new leak indicated that its U24 Professional may give them one other entrant out there.
Based on Android Headlines, it seems just like the Taiwanese firm is perhaps on the brink of introduce the HTC U24 Professional this month. Although there isn’t any official phrase on the precise date but, the U23 Professional was launch in Might final yr, which has might be a motive to anticipate 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 sequence. 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 loads like its predecessor. That stated, it’d sport a sooner processor —the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. As for the worth, the U23 Professional hit retailer cabinets at $350, and the U24 Professional is more likely to keep in that vary. We will anticipate the system to have Android 14 out of the field with both 128GB or 256GB of inside storage.Â
Samsung’s Q1 report offers 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 earnings. Throughout its earnings name, the corporate acknowledged that its Q1 earnings noticed a 12.8% soar in comparison with final yr.
Samsung feels that Galaxy AI is the driving pressure behind its telephone gross sales, stating it should “search annual progress.” The corporate additionally hinted at increasing its Galaxy portfolio by bringing Galaxy AI to “present and new flagship” merchandise like foldables and tablets. The opposite facet of this enterprise is its wearables, to which Samsung mentions the Galaxy Ring—one thing that might enhance income later this yr.
Smartwatches may also play a task, with Samsung stating it should look to “meet demand for upgrades by the launch of recent 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 throughout the quarter, reaching $8.03 billion. Whereas this will likely not look like a big acquire, it alerts wholesome progress within the smartphone trade after a little bit of a stoop 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 current numbers look constructive.
“We’re enthusiastic about our continued progress and diversification, together with reaching our third consecutive quarter of report 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 numerous gadgets, 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, typically, I believe AI goes to learn all of the gadgets,” Amon says. “I believe AI, when extends to operating on-device—apart from the advantage of working alongside the cloud—they’ve utterly new use circumstances privateness, safety, latency value, personalization, and many others.”
*Drumroll please* Audio emojis are right here
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Google is rolling out a novel new function on its telephone app that lets customers categorical themselves with six new sounds.
As noticed by Google Information on Telegram, the corporate is beginning to roll out “Audio Emojis” within the Cellphone app. Customers will be capable 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 broaden the Audio Emoji’s row of faces above the default toolbar.
Nevertheless, the function is arriving first within the app’s beta model. Based on DroidLife, Audio Emojis have been noticed on a Pixel 8 Professional operating model 128.0.6 of the beta Cellphone app.
These are a number of the largest tales from this week. In the meantime, listed below are another tales which are price catching up on: