Tech News Today for January 5, 2017
Tech News for Thursday January 5, 2017
Apple’s growth in iPhone sales may be slowing, but it’s app store revenue is doing gangbusters. The company says the app store broke records through 2016 and even on New Year's Day last weekend. $20 billion dollars were paid to developers throughout the year, and when you figure that developers earn 70% from app store sales, that puts total revenue somewhere around $28 billion dollars for the year. Read more at wsj.com.
Quartz reports that the US Department of Labor is suing Google over disclosure of compensation data and documents. Google could be barred from all federal contracts for not divulging confidential employment information from thousands of employees. All companies with US governmental contracts are required by a decades-old law to release this information. Google says it's committed to hiring practices that support diversity and they have worked with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. But according to the lawsuit, Google's diversity report does not meet federal standards for government contractors and they require more information on employee salaries and benefits. Read more at qz.com.
Google announced that it's opening up its Assistant AI to Android TV and beyond. Nvidia announced its new Shield TV streaming box with 4K streaming capability and Google Assistant in the box that’s facilitated by a remote with built in microphone. And even beyond that, Nvidia unveiled the Nvidia Spot which is a hyrbid microphone speaker that can plug into the wall to extend access to Assistant throughout the home. Read more at techcrunch.com.
Also, Nvidia is working for automaker Audi to bring its own flavor of AI into cars by 2020 with ambitions to hit level 4 autonomy. Read more at techcrunch.com.
Corning is not just for casseroles anymore. Today at CES, Corning released a concept car made of Gorilla glass. It's not entirely made of glass, although that would be bananas. But a lot of the car is made of glass. If you live in a warm climate, this might immediately conjure the feeling of a sweaty roadtrip, but Antuan Goodwin from CNET had a chance to sit in the concept car and says the glass is electrochromatic which means it lets light in when you want it and keeps the sun off you when you don't. Corning glass is thinner, lighter, and more scratch resistant than the glass that carmakers usually use. The Corning glass dashboard and center console contains fiber optic controls, but it's also flexible which means its easier to produce, which means a cheaper car. Not cheap, but cheaper. Read more at nasdaq.com.
The resolution wars continue as Dell showed off its new Ultrasharp 32 Ultra HD 8K Monitor at CES. True friends call it UP-321-8K for short. It’s a 31.5” monitor at 7680x4320 resolution. That’s a cool 280 pixels per inch, so you know, realer than real. The monitor is nearly bezel-less cause that’s such a hot trend right now. Expect the UP-321-8K to hit store shelves (and likely not your desk at home) for a measely $4,999 later this year. Read more at thenextweb.com.
Dell also showed a new desktop all-in one PC for audiophiles called the XPS-27, which is flanked with six total speakers. Four dedicated to low and midrange frequencies, and another two tweeters in the corners. Read more at arstechnica.com.
Megan Morrone and Jason Howell will be covering more of CES today on Tech News Today. The show streams live at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern at twit.tv/live. You can subscribe to the show and get it on-demand at twit.tv/tnt.
