On Our Virtual Route 66 This Week

 It has been quite a week as CES was held in Las Vegas, and the march of technology continued in spite of the challenges of our World.  We present the following with thoughts courtesy of The National, Technilouis along with Thoughts on AI and Inside Tech:

The Wonder Globe, a 20ft spherical LED screen on display at CES 2024.

In brief | The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been around since 1967, and with that sort of longevity, it’s not a stretch to say it is one of the staple technology gatherings that has set an example for other exhibitions around the world.

This year, once again, it flexed its institutional muscle in Las Vegas. Big-name companies displayed transparent TV screens (something this newsletter gave you a heads-up about at the beginning of the year), robots that resembled balls, AI-infused transport and even modular vehicles.

Yet, despite the much-deserved respect it’s often paid, CES has rarely been a place where another respected and impactful brand, Apple, has formally attended.

That’s not a big deal in and of itself, but in the past few weeks, something interesting happened.

Apple took the spotlight away from CES, and those companies attending CES to some extent, by announcing that its much anticipated Vision Pro augmented reality headset, would go on sale on February 2.

Why it matters | Few companies have the ability to dominate news cycles and siphon off media excitement quite like Apple.

To go toe-to-toe with CES in terms of causing ripples throughout the technology world shows that Apple, despite receiving some criticism for not talking more about its AI plans, can still turn heads.

It’s also important to note that while it remains to be seen if Apple’s entry into the headset category will be successful, the fact that there is this much anticipation shows there’s some validation to other headset efforts such as Meta Quest VR headsets.

While there is still scepticism over the entire idea of virtual/mixed/augmented reality, it’s an idea that won’t be going away any time soon. Expect more iterations in the future.

Quoted | “The consumer interest that Apple’s entry into the space is generating will benefit market incumbents offering competitively priced headsets, towards which many enthusiasts who wish to try the technology without incurring Apple’s hefty price tag would gravitate, boosting the global XR market”

-Harmeet Singh Walia, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research

Future in focus

Can a vertical axis wind turbine make an impact in the Middle East?

Not your average turbine | Why a new wind turbine installed in Dubai might be a game changer for the region

Gateway | How missions will be more daring and dangerous on a lunar orbital station

More robots, more workers | Micropolis, a Dubai-based manufacturer that specialises in developing autonomous mobile robots, plans to build a new production plant and triple its workforce

Ajman and AI | A young man with a rare heart problem has been fitted with a tiny stent to unblock an artery, precisely measured by artificial intelligence, in what has been described as a landmark medical intervention by doctors in Ajman

Predicting the future: Signal or noise?

Is physical media making a comeback?

Some are seeing a renaissance under way with physical media that had become all but extinct as the content streaming wars reached a crescendo. DVDs, CDs and even laserdiscs are enjoying renewed interest. So, is this just a fad, or is something bigger going on?

This is a signal: You don't know what you have until it's gone. We're currently spoilt with a deluge of content on various streaming platforms and, quite frankly, we take it for granted. This applies to digital media and physical media, but the end result is that we're about to gravitate towards physical media again.

When it comes to streaming, however convenient, you don't own what you're watching. With media consolidation and licensing, the movie and television offerings on these streaming platforms can come and go in the blink of an eye. For a while this wasn't a problem because our streaming world and our physical media world co-existed, but slowly and surely, the physical media vanished from shops (as did many of the shops), giving the streaming platforms and the media conglomerates more leverage, and making it almost impossible to have a piece of content for the ages.

It's all coming full circle now. Most of us have been burnt by a piece of content vanishing from a streaming platform, and we don't want to take it any more. Expect to see more boutique media companies offering options as the appetite to actually own the movies, shows and music that you enjoy.

We have seen the future, and while it includes streaming, for the content we really want to cherish, it also includes physical media.

Amazon to Lay Off Several Hundred Prime Video, Studios Employees By Theo Wayt

After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday granted approval for companies to issue spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The approval will make it easier for individuals and institutional investors to invest in bitcoin without holding it directly on a crypto exchange. Judging by the reaction of the crypto market, investors weren’t exactly surprised. Bitcoin’s price rose only around 3% on the day, to north of $47,000. But Bitcoin has rallied more than 70% since October, when media outlets reported the SEC wouldn’t continue a court fight against the bitcoin ETF concept. So investors may have been assuming approval was a foregone conclusion.  The decision is obviously good news for some firms, such as Digital Currency Group’s Grayscale, which can now go ahead and offer an ETF. There are some who think it could be bad news for Coinbase in the long run, as investors theoretically won’t need to use the crypto exchange to buy bitcoin. Then again, as SEC Chair Gary Gensler pointed out, investors can already get exposure to bitcoin through a variety of different methods. And Coinbase investors don’t seem to be worried. Coinbase’s stock, which has rallied with bitcoin’s price in recent months, was trending up in after-hours trading. This seems more likely to be a net positive for the company. ETFs will probably widen the market for crypto by bringing in new investors who want to buy through their regular securities accounts. People who like holding crypto directly may continue to do so. Win-win! Except for Gensler.—Martin Peers and Akash Pasricha     EMPLOYMENT & AI  Google cuts 12 thousand jobs in favor of AI Our Report: Google has cut over 12,000 roles since the start of January 2023, and in their latest layoff, they’ve cut 1000 Google employees from multiple divisions.  Key Points: The divisions affected include the voice-activated Google Assistant and Devices and Services PA (DSPA) team, the Pixel team, the Nest team, and Fitbit hardware (which they recently acquired). Google confirms the layoffs but describes them as part of ‘organizational changes’ for efficiency and alignment with product priorities—much to the dismay of the Alphabet Worker’s Union. Furthermore, they’ve also scaled down their AR hardware team and consolidated their engineering teams and the Google Assistant team with a focus on integrating AI-powered features.  Why you should care: Google's significant workforce reduction and strategic restructuring highlight the shifting priorities in the tech industry, particularly in the areas of voice assistance and wearable technology. The departure of key figures like the Fitbit founders signals a new direction for Google's hardware and services strategy. Of the gazillions of very cool products we saw at CES, these are our absolute favorites!

For techies like me, CES is my favorite time of year. It's when I get to see companies all over the world showing off their latest and greatest innovations. And there are always some that still blow my mind, even after 30 years as a journalist covering the industry. After my team and I spent this week combing the booths and meeting with hundreds of companies at CES 2024, we got together and picked a small list of our absolute favorites. And it was not easy to choose. We were looking for things that are truly new and provide unique value to consumers like you and me. Sometimes the discussions got pretty animated as we debated the merits of each of our choices! But, after extensive research, here they are: our Top Picks of CES as chosen by our team of seasoned tech writers. Please let us know in the comments what you think of our selection. Suzanne Kantra Founder, Techlicious See Our Top Picks of CES

INSIDE TECH   1 U.S. Customs and Border Protection has approved a redesign of Apple's newest smartwatches that allows the company to continue selling the devices in the U.S. According to a legal filing, Apple plans to disable pulse oximetry features on newly sold Watch models through software, allowing it to avoid an import ban. More: The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recently found that Apple infringed on tech company Masimo's patents for technology that reads blood oxygen levels, known as pulse oximetry. The agency issued an import ban on Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches. Shortly after Apple stopped selling the watches in the U.S., a federal appeals court paused the ban, allowing sales to continue while the case goes through the courts. In court, Apple argued that a redesign of the watches should negate the ban. Apple developed a software workaround and presented it last week to the customs agency, which approved it, although the ITC has the authority to overrule the decision if it disagrees. The redesigned watches do not contain the disputed pulse oximetry technology. 2 Microsoft has surpassed Apple to become the world's most valuable public company by market capitalization. At the end of Friday's trading session, Microsoft stock closed at $388.47 per share, giving it a market cap of $2.89 trillion, while Apple closed at $185.92 per share, for a market cap of $2.87 trillion. Details: Market capitalization is the total value of all the shares of a publicly traded company. After trailing Apple for much of the past decade, Microsoft has taken the No. 1 spot after its market value surged by over $1 trillion in the past year. What it means: Microsoft's strategic integration of OpenAI's technology into its productivity software has rejuvenated its cloud-computing business, positioning it to challenge Google. Meanwhile, Apple has grappled with dwindling demand for its hardware, particularly in China, where economic recovery is sluggish, and competition from Huawei has intensified. Other AI-focused tech giants like Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet have also experienced substantial market cap growth in the past year.         3 GameStop is shutting down its NFT marketplace, citing "continuing regulatory uncertainty of the crypto space." The marketplace, which launched in July 2022, will no longer be usable as of Feb. 2. More: At that time, customers will no longer be able to create, purchase, or sell NFTs, according to a notice posted to GameStop's website. As the NFTs were minted on the blockchain, they will continue to be accessible and sellable through other platforms, the company noted. GameStop has now made a complete exit from the NFT business. Last year the company discontinued its crypto wallet, also citing regulatory uncertainty. The self-custodial Ethereum wallet allowed users to manage cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The company's heavy investment in NFTs faced challenges, including a failed partnership with FTX and consumer backlash. 4 FedEx plans to launch "FDX," a data-driven e-commerce platform, later this year. The platform is poised to rival Amazon by providing merchants with services like order fulfillment, tracking, and returns. More: Sellers on FDX will be able to tap into the customer network of ShopRunner, an e-commerce site owned by FedEx. They will receive carbon emissions reports about their supply chain and optimal shipping routes, Meanwhile, customers on FDX will be able to view delivery estimates for products while browsing and adding items to their carts. The platform is currently in a private preview stage. FedEx is aiming for an official launch this fall. Zoom out: Amazon is now the largest delivery business in the U.S., surpassing both UPS and FedEx in parcel volume. Amazon expects to reach 5.9 billion deliveries by the end of 2023, up from 5.2 billion in 2022. 5 Apple has decided to merge its Siri testing team in San Diego with another team located in Austin, Texas, possibly resulting in layoffs for employees who choose not to move to Austin. According to Bloomberg, the San Diego staff was caught off guard by the move as they were originally told they would be relocating to another campus in San Diego. More: Most of the San Diego team of 121 employees do not plan to move, Bloomberg reported. The employees can still apply for other positions. Workers who do relocate will receive $7,000 stipends. Those who don't will receive severance pay of four weeks plus an additional week per year worked, along with six months of health insurance. Zoom out: Unlike other tech companies, Apple has largely managed to avoid workforce reductions in recent years. In 2023, the company slowed its pace of hiring and laid off a small number of corporate retail employees and contractors At the time, CEO Tim Cook said Apple was not currently planning mass layoffs and would only do so as a "last resort." 6 Microsoft could auto-launch Copilot, its AI assistant, as a sidebar in Windows 11 during boot-up. The company is now testing the change in its latest Dev Channel preview of Windows 11, allowing testers to give feedback before a wider release.  More: Microsoft plans to automatically launch Copilot only on "widescreen devices" at first, though it hasn't clarified whether it applies to 16:9 and 16:10 displays or exclusively to ultrawide displays like 21:9. Users could also disable the automatic launch by navigating to Settings > Personalization > Copilot. The change has drawn some criticism online. A user on Reddit wrote that it is "guaranteed to be the most annoying feature ever implemented." Microsoft is also adding a dedicated "Copilot" key to keyboards on some new Windows 11 PCs. The key, which will summon Microsoft's AI-powered assistant with one click, is described as "the first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades."

1 Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and former Boeing CEO James Bell are retiring next month from Apple’s board of directors. Former Aerospace CEO Wanda Austin is set to replace them on the board, pending a shareholder vote. Austin, who holds a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering, was also interim president of the University of Southern California. More: Apple's board policy says that directors cannot seek reelection after reaching the age of 75, a criteria met by Gore and Bell last year.  Gore has served on the board since 2003, and Bell joined in 2015. Gore is a member of the board's people and compensation as well as corporate governance committees, while Bell serves on the audit and finance committee.  Both have amassed significant wealth through stock awards. Gore holds 468,995 Apple shares worth about $87M, while Bell owns over 38,527 shares valued at more than $7M.

2 Gaming messaging service Discord is cutting 17% of its workforce, affecting 170 employees, after growing its headcount too quickly in recent years. CEO Jason Citron said the company expanded its workforce fivefold since 2020, leading to additional projects and a drop in efficiency, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge. More: Citron said layoffs were largely driven by the need to sharpen focus, improve collaboration, and bring greater "agility" to the organization. Affected employees will receive severance packages with five months of salary and benefits, he noted. In August, Discord laid off nearly 40 employees, mainly in marketing, design, and entertainment partnerships, as part of a company-wide restructuring. Discord, which has raised $1B in funding and holds over $700M in cash, aims to achieve profitability this year, as reported by The Verge. Zoom out: Playtika, Unity, Google, and several Amazon divisions, including Twitch and Audible, are among the tech companies that announced layoffs this week.

3 eBay will pay a $3M penalty stemming from a cyberstalking campaign by former employees against bloggers who had criticized the site, the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts said on Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department charged eBay with two counts of interstate stalking, two counts of electronic communications stalking, one count of witness tampering, and one count of obstructing justice. More: As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, eBay has agreed to pay the maximum fine of $3M for the six felonies. The case dates back to 2019, when seven employees, including eBay's former senior director of safety and security Jim Baugh, targeted a Massachusetts couple who wrote an e-commerce newsletter covering eBay in a negative light. Baugh and co-conspirators harassed the couple by sending them disturbing items such as a fetal pig, a funeral wreath, live spiders, and cockroaches. Citing admissions by eBay, the DOJ reported that three of the former employees traveled to the Steiners' home to surveil them and install a GPS tracker on their car. Baugh and five others were convicted and imprisoned, while one other conspirator admitted involvement but awaits sentencing.

4 Apple says customers who pre-order its upcoming Vision Pro headset online will need to use Face ID on their iPhone or iPad to make sure the device fits properly. The $3,500 mixed-reality headset launches in the U.S. on Feb. 2, with preorders opening on Jan. 19.  More: To function correctly, the Vision Pro needs a properly sized headband and light seal to keep out surrounding light. A feature in the Apple Store app will use the facial scans to determine the correct sizes for customers, according to a code in the app. The code implies that customers won't need to visit an Apple store for the correct fit. The headset will still be available in-store for demos on the launch date. Zoom out: The headset is powered by Apple's M2 chip, used in its computers, and features 256GB of storage. It is compatible with productivity and creativity apps, including Microsoft Office and Salesforce Slack.

5 Nintendo's "Switch 2" console could launch in September of this year, according to a press release from AI Shark. The timing coincides with previous reports that said the Switch 2 will debut later this year. More: The press release from AI Shark, formerly GameShark, said it will launch its own latest software in September to "coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2." The AI company later backtracked, saying that it was "just guessing" about the Switch 2 release date. However, analysts believe Nintendo will launch its Switch successor in the second half of 2024. According to an internal email, the next-gen Switch's performance will rival that of the PS4 and Xbox One. It may have an LCD screen instead of OLED to bring down costs. Nintendo has reportedly already sent out development kits to partner studios.

6 An AI comedy platform has brought back the late stand-up comedian George Carlin through an AI-generated special called "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead." The digital recreation of Carlin did not receive permission from his family. His daughter, Kelly Carlin, denounced the project, stating that "No machine will ever replace his genius." More: The one-hour special was produced by Dudesy, a podcast hosted by "Mad TV" alum Will Sasso and podcaster Chad Kultgen that features an AI program, also called Dudesy. The AI comedian, which was trained on Carlin's material, addresses topics including U.S. gun culture, transgender issues, Taylor Swift, and the revolutionary potential of AI. Shortly after the special debuted online, Carlin's daughter publicly criticized it on X. "These AI-generated products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind that will never exist again," she wrote. "Let's let the artist's work speak for itself. Humans are so afraid of the void that we can't let what has fallen into it stay there." Dudesy's first comedy special, featuring an AI-generated voice of quarterback Tom Brady, was removed due to legal threats from Brady.

7 QUICK HITS Develop AI tools from the world's best models, leverage any data source, and deploy for any internal or external use with MindStudio's no-code platform. Get Started.* Tesla plans to halt production at its Berlin factory from Jan. 29 through Feb. 11 due to disruptions in global trade caused by the conflict in the Red Sea. A U.S. appeals court upheld two patent decisions favoring Masimo over Apple in a dispute regarding blood oxygen sensors in newer Apple Watch models. Separately, Apple is contesting a U.S. import ban on some Watch models by the International Trade Commission, which is temporarily on hold. Google Cloud announced new generative AI-powered tools for retailers, including a chatbot that provides product recommendations to customers and an AI model that improves product searches. Smart investors are generating passive income by selling their shareholder voting rights. Register on Shareholder Vote Exchange to start earning.*