Month: March 2023
E3 2023 has reportedly been canceled
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South Korea Passes Tax Break-Driven ‘Chips Act’ as Protectionism Fears Mount
South Korea has passed legislation giving tax breaks to its semiconductor companies in a bill being labelled as the “Korean Chips Act.” At the same time, the nation’s trade minister repeated its complaints that the criteria for Korean companies to access US funding are unpalatable in a possible sign of growing protectionism in the worldwide chip market. From a report: To bump up the level of tax breaks, the Korean National Assembly passed a revision bill to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. The reductions will be given to companies investing in semiconductor production and other strategic industries in the country. These tax breaks appear to be largely in line with earlier reports regarding the Korean government’s plans, and will see large corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix offered tax credits of up to 15 percent on investments into strategic technologies such as semiconductor manufacturing, up from 8 percent previously.
Raising the deduction rate from 8 percent to 15 percent would save some 2.5 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in taxes for the local chip industry, according to The Korea Herald. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the tax credit rate is set to be raised from 16 percent to 25 percent, in moves designed to bolster domestic investment in key technology sectors. The move follows the announcement of plans from the Korean government earlier this month to pour cash into several key industries including semiconductors and electric vehicles. As part of those plans, Samsung said it aimed to invest $230 billion over the next 20 years to build five new local semiconductor plants. South Korea is not the only nation offering such tax breaks. In January, Taiwan — home to semiconductor giant TSMC — passed similar legislation that will allow its domestic chipmakers to turn up to 25 percent of their annual research and development expenses into tax credits, in efforts to ensure the country’s continued leadership in chip manufacturing.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
South Korea has passed legislation giving tax breaks to its semiconductor companies in a bill being labelled as the “Korean Chips Act.” At the same time, the nation’s trade minister repeated its complaints that the criteria for Korean companies to access US funding are unpalatable in a possible sign of growing protectionism in the worldwide chip market. From a report: To bump up the level of tax breaks, the Korean National Assembly passed a revision bill to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. The reductions will be given to companies investing in semiconductor production and other strategic industries in the country. These tax breaks appear to be largely in line with earlier reports regarding the Korean government’s plans, and will see large corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix offered tax credits of up to 15 percent on investments into strategic technologies such as semiconductor manufacturing, up from 8 percent previously.
Raising the deduction rate from 8 percent to 15 percent would save some 2.5 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in taxes for the local chip industry, according to The Korea Herald. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the tax credit rate is set to be raised from 16 percent to 25 percent, in moves designed to bolster domestic investment in key technology sectors. The move follows the announcement of plans from the Korean government earlier this month to pour cash into several key industries including semiconductors and electric vehicles. As part of those plans, Samsung said it aimed to invest $230 billion over the next 20 years to build five new local semiconductor plants. South Korea is not the only nation offering such tax breaks. In January, Taiwan — home to semiconductor giant TSMC — passed similar legislation that will allow its domestic chipmakers to turn up to 25 percent of their annual research and development expenses into tax credits, in efforts to ensure the country’s continued leadership in chip manufacturing.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
E3 2023 has been canceled
Image: Getty Images
E3 has been canceled. Gaming’s big summer show was set to return in person in Los Angeles for the first time since 2019, but it’s been called off after huge gaming companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Ubisoft all said they wouldn’t be participating in the event.
E3 2023 was scheduled for June 13th through 16th with a mix of industry-focused days and days that would be open to the public. But in the lead-up to June, there had been some worrying signs that things might be rocky for E3’s revival.
According to an email sent to employees and verified by IGN, E3 2023 “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
In an email to The Verge, Kyle Marsden-Kish, global VP of gaming at ReedPop, wrote:
This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3. We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.
Marsden-Kish concluded the email by stating that ReedPop and the ESA will work together on future E3 events, suggesting the convention could return in subsequent years.
In January, IGN reported that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony would all be skipping the show, and Nintendo and Microsoft later confirmed they wouldn’t be there. On a February earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot indicated that E3 might not be happening at all, though ReedPop confirmed to The Verge that the event was moving forward. Ubisoft later said it would be attending the show, which it then reneged on. And IGN reported in March that Sega and Tencent wouldn’t be at E3, either.
That said, June is still poised to be packed with gaming news. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest takes place on June 8th, and the in-person Play Days component will be back this year, IGN reports. Microsoft’s annual Xbox showcase and its Starfield-focused show are scheduled for June 11th. And Ubisoft’s in-person Ubisoft Forward Live is set for the day after, on June 12th.
Image: Getty Images
E3 has been canceled. Gaming’s big summer show was set to return in person in Los Angeles for the first time since 2019, but it’s been called off after huge gaming companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Ubisoft all said they wouldn’t be participating in the event.
E3 2023 was scheduled for June 13th through 16th with a mix of industry-focused days and days that would be open to the public. But in the lead-up to June, there had been some worrying signs that things might be rocky for E3’s revival.
According to an email sent to employees and verified by IGN, E3 2023 “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry.”
In an email to The Verge, Kyle Marsden-Kish, global VP of gaming at ReedPop, wrote:
This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3. We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.
Marsden-Kish concluded the email by stating that ReedPop and the ESA will work together on future E3 events, suggesting the convention could return in subsequent years.
In January, IGN reported that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony would all be skipping the show, and Nintendo and Microsoft later confirmed they wouldn’t be there. On a February earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot indicated that E3 might not be happening at all, though ReedPop confirmed to The Verge that the event was moving forward. Ubisoft later said it would be attending the show, which it then reneged on. And IGN reported in March that Sega and Tencent wouldn’t be at E3, either.
That said, June is still poised to be packed with gaming news. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest takes place on June 8th, and the in-person Play Days component will be back this year, IGN reports. Microsoft’s annual Xbox showcase and its Starfield-focused show are scheduled for June 11th. And Ubisoft’s in-person Ubisoft Forward Live is set for the day after, on June 12th.
Discover the Disrupt 2023 Fintech Stage
TechCrunch Disrupt, the premier event for startup investors and founders, is coming back September 19-21, 2023, with an enhanced new format. This year, we’re rethinking TC Sessions, the standalone industry events series, and merging them into the big annual tech event — which will once again this year be held at the Moscone Center in
Discover the Disrupt 2023 Fintech Stage by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch
TechCrunch Disrupt, the premier event for startup investors and founders, is coming back September 19-21, 2023, with an enhanced new format.
This year, we’re rethinking TC Sessions, the standalone industry events series, and merging them into the big annual tech event — which will once again this year be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Disrupt will have six industry tracks, each with its own stage, including AI, fintech, hardware, SaaS, security and sustainability. On the Fintech Stage we will have some of the biggest industry players discussing some of the hottest topics in the industry.
The specific areas we’re eager to dig into this year via panels and fireside chats on the Fintech Stage featuring top executives in the industry include: the future of payments, the sustainability of buy now, pay later, scaling blockchains to onboard masses and the value of embedded tech. Come join us!
The world of fintech is an ever-evolving one as the digital transformation of financial services has accelerated full force since the onset of the pandemic (and continues). By definition, fintech represents the use of technology to improve, enhance or automate financial services. It’s a broad term that encompasses many areas, including payments, banking, credit and crypto.
We believe that ultimately the goal of fintech should be to improve the lives of people all around the globe, in some cases opening up access to those previously underserved and in others giving more options when it comes to spending, saving and investing your (or your company’s) money.
While venture funding in fintech slowed last year, companies in the space were still the top recipient of venture dollars worldwide. In fact, storied venture firms Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) invested more in fintech than any other category in 2022. And in 2023, investors still see much opportunity as founders all over continue to challenge the status quo.
We hope you can join us September 19-21 at Disrupt 2023 and check out the fintech day of programming. Early Bird passes are currently on sale — save $800 when you book by May 14.
Discover the Disrupt 2023 Fintech Stage by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch
A top AI researcher reportedly left Google for OpenAI after sharing concerns the company was training Bard on ChatGPT data
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New FiiO portable music player offers desktop-grade hi-res audio on the go
FiiO’s new M15S boasts on-board Wi-Fi and dual DACs plus support for Roon and MQA, making it a step-up High-Res portable player option.
Having recently impressed us with their mid-range FiiO M11S portable digital audio player, Chinese audio firm FiiO is back with a decidedly high-end offering for its next on-the-go device.
The new M15S portable player comes packed with two desktop-grade ES9038PRO digital-to-analog converters, with individual DAC chips dedicated to the left and right stereo channels.
Each chip makes use of four D/A converters for what FiiO claim to be extremely high-quality decoding, with the device able to support playback of audio files up to 384kHz/DSD256.
The new M15S also supports MQA, allowing listeners to directly stream TIDAL Masters as well as MQA files stored locally, while further Hi-Res audio options come in the form of aptX HD Bluetooth, alongside LDAC and LHDC wireless codecs.
There’s onboard 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi allowing for support of Apple AirPlay and DLNA streaming, as well as compatibility with the increasingly popular multi-room music software platform Roon.
(Image credit: Fiio)
Weighing 345g, the device runs on Android 10, which allows for lossless access to Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music, and it’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor – the same CPU which features on FiiO’s flagship M17 hi-res audio player.
Along with a regular 3.5mm headphone jack and both 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs, there’s a 5.5-inch multi-touch HD display with 64GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to 2TB of extra storage via the microSD card slot.
The FiiO M15S is available now to order for $999/£979 from the FiiO website, and set to ship later this month.
We can’t wait to put it through its paces and see how it matches up to best MP3 players currently out there. Watch this space…
You can now use Netflix’s cheaper ads plan on your Apple TV
Image: Chris Welch / The Verge
Netflix’s ad-supported tier now works with Apple TV set-top boxes, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The “Basic with Ads” tier comes at a more affordable $6.99 per month cost, but when it launched in November, people who subscribed to it couldn’t use it on their Apple TV. At the time, Netflix told 9to5Mac that the ads plan would work on Apple TV down the line, and now that support is here.
If you want to watch content through the ad-supported plan, you’ll need to be on version 2.3.0 of the Netflix app for Apple TV. I tested the plan on my laptop when it first launched, and whatever you’re imagining Netflix with ads is like, you’re probably right. Personally, I’d recommend the no-ads plans, but if you want to save a few bucks, the ads tier isn’t a bad option.
When Netflix Basic with Ads launched in November, it also wasn’t supported by older Chromecasts, but a Netflix support document no longer has a specific section calling that out. I don’t have any Chromecasts to check this myself, so I’ve asked Netflix if those devices now support the tier. The ads plan still isn’t supported by PlayStation 3 or the Netflix app for Windows.
Image: Chris Welch / The Verge
Netflix’s ad-supported tier now works with Apple TV set-top boxes, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The “Basic with Ads” tier comes at a more affordable $6.99 per month cost, but when it launched in November, people who subscribed to it couldn’t use it on their Apple TV. At the time, Netflix told 9to5Mac that the ads plan would work on Apple TV down the line, and now that support is here.
If you want to watch content through the ad-supported plan, you’ll need to be on version 2.3.0 of the Netflix app for Apple TV. I tested the plan on my laptop when it first launched, and whatever you’re imagining Netflix with ads is like, you’re probably right. Personally, I’d recommend the no-ads plans, but if you want to save a few bucks, the ads tier isn’t a bad option.
When Netflix Basic with Ads launched in November, it also wasn’t supported by older Chromecasts, but a Netflix support document no longer has a specific section calling that out. I don’t have any Chromecasts to check this myself, so I’ve asked Netflix if those devices now support the tier. The ads plan still isn’t supported by PlayStation 3 or the Netflix app for Windows.