Month: July 2023
Shein Accused of Anti-competitive Practices in Global Expansion
Two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, Temu and Shein, compete aggressively with one another, and this rivalry is typical of
The post Shein Accused of Anti-competitive Practices in Global Expansion appeared first on ReadWrite.
Two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, Temu and Shein, compete aggressively with one another, and this rivalry is typical of the industry as a whole. Both companies are now taking their aggressive strategies in China global. This article will examine the current dispute between Temu and Shein, as well as the allegations and rebuttals made by both parties, and how it has affected the international e-commerce market.
Temu, a subsidiary of the Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, has filed a lawsuit against the fast fashion industry giant Shein in the United States, claiming that Shein engages in anti-competitive practices. According to Temu’s claims, Shein has coerced clothing manufacturers into signing non-compete clauses. This accusation is similar to the one that claims Alibaba’s “choosing one from two” policy coerced sellers into abandoning Pinduoduo in favor of Alibaba’s own platforms. The Chinese government’s investigation into Alibaba’s monopolistic practices in 2020 will show the dire consequences of anti-competitive behavior.
Shein is so strict with its clothing suppliers because it has such a hard time sourcing cotton in China. According to a post on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Reddit, written by a Temu vendor, clothing manufacturers face difficulties when attempting to source cotton from areas outside of Xinjiang, China’s primary cotton-producing region. Concerns over possible forced labor have caused the U.S. fashion industry to pull back from Xinjiang. All 8,338 of Shein’s manufacturers are required to sign exclusive-dealing agreements, which prevents them from selling on Temu or supplying products to Temu sellers.
Shein’s exclusive-dealing agreements with roughly 8,338 manufacturers account for roughly 70% to 80% of the estimated retailers capable of supplying ultra-fast fashion, according to Temu’s lawsuit. This demonstrates the dire circumstances in which Temu finds itself and the impact that Shein’s anti-competitive practices have had on the industry as a whole. Despite the rising popularity of ultra-fast fashion, which satisfies customers’ demands for quickly delivered, trendy, and reasonably priced apparel, Temu’s ability to provide a wide selection of such products may be harmed due to Shein’s control over many manufacturers.
Both the Shein and the Temu are engaged in a war that has spread beyond China’s borders. Shein is a Singapore-based company’s wholly-owned Chinese manufacturing subsidiary. Temu and Pinduoduo, on the other hand, have started their global expansion by opening an office in Dublin, Ireland. Legal issues between Shein and Temu are complicated by Chinese market regulations and those of other countries.
To combat the dominance of a few companies in the consumer internet space and the widespread use of monopolistic business models in the technology sector, China has proposed anti-monopoly legislation. There has been no resolution to the dispute between Shein and Temu, and it is unclear whether the Chinese government will step in to mediate the situation. This raises questions about the efficacy and reach of China’s anti-monopoly laws on a global scale.
The legal dispute between Shein and Temu concerns a wide range of topics. Shein claims Temu infringed on its trademark and copyright rights by trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Shein brand in the American market through a complex impersonation scheme. These accusations illustrate how much is at stake for both parties.
The future of online shopping worldwide is at stake in the ongoing dispute between Shein and Temu. Regulations should be strict to prevent anti-competitive behavior, and fair competition is emphasized. As more people make online marketplaces their go-to for purchasing goods, protecting consumers and ensuring fair competition is more crucial than ever.
The competition between Temu and Shein is indicative of the broader e-commerce industry worldwide. The accusations and counter-accusations of anti-competitive behavior show how heated the competition is and how much is at stake. It is crucial that authorities address monopolistic practices and ensure equal access to the market as the e-commerce sector grows. Businesses and customers alike require a level playing field in the digital economy today.
First reported on TechCrunch
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are Temu and Shein, and what makes their rivalry significant?
Temu and Shein are two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms engaged in aggressive competition. Their rivalry is typical of the competitive nature of the e-commerce industry. Both companies are now taking their aggressive strategies from China to a global scale, impacting the international e-commerce market.
2. What legal action has Temu taken against Shein, and what are the accusations?
Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo, has filed a lawsuit against Shein in the United States, alleging anti-competitive practices. The lawsuit claims that Shein coerced clothing manufacturers into signing non-compete clauses, similar to the alleged “choosing one from two” policy by Alibaba. The Chinese government’s investigation into Alibaba’s monopolistic practices in 2020 has shown the potential consequences of such behavior.
3. What is the significance of Shein’s strict control over clothing suppliers?
Shein’s tight grip on clothing suppliers is linked to the difficulty of sourcing cotton outside of Xinjiang, China’s primary cotton-producing region. Due to concerns over forced labor in Xinjiang, the U.S. fashion industry has distanced itself from using cotton sourced from the region. All 8,338 of Shein’s manufacturers are required to sign exclusive-dealing agreements, preventing them from selling on Temu or supplying products to Temu sellers.
4. How does Shein’s exclusive-dealing agreement impact the industry and Temu?
According to Temu’s lawsuit, roughly 70% to 80% of the estimated retailers capable of supplying ultra-fast fashion are among the manufacturers bound by Shein’s exclusive-dealing agreements. This severely affects Temu’s ability to provide a wide selection of ultra-fast fashion products, despite the growing demand for such items.
5. How has the rivalry between Shein and Temu extended beyond China?
Both Shein and Temu have expanded their operations beyond China’s borders. While Shein’s parent company is in Singapore, most of its products are manufactured in China. Temu and Pinduoduo have set up an office in Dublin, Ireland, as part of their global expansion plans. This adds complexity to the legal dispute, involving regulations from multiple countries.
6. What is China’s stance on anti-monopoly laws, and how might it affect this dispute?
In response to monopolistic practices in the tech industry, China has proposed anti-monopoly legislation. The outcome of the dispute between Shein and Temu may be impacted by these laws, but it remains uncertain how Chinese regulators will intervene in the case since neither company directly sells its products within China.
7. What are the key issues in the legal dispute between Shein and Temu?
The legal dispute involves various aspects, including Shein’s accusation that Temu violated its trademark and copyright rights through an impersonation scheme to profit from the Shein brand’s popularity in the American market. This highlights the complexity and high stakes involved in the conflict.
8. How will the ongoing dispute between Shein and Temu affect the global e-commerce market?
The ongoing rivalry between Shein and Temu has significant implications for the international e-commerce landscape. The need for strict regulations to prevent anti-competitive behavior is emphasized, and the importance of fair competition is highlighted. As more consumers turn to online marketplaces, ensuring consumer protection and fair competition becomes crucial.
9. What does the dispute between Shein and Temu reveal about the broader e-commerce industry?
The dispute illustrates the highly competitive nature of the global e-commerce industry. The accusations and counter-accusations of anti-competitive behavior underscore the intense competition and the significant impact on the market. Regulators must address monopolistic practices and ensure equal opportunities for businesses in this growing sector.
10. How does this dispute impact businesses and consumers in the digital economy?
In the digital economy, businesses and consumers alike require a level playing field to thrive. The ongoing conflict between Shein and Temu highlights the importance of fair competition and the need to protect consumers’ interests. Stricter regulations are necessary to curb anti-competitive practices and foster a fair and open marketplace for all stakeholders.
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash
The post Shein Accused of Anti-competitive Practices in Global Expansion appeared first on ReadWrite.
Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 tracker’s new design revealed in FCC filing
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2 appeared in an FCC listing today, offering us a small preview of what to expect from the forthcoming location tracker (via 9to5Google).
Perhaps most notably, the FCC listing refers to one version of the tracker that will come with ultra-wideband (UWB) connectivity for more precise tracking. That doesn’t rule out Samsung releasing a second variant later. The $39 SmartTag Plus — which combined BLE with UWB — came after the original $29 standard SmartTag, which featured only Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
Another notable difference is that the Galaxy SmartTag’s loop appears significantly larger than that of its predecessor. In fact, it looks bigger than the Tile Pro, which should make it even easier to attach the tracker to keychains.
Finally, the new tracker also looks like it will adopt a white pill-shaped design, as opposed to its black rounded-square-shaped predecessor. It’s not clear whether the tracker is smaller than the original models, but the slimmer build is reminiscent of the Tile Pro’s key fob-like design. For those who clip trackers to keychains to keep tabs on, say, car keys, that could potentially make it a little easier to hold.
Image: FCC
Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2 as it appeared in an FCC listing.
It’s uncertain how much more competitive the tracker will become. We don’t know yet if it’ll support Google’s upcoming Find My Device network. We also don’t know if the Galaxy SmartTag will only again be limited to Samsung Galaxy phones. That is arguably one of its major drawbacks and why we recommended the Tile Pro for Android users even though it doesn’t offer UWB capabilities.
The FCC filing comes a month after a Bluetooth SIG listing revealed the tracker would continue to require the use of Samsung’s SmartThings app. Beyond that, however, there’s little else we know about the tracker.
It’s also not clear when the tracker will be released. There was some speculation it would make its debut at last week’s Galaxy Unpacked event, which saw Samsung announce new phones, smartwatches, and tablets. However, there was no mention of a new Galaxy SmartTag.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2 appeared in an FCC listing today, offering us a small preview of what to expect from the forthcoming location tracker (via 9to5Google).
Perhaps most notably, the FCC listing refers to one version of the tracker that will come with ultra-wideband (UWB) connectivity for more precise tracking. That doesn’t rule out Samsung releasing a second variant later. The $39 SmartTag Plus — which combined BLE with UWB — came after the original $29 standard SmartTag, which featured only Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
Another notable difference is that the Galaxy SmartTag’s loop appears significantly larger than that of its predecessor. In fact, it looks bigger than the Tile Pro, which should make it even easier to attach the tracker to keychains.
Finally, the new tracker also looks like it will adopt a white pill-shaped design, as opposed to its black rounded-square-shaped predecessor. It’s not clear whether the tracker is smaller than the original models, but the slimmer build is reminiscent of the Tile Pro’s key fob-like design. For those who clip trackers to keychains to keep tabs on, say, car keys, that could potentially make it a little easier to hold.
Image: FCC
Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2 as it appeared in an FCC listing.
It’s uncertain how much more competitive the tracker will become. We don’t know yet if it’ll support Google’s upcoming Find My Device network. We also don’t know if the Galaxy SmartTag will only again be limited to Samsung Galaxy phones. That is arguably one of its major drawbacks and why we recommended the Tile Pro for Android users even though it doesn’t offer UWB capabilities.
The FCC filing comes a month after a Bluetooth SIG listing revealed the tracker would continue to require the use of Samsung’s SmartThings app. Beyond that, however, there’s little else we know about the tracker.
It’s also not clear when the tracker will be released. There was some speculation it would make its debut at last week’s Galaxy Unpacked event, which saw Samsung announce new phones, smartwatches, and tablets. However, there was no mention of a new Galaxy SmartTag.
Hands-free driving is becoming more popular — but is it safe?
Image: GM
Raise your hand if you’ve tried one of those new-fangled hands-free driver-assist systems. Now raise both hands. But for the love of god, keep your eyes on the road!
Love them or hate them, hands-free driving systems are becoming more prevalent on the road. Most major automakers offer hands-free driving as an option or a subscription, from GM’s Super Cruise to Ford’s BlueCruise to Nissan’s ProPilot. (Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems are not technically hands-free, a fact that annoys most Tesla owners to no end.)
But with more hands-free driving entering the realm of what’s possible, more risks inevitably come with it. Last week, GM launched a public education campaign to help customers better understand what distinguishes Super Cruise from other systems and to make it clear to drivers what’s allowed when driving hands-free.
But with more hands-free driving entering the realm of what’s possible, more risks inevitably come with it
Andrew Farah, executive director of advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) at GM, said the public education campaign has as much to do with explaining to customers what Super Cruise doesn’t do as it does explaining what the system does do.
“You are still the driver of the car,” Farah said in an interview. “And that’s why we don’t refer to those systems as autonomous.”
Most people have a lot of difficulty distinguishing between ADAS and fully automated driving systems. If the car is controlling acceleration, braking, and lane centering as well as performing automatic lane changes and monitoring blind spots — and your hands are in your lap the whole time — why shouldn’t that be described as self-driving or autonomous? It’s no surprise people conflate driver-assistance systems with self-driving.
“That’s why we don’t refer to those systems as autonomous”
Another issue is Tesla, which goes much further than most car makers in what technology it makes available to customers. It also takes a lot of license in how it describes these technologies. Full Self-Driving, for example, is not a self-driving system. Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their eyes on the road at all times. The system can frequently ask the driver to take control when it can’t figure out what to do.
The same goes for Super Cruise, which Farah notes is a “hands-free, eyes-on” system. “Making sure that we are very clear when we talk about what our system can do and can’t do,” he said.
GM says there are nearly 80,000 Super Cruise-equipped vehicles on the road today, with more than 22 additional models expected to have it available by the end of the year. As of June 9th, more than 77 million hands-free miles have been driven with Super Cruise, the company says. Ford says it has 225,000 vehicles equipped with its hands-free BlueCruise system that have driven a cumulative 100 million miles.
But both of those systems pale in comparison to Tesla’s. According to the company’s latest earnings report, over 400,000 vehicles in the US and Canada have access to FSD, and those vehicles have driven over 325 million miles. And because it has been more aggressive in selling these products to customers, Tesla has the highest crash rate among automakers with advanced driver-assist systems on the market. Since 2019, Tesla vehicles with Autopilot or FSD have been involved in 736 crashes, including 17 fatalities.
For better or worse, Tesla is driving the discussion about advanced driver-assist systems
For better or worse, Tesla is driving the discussion about advanced driver-assist systems. Farah acknowledged that GM needs to be more aggressive about highlighting the differences with Tesla’s system to avoid comparisons.
“We can’t shield ourselves [from public perceptions],” Farah admitted. “General Motors can’t necessarily just say we’re completely different and separate from everybody else. We all get painted with the same brush.”
“Am I worried about it?” he continued. “What I know is that we’ve made sure we’ve got a fully tested system, and we’re putting it out there as such, there’s no disclaimer to sign… I can’t speak for the other folks.”
There is compelling evidence that, regardless of the company, most driver-assist systems are less safe than normal human driving. Drivers tend to develop an overreliance on these systems even after a short period of use. And when it’s time to take back control of the vehicle, their reaction times are slower than what’s considered safe.
There are also more instances of distracted driving when using ADAS — and why wouldn’t there be? When an ADAS frees up your hands from the task of driving, what are drivers most likely to do with that free time? Pick up their phones.
“We can’t shield ourselves”
“We’ve done some research on that as well, to try to help us tune those things,” Farah said. “And a lot of it has to do with where you’re operating the vehicle, in what domain.”
Super Cruise is only operational on highways, where driving can be more predictable and there are fewer intersections and vulnerable road users. GM’s next-generation ADAS, Ultra Cruise, will broaden the operational domain to include city driving, making it more risky to use. But both Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise will require the driver to pay attention to the road.
Farah declined to comment on whether GM would eventually offer a Level 3 “unsupervised” ADAS, like Mercedes-Benz is planning to do in Nevada and California. But ultimately, it depends on how automakers approach these technologies, how they test them, and then, ultimately, how they market them to their customers.
“We do not view Super Cruise as a safety system,” Farah said bluntly. “We validated and tested as if it was… The driver still is asked to be in the loop and is still, in the end, responsible for the overall safety of the vehicle and its occupants.”
Image: GM
Raise your hand if you’ve tried one of those new-fangled hands-free driver-assist systems. Now raise both hands. But for the love of god, keep your eyes on the road!
Love them or hate them, hands-free driving systems are becoming more prevalent on the road. Most major automakers offer hands-free driving as an option or a subscription, from GM’s Super Cruise to Ford’s BlueCruise to Nissan’s ProPilot. (Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems are not technically hands-free, a fact that annoys most Tesla owners to no end.)
But with more hands-free driving entering the realm of what’s possible, more risks inevitably come with it. Last week, GM launched a public education campaign to help customers better understand what distinguishes Super Cruise from other systems and to make it clear to drivers what’s allowed when driving hands-free.
Andrew Farah, executive director of advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) at GM, said the public education campaign has as much to do with explaining to customers what Super Cruise doesn’t do as it does explaining what the system does do.
“You are still the driver of the car,” Farah said in an interview. “And that’s why we don’t refer to those systems as autonomous.”
Most people have a lot of difficulty distinguishing between ADAS and fully automated driving systems. If the car is controlling acceleration, braking, and lane centering as well as performing automatic lane changes and monitoring blind spots — and your hands are in your lap the whole time — why shouldn’t that be described as self-driving or autonomous? It’s no surprise people conflate driver-assistance systems with self-driving.
Another issue is Tesla, which goes much further than most car makers in what technology it makes available to customers. It also takes a lot of license in how it describes these technologies. Full Self-Driving, for example, is not a self-driving system. Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their eyes on the road at all times. The system can frequently ask the driver to take control when it can’t figure out what to do.
The same goes for Super Cruise, which Farah notes is a “hands-free, eyes-on” system. “Making sure that we are very clear when we talk about what our system can do and can’t do,” he said.
GM says there are nearly 80,000 Super Cruise-equipped vehicles on the road today, with more than 22 additional models expected to have it available by the end of the year. As of June 9th, more than 77 million hands-free miles have been driven with Super Cruise, the company says. Ford says it has 225,000 vehicles equipped with its hands-free BlueCruise system that have driven a cumulative 100 million miles.
But both of those systems pale in comparison to Tesla’s. According to the company’s latest earnings report, over 400,000 vehicles in the US and Canada have access to FSD, and those vehicles have driven over 325 million miles. And because it has been more aggressive in selling these products to customers, Tesla has the highest crash rate among automakers with advanced driver-assist systems on the market. Since 2019, Tesla vehicles with Autopilot or FSD have been involved in 736 crashes, including 17 fatalities.
For better or worse, Tesla is driving the discussion about advanced driver-assist systems. Farah acknowledged that GM needs to be more aggressive about highlighting the differences with Tesla’s system to avoid comparisons.
“We can’t shield ourselves [from public perceptions],” Farah admitted. “General Motors can’t necessarily just say we’re completely different and separate from everybody else. We all get painted with the same brush.”
“Am I worried about it?” he continued. “What I know is that we’ve made sure we’ve got a fully tested system, and we’re putting it out there as such, there’s no disclaimer to sign… I can’t speak for the other folks.”
There is compelling evidence that, regardless of the company, most driver-assist systems are less safe than normal human driving. Drivers tend to develop an overreliance on these systems even after a short period of use. And when it’s time to take back control of the vehicle, their reaction times are slower than what’s considered safe.
There are also more instances of distracted driving when using ADAS — and why wouldn’t there be? When an ADAS frees up your hands from the task of driving, what are drivers most likely to do with that free time? Pick up their phones.
“We’ve done some research on that as well, to try to help us tune those things,” Farah said. “And a lot of it has to do with where you’re operating the vehicle, in what domain.”
Super Cruise is only operational on highways, where driving can be more predictable and there are fewer intersections and vulnerable road users. GM’s next-generation ADAS, Ultra Cruise, will broaden the operational domain to include city driving, making it more risky to use. But both Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise will require the driver to pay attention to the road.
Farah declined to comment on whether GM would eventually offer a Level 3 “unsupervised” ADAS, like Mercedes-Benz is planning to do in Nevada and California. But ultimately, it depends on how automakers approach these technologies, how they test them, and then, ultimately, how they market them to their customers.
“We do not view Super Cruise as a safety system,” Farah said bluntly. “We validated and tested as if it was… The driver still is asked to be in the loop and is still, in the end, responsible for the overall safety of the vehicle and its occupants.”
A killer ocean heatwave is decimating Florida’s corals
Coral fragments of wild Florida elkhorn and staghorn in the living gene bank at The Reef Institute. | Image: NOAA; courtesy of The Reef Institute.
Federal authorities and scientists are scrambling to relocate corals from Florida’s coastlines before a killer heatwave wipes them out.
The water is unbearably hot for corals, animals whose bodies form the reefs that coastal communities and other marine life depend on. Corals get their color from a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that provide them with the nutrients they need to survive. Unusually high temperatures, as the Atlantic Ocean is experiencing this summer, drive that colorful algae away. It’s a problem called coral bleaching that, if it lasts too long, ultimately kills corals.
“Our hands-on restoration work is now all that stands between these animals and their extinction.”
Anticipating a mass die-off, scientists have had to resort to moving corals from the sea to climate-controlled labs. “Our hands-on restoration work is now all that stands between these animals and their extinction,” Jessica Levy, director of restoration strategy at the Coral Restoration Foundation, said in a July press release.
The move is supposed to be temporary, “for rehabilitation and safekeeping,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which works on coral reef conservation with the foundation. But the heat has been devastating even to long-term efforts to restore reefs that were already struggling.
Waters surrounding the southern Florida Keys haven’t been this hot since satellite record-keeping began in 1985, NOAA said in another press release on Friday. Corals in the region started bleaching in mid-July, and it has escalated quickly to “mass coral bleaching and mortality.”
The bleaching threshold, when water temperatures rise high enough above the usual summertime maximum to trigger bleaching, is 87.13 degrees Fahrenheit (30.63 degrees Celsius) around the Florida Keys. Water temperatures in the area have been above that bleaching threshold since mid-June and got as high as 92.48 degrees Fahrenheit (33.60 degrees Celsius) on July 13th.
Image: NOAA
This animated satellite-based map shows the buildup of ocean heat stress in the waters around Florida between June 25th and July 23rd, 2023.
As part of rescue efforts with the foundation and academic researchers, NOAA is working to collect two living fragments from each genetically unique staghorn and elkhorn coral within Florida’s coral reefs. One fragment will be sent to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and the other to the Reef Institute in West Palm Beach. Conservationists have been growing corals in labs and ocean nurseries with the goal of eventually planting them back in reefs.
Unfortunately, both nurseries and reefs where corals were previously planted are barely hanging on in the heat. Thousands of coral nurseries have been relocated to tanks at the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s Keys Marine Lab. That’s “hopefully for just the short-term,” NOAA said on Friday.
The scene at some conservation sites in the ocean has been heartbreaking. “What we found was unimaginable — 100% coral mortality,” Phanor Montoya-Maya, restoration program manager at the foundation, said in a press release after their team visited the Sombrero Reef on July 20th that it has been working to restore for more than a decade.
The last time the region saw a major mass bleaching was in 2014 and 2015, part of a three-year global crisis for corals caused by record ocean temperatures. Sea surface temperatures and coral heat stress this year are already well above where they were during that disaster or at any other time since 1985. The heatwave also started much earlier this year, and there’s a 70 to 100 percent chance that the extreme temperatures last through September and October in the North Atlantic, NOAA says.
Phanor Montoya-Maya with the Coral Restoration Foundation saw it first hand on a dive to Sombrero Reef. “When we jumped in the water,” he says, “we found a lot of these corals that they were white and brown, mostly white.” pic.twitter.com/PTdENmhXwR— Greg Allen (@gallennpr) July 28, 2023
Florida’s coral reefs were already in trouble; healthy coral cover in the Keys has declined by 90 percent since the 1970s. Even so, the remaining barrier reef — spanning some 225 miles — is crucial to the environment and local economy. The reef is home to thousands of different species of animals and plants, and it gives coastal communities an important buffer from storm surges and high tides.
That’s why conservationists are determined to prevent more damage and potentially reverse some of the harm human activity has had so far on reefs. They’ve suffered from pollution, boating mishaps, overfishing, and of course, climate change, which could kill off 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs if global climate goals under the Paris agreement aren’t met.
“Despite the devastation, we remain hopeful and determined,” Montoya-Maya said. A little further north, where the water isn’t so hot, corals around the Upper Keys have fared better this summer, giving conservation teams time to act. “We are now rescuing as many corals as we can from our nurseries and relocating key genotypes to land-based holding systems, safeguarding our broodstock – potentially, the last lifeline left many of these corals,” said Montoya-Maya.
Coral fragments of wild Florida elkhorn and staghorn in the living gene bank at The Reef Institute. | Image: NOAA; courtesy of The Reef Institute.
Federal authorities and scientists are scrambling to relocate corals from Florida’s coastlines before a killer heatwave wipes them out.
The water is unbearably hot for corals, animals whose bodies form the reefs that coastal communities and other marine life depend on. Corals get their color from a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that provide them with the nutrients they need to survive. Unusually high temperatures, as the Atlantic Ocean is experiencing this summer, drive that colorful algae away. It’s a problem called coral bleaching that, if it lasts too long, ultimately kills corals.
Anticipating a mass die-off, scientists have had to resort to moving corals from the sea to climate-controlled labs. “Our hands-on restoration work is now all that stands between these animals and their extinction,” Jessica Levy, director of restoration strategy at the Coral Restoration Foundation, said in a July press release.
The move is supposed to be temporary, “for rehabilitation and safekeeping,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which works on coral reef conservation with the foundation. But the heat has been devastating even to long-term efforts to restore reefs that were already struggling.
Waters surrounding the southern Florida Keys haven’t been this hot since satellite record-keeping began in 1985, NOAA said in another press release on Friday. Corals in the region started bleaching in mid-July, and it has escalated quickly to “mass coral bleaching and mortality.”
The bleaching threshold, when water temperatures rise high enough above the usual summertime maximum to trigger bleaching, is 87.13 degrees Fahrenheit (30.63 degrees Celsius) around the Florida Keys. Water temperatures in the area have been above that bleaching threshold since mid-June and got as high as 92.48 degrees Fahrenheit (33.60 degrees Celsius) on July 13th.
Image: NOAA
This animated satellite-based map shows the buildup of ocean heat stress in the waters around Florida between June 25th and July 23rd, 2023.
As part of rescue efforts with the foundation and academic researchers, NOAA is working to collect two living fragments from each genetically unique staghorn and elkhorn coral within Florida’s coral reefs. One fragment will be sent to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and the other to the Reef Institute in West Palm Beach. Conservationists have been growing corals in labs and ocean nurseries with the goal of eventually planting them back in reefs.
Unfortunately, both nurseries and reefs where corals were previously planted are barely hanging on in the heat. Thousands of coral nurseries have been relocated to tanks at the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s Keys Marine Lab. That’s “hopefully for just the short-term,” NOAA said on Friday.
The scene at some conservation sites in the ocean has been heartbreaking. “What we found was unimaginable — 100% coral mortality,” Phanor Montoya-Maya, restoration program manager at the foundation, said in a press release after their team visited the Sombrero Reef on July 20th that it has been working to restore for more than a decade.
The last time the region saw a major mass bleaching was in 2014 and 2015, part of a three-year global crisis for corals caused by record ocean temperatures. Sea surface temperatures and coral heat stress this year are already well above where they were during that disaster or at any other time since 1985. The heatwave also started much earlier this year, and there’s a 70 to 100 percent chance that the extreme temperatures last through September and October in the North Atlantic, NOAA says.
Phanor Montoya-Maya with the Coral Restoration Foundation saw it first hand on a dive to Sombrero Reef. “When we jumped in the water,” he says, “we found a lot of these corals that they were white and brown, mostly white.” pic.twitter.com/PTdENmhXwR
— Greg Allen (@gallennpr) July 28, 2023
Florida’s coral reefs were already in trouble; healthy coral cover in the Keys has declined by 90 percent since the 1970s. Even so, the remaining barrier reef — spanning some 225 miles — is crucial to the environment and local economy. The reef is home to thousands of different species of animals and plants, and it gives coastal communities an important buffer from storm surges and high tides.
That’s why conservationists are determined to prevent more damage and potentially reverse some of the harm human activity has had so far on reefs. They’ve suffered from pollution, boating mishaps, overfishing, and of course, climate change, which could kill off 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs if global climate goals under the Paris agreement aren’t met.
“Despite the devastation, we remain hopeful and determined,” Montoya-Maya said. A little further north, where the water isn’t so hot, corals around the Upper Keys have fared better this summer, giving conservation teams time to act. “We are now rescuing as many corals as we can from our nurseries and relocating key genotypes to land-based holding systems, safeguarding our broodstock – potentially, the last lifeline left many of these corals,” said Montoya-Maya.
“Blaze your glory!”—Twitter’s “X” becomes first one-letter iPhone app
Previously, Apple required a minimum of two characters in iPhone app names.
Enlarge (credit: Anadolu Agency / Contributor | Anadolu)
Apple has granted a rare exception to its strict App Store rules, allowing Twitter to rebrand as X and become the first-ever one-character iPhone app.
Two days ago, Bleeping Computer reported that Apple had rejected Twitter’s attempt to update its app name to simply X due to minimum character requirements. As a result, the app was temporarily listed in its App Store as Twitter—alongside the X logo and the X tagline “Blaze your glory.” This potentially further confused users over what to call the app during Elon Musk’s sloppy rollout of Twitter’s new branding.
It stayed that way for days, until about 2:30 this morning, when Apple updated the listing in its mobile App Store, Bleeping Computer reported—allowing the App Store’s first-ever single-character name. A product designer and data scientist who founded a growth consulting agency called Next, Nick Sheriff, posted a screenshot confirming that historically the App Store only accepted app names with a minimum of two characters.
Known Android flaws are just as bad as zero-days, finds Google
Google says that the path from a vulnerability becoming an n-day to Android patches being widely available is too long.
Google’s latest annual review of zero-day exploits has claimed known vulnerabilities could be even worse than zero-day vulnerabilities.
In its report, Google asks whether zero-days are even needed on Android. Typically, a vulnerability would be most concerning before it becomes public. During this (hopefully short) period, an attacker can execute exploits without having to worry about a patch.
In the case of Android, as soon as Google becomes aware of the vulnerability, it is then an n-day flaw, regardless of patch status.
Android patches are just too slow
Google added that in some cases, patches have not been available to users for a significant amount of time across its ecosystem, which it blames on a disconnect between upstream (developer) fixes and the downstream (manufacturer) adoption.
A 2022 report entitled ‘Mind the Gap’ concluded that device vendors should be just as quick to react to patches as end users are advised to be.
A total of 41 zero-days were detected in 2022, down a staggering 40% from the previous year during which 69 had been detected, however with n-day vulnerabilities more exploitable than they should be, attackers have not been subject to the same reduction in attackable surfaces.
At the same time, Google highlighted ineffective patch methods which only serve to fix the exploit method seen being used, rather than the vulnerability as a whole, which it says is not comprehensive and doesn’t constitute a complete patch.
Moving forward, Google clearly places an emphasis on clear communication and collaboration, urging that all parties share as many technical details as possible following detailed analyses.
The company also calls for “fixes and mitigations to [get to] users quickly so that they can protect themselves.”
Here’s our run-down of the best malware removal tools and the best endpoint protection
Sony announces US pricing for its 2023 QD-OLED TVs – and it’s lower than predicted
Sony announced US pricing and availability for its new QD-OLED TV lineup, and the new sets are less expensive than expected.
Sony has announced US pricing for its A95L QD-OLED TVs, the company’s flagship OLED TV line for 2023. The new models will be sold in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch screen sizes, and will be available for pre-order starting on August 21.
General pricing and availability for Sony’s 2023 TV lineup had been announced back in early June, but there was no mention of the A95L series in Sony’s announcement. Last year’s A95K models ranked among the best OLED TVs, so we were anxious to hear news of the new A95L, which we had a positive response to when we performed a hands-on A95L evaluation back in March.
Like Samsung’s QD-OLED models for 2022, Sony’s QD-OLED TVs were sold only in 55- and 65-inch screen sizes, and they were pricier than Samsung’s offerings. Based on that information, we speculated that the new Sony TVs would be similarly expensive. As it turns out, Sony has actually reduced prices for its QD-OLED TV line, which now includes a 77-inch model.
Here are the US prices for Sony’s A95L TVs:
77-inch Class: $4,999.9965-inch Class: $3,499.9955-inch Class: $2,799.99
According to Sony, A95L owners can expect up to two times the peak brightness of last year’s A95K, a feat the new TVs pull off via a combination of a more efficient display panel, Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR, and a physical heat sink.
The A95L TVs are well-suited for gaming, with 4K 120Hz and Dolby Vision gaming support and a ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ designation, which means that an auto genre picture mode and auto HDR tone mapping get triggered when the TV detects input from a connected PS5 gaming console.
Sony’s new QD-OLEDs also have Acoustic Surface Audio+, a feature that uses actuators positioned behind the OLED panel that vibrate the screen to emit sound, and Acoustic Center Sync, which elevates voices so they more directly match on-screen visuals when a Sony soundbar is used. A Sony Bravia Cam is included for video chats on Google Meet.
Analysis: QD-OLED remains expensive, but prices are starting to creep down to earth
When Sony released its first QD-OLED TVs in 2022, at $2,999 / £2,399 for a 55-inch model and $3,999 / £3,499 / AU$5,995 for a 65-inch one, they were priced far above other flagship OLED TVs, including the LG G2.
Interestingly, Samsung’s own 2022 S95B series QD-OLED TVs were priced at a level that seemed intentionally designed to undercut Sony, with the company selling a 55-inch model for $1,799 / £1,999 and a 65-inch one for $2,799 / £2,999.
Reversing that trend, Samsung’s lineup for 2023 is priced considerably higher than last year’s offerings, with a 55–inch model selling for $2,499 / £2,399 / AU$3,999 and a 65-incher for $3,299 / £3,599 / AU$4,999. The new 77-inch screen size, meanwhile, costs $4,499 / £5,099 / AU$7,999.
Samsung raising prices for its QD-OLED TVs doesn’t come as a complete surprise since its new models deliver significantly higher peak brightness – something we confirmed in our Samsung S95C QD-OLED TV review. What is surprising is to see Sony lower prices for its models to a level that nearly closes the gap with Samsung.
What’s so great about QD-OLED TV tech that it commands such high prices? QD-OLED differs from standard OLED in that a quantum dot layer is combined with a regular OLED display panel. This addition results in more vibrant colors and, in particular, enhanced brightness, with QD-OLED TVs beating their OLED counterparts when it comes to peak light output.
Since we haven’t formally tested it yet, we can’t say if Sony’s new QD-OLED matches Samsung’s flagship model when it comes to performance. What we can say is that anyone trying to make a buying decision between the two brands based on price alone will have a tougher decision in 2023, especially as the holiday sales kick in toward the end of the year.
Dell Is All In On Generative AI
It isn’t just software companies looking to enter the generative AI fray. Dell, the PC maker, is going all in on generative AI and offering hardware to run powerful models and a new platform to help organizations get started. From a report:The company released what it calls Dell Generative AI Solutions for clients to set up access to large language models and create generative AI projects. The company will offer new hardware setups, a managed service platform, and computers to run generative AI projects faster.
Dell is known for releasing laptops and monitors, but the company also produces server racks and other enterprise hardware. While the more public face of the AI arms race is between developers of large language models like Meta, OpenAI, and Google, another group of tech companies is looking into how to cash in on the technology. From hardware providers to cloud providers, everyone believes they need an AI service to keep up as clients want to add more AI capabilities to their businesses.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It isn’t just software companies looking to enter the generative AI fray. Dell, the PC maker, is going all in on generative AI and offering hardware to run powerful models and a new platform to help organizations get started. From a report:The company released what it calls Dell Generative AI Solutions for clients to set up access to large language models and create generative AI projects. The company will offer new hardware setups, a managed service platform, and computers to run generative AI projects faster.
Dell is known for releasing laptops and monitors, but the company also produces server racks and other enterprise hardware. While the more public face of the AI arms race is between developers of large language models like Meta, OpenAI, and Google, another group of tech companies is looking into how to cash in on the technology. From hardware providers to cloud providers, everyone believes they need an AI service to keep up as clients want to add more AI capabilities to their businesses.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Arizona law school embraces ChatGPT use in student applications
School’s embrace of AI comes as others clamp down on tech-assisted applications.
Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards / Arizona State University)
On Friday, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law announced that prospective students would be allowed to use AI tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to assist in preparing their applications, according to a report by Reuters.
This decision comes a week after the University of Michigan Law School notably decided to ban such AI tools, highlighting the diverse policies different universities are adopting related to AI’s role in student applications.
Arizona State’s law school says that applicants who use AI tools must clearly disclose that fact, and they must also ensure that the submitted information is accurate. This parallels the school’s existing requirement for applicants to certify if they have used a professional consultant to help with their application.