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| Here are our top tech stories today: - Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft reported better-than-expected revenue.
- Apple has raised the price of TV+ and other subscriptions.
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he regrets exit from mobile.
Thanks for reading! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft both reported their earnings for the September quarter on Tuesday, showing an increase in sales compared to the same period last year. The results follow mass layoffs and other cost-cutting measures due to economic challenges driven by reduced advertiser spending. Alphabet: - Company shares saw their largest one-day drop in a year as revenue from Google Cloud fell short of analyst expectations.
- Alphabet still surpassed Wall Street expectations with quarterly sales of $76.69B, an 11% increase from the previous year.
- It posted profits of $19.69B.
Microsoft: - Microsoft also beat expectations with a 13% year-on-year sales growth, reaching $56.5B.
- It reported quarterly profits of $22.3B, a 27% increase from the prior year
- Its Azure cloud business experienced a growth rate of 29%.
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| 2 | | Apple hiked the prices of its TV+ streaming and other subscriptions on Wednesday, in line with similar industry moves, as it looks to boost its service-related revenue. Other streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Paramount+, and Max, have also raised prices this year. Apple's ad-free plan still remains the most affordable. 
By the numbers: Apple TV+ is rising from $6.99 to $9.99 per month, while Apple Arcade is going up from $4.99 to $6.99 per month. Apple News Plus will now cost $12.99 per month, up from $9.99. As a result, the prices for the Apple One bundle have also changed to $19.95 for the Individual plan (previously $16.95), $25.95 for the Family plan (previously $22.95), and Premier at $37.95 (up from $32.95). Current subscribers will see the price hikes 30 days later, on their next renewal date. The bigger picture: This marks TV+'s second price increase in four years, after launching for $4.99 in 2019. Apple has been investing heavily in original content to establish itself as a top streaming platform. The revenue is expected to bolster the company's earnings from its growing services segment, which reached a record $21.2B for the June quarter. | | | |
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| 3 | | Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he regrets the company's decision to move away from Windows phones. In an interview with Business Insider, Nadella acknowledged leaving the mobile phone market was a tough decision, adding that Microsoft could have reinvented computing to bridge the gap between PCs, tablets, and phones. More: - Microsoft began investing in mobile in the mid-1990s but did not produce a smartphone until 2010.
- In 2015, the company was forced to write off $7.6B related to its acquisition of the Nokia phone business.
- Microsoft ended the development of new features and hardware for the Windows Phone in 2017.
Zoom out: - Ex-CEO Steve Ballmer has also regretted not focusing on mobile in the early 2000s, and Bill Gates called missing out on Android his "greatest mistake."
- Microsoft re-entered the mobile device market in 2020 with the Surface Duo dual-screen phone, although it hasn't been a major success.
Q: Do you think Microsoft's decision to exit the mobile phone market was a mistake? Let us know here. | | | |
| 4 | | Apple released iOS 17.1 to the public today. It's the first major update to the iPhone's operating system after the September launch of iOS 17. Features: - The update allows AirDrop file transfers from one device to another via the internet when out of AirDrop range.
- The Apple Music app now lets users favorite songs, albums, and playlists, with song suggestions at the end of playlists.
- The new StandBy Lock Screen mode, turning iPhones into smart displays, gets new options to control when the display turns off.
- The update also fixes iPhone 12 radiation levels in France by disabling a signal-boosting feature when not being held by a person.
- The full release notes for the update are here.
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| 5 | | Humane's AI Pin, set to launch on Nov. 9, has received early recognition as one of Time Magazine's "Best Inventions of 2023." The wearable AI device pins to clothing and acts as a personal assistant, answering spoken questions and projecting information onto hands or nearby objects. More: - The AI Pin will magnetically attach to clothing and use a blend of proprietary software and OpenAI's GPT-4s, according to Time.
- The Pin also features a "Trust Light" that illuminates when its cameras and other sensors are recording data.
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| 6 | | IBM announced its acquisition of data lineage platform Manta Software for an undisclosed sum. IBM says the deal will strengthen its capabilities within watsonx.ai, its generative AI studio for enterprises, along with watsonx.data and watsonx.governance. More: - Manta offers businesses a map of their data environments, including data flows, sources, transformations, and dependencies.
- IBM said businesses are seeking to better understand the data behind their intelligent systems.
- The company cited its 2023 CEO study, which names data lineage as the primary hurdle to generative AI adoption.
- Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Prague, Manta has been an IBM AI partner since 2022 and counts T-Mobile, BMO, J.B. Hunt, and SCP Health as customers.
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- Bitcoin (BTC) briefly topped $35,000 this week for the first time since May 2022.
- Slack is retiring its integration with X, formerly Twitter, due to X's API changes.
- University of Chicago researchers developed Nightshade, a tool that alters images in a way that confuses AI models for artists to protect their intellectual property.
- Honda and GM have abandoned a joint plan to create affordable electric vehicles, with Honda's CEO confirming the project's cancellation. Both companies are now focusing on lowering EV costs independently.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is an editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters, with a career spanning journalism since 2007. She has written for publications including The Arizona Republic and USA Today and authored a book on the solar industry in 2016. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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