The guy who quit Gizmodo to launch Engadget before selling it to Aol is now at Mozilla where he will “build and scale new products.” Pete hired me in 2005 and changed my life. He told me he’d never speak to me again after I left to help start The Verge.
Nintendo’s latest earnings report is out and sales of the Switch console have plummeted after the Switch 2 rumors and announcement, exactly as you’d expect. Switch sales are now projected to hit 11.0 million for the year ending March, down from 12.5 million units forecasted.
Nintendo has sold 150.86 million Switch consoles since launch, behind only the Nintendo DS, which sold 154.02 million units over its lifetime.
Nepograndbaby Jay Y. Lee was found not guilty of accounting fraud and stock manipulation around activities that secured his succession to the Samsung throne. The decision — presumably granted in response to an impassioned “It doesn’t even make any sense! I’m the eldest boy!” plea — can still be appealed to South Korea’s Supreme Court. The scandal dates back to 2017.
Here’s the unelected government official speaking about his part-time hobby, Tesla:
“I recommend anyone who can afford it, get Tesla’s solar roof and Powerwall. Your family’s life might depend on it.”
Electrical grids are old, overtaxed, and increasingly unstable in the face of climate change. That’s why the energy independence business is booming inside Tesla (up a record 113 percent year-over-year) and from alternatives like Anker, Bluetti, EcoFlow, and Jackery which just announced its new solar roofs that mimic curved red clay tiles.
Siri still sucks, despite Apple blowharding about its AI advances and ChatGPT integration. Just read this damning and hilarious report over at One Foot Tsunami for the latest evidence:
With the absolute most charitable interpretation, Siri correctly provided the winner of just 20 of the 58 Super Bowls that have been played.
Tim Cook complained about the EU’s data privacy and competition laws, Zuck followed suit, and they all feted the man with flattery and millions before bowing to kiss the ring.
Here is their reward:
The fresh $1 billion investment into the company behind the Claude family of AI models adds to the $8 billion already invested by Amazon as Big Tech tries to diversify its AI businesses. And with Lina Khan out of the FTC and the tech oligarchy licking the boots of the quid-pro-quo king, we’re bound to see a new wave of financial tie-ups in the coming months.
[Financial Times]
The bronze medals produced for the Paris Games seem particularly susceptible to deterioration. “In just over 100 days since the Olympics closed, more than 100 athletes have asked for their crumbling medals to be replaced,” reports the NYT. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has not yet commented, but the IOC says it will find replacements.
Mark Zuckerberg “blamed his former chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for an inclusivity initiative at Facebook” when pledging support to Trump advisors late last year, according to the New York Times.
Here’s Verge alum Casey Newton commenting in his Platfomer newsletter:
[it] comes a few days after Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan that companies need more “masculine energy.” And for women in the workplace, few forms of masculine energy are more familiar than a top executive blaming a woman for the fallout of programs and policies that he agreed to and oversaw.
Sounds about right for someone that’s “constitutionally bitchmade,” eh Liz?
[Platformer]
Sonny Dickson is doing his annual thing of leaking non-working iPhone “dummy units” used by case and accessory makers. This is the fourth-generation of the budget iPhone SE that should have an improved OLED display amongst other improvements. Importantly, it’s also expected to have a USB-C jack so it can once again be sold in the EU.