Smart Globies

The iPhone 13 series dominates the Chinese smartphone market, but even in this market, the iPhone 13 Mini model does not attract too many users.

The latest data from Counterpoint shows that the iPhone 13 is the best-selling model in China in 2021, above the iPhone 13 Pro Max. All in all, proportionally from these figures, more than 1 in 2 iPhones sold in China last year was the iPhone 13.

iPhone 13 Pro ranks 3rd in the ranking with 21%, while iPhone 13 mini is the least attractive, accounting for only 5% of total iPhone sales.

Counterpoint explained: “ Initial sales of the iPhone 13 series in China far exceeded sales of its predecessors. With the release of the iPhone 13, Apple took the top spot in terms of sales in China and maintained the number one spot, not counting the brief period during Singles' Day. This success was also followed by positive sales of the iPhone 12 series, which contributed to an increase in Apple's overall sales .”

In addition to confirming the iPhone 13 is a very successful product, these numbers also show that Apple is on the right track when it comes to killing the iPhone mini, if the rumors are true.

The upcoming generation of iPhone 14 is said to no longer have a 5.4-inch version. In return, Apple will introduce a larger iPhone 14 with a 6.7-inch screen. The lineup will still include four different models, like the current generation, but will only include 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch devices.

The iPhone mini will almost certainly be "retired," and the smallest iPhone Apple will sell will be the iPhone SE, which is expected to be refreshed at some point this spring. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 launch event, if nothing changes, will take place in September.

The pandemic has affected many different industries, one of which is aviation. The debt of the airline industry has surpassed imaginable levels (nearly 400 billion USD), banks are constantly asking for payment. The deadline to pay the huge numbers is by the end of the decade, or the bank has to stop lending and recover assets. Many airlines have to reduce ticket prices to attract customers, but it is difficult because of the fear of disease among many tourists.

Two years of Covid have messed up the system the airline industry uses to set ticket prices. Specifically, fares are usually based on the analysis of the previous year's passenger traffic, which is continuously updated based on passenger demand data. Right now, that store of information is completely empty and useless. The epidemic situation makes the only data we have is 2019, and of course it cannot be used to predict for 2022 or any other year.

“They will go blind if they rely on old data. Normally, the closer to the flight date, the higher the ticket price will be due to the urgent need to book flights, but that will not be in the current epidemic situation. Customers have to think very carefully before deciding to book or cancel a flight, they even have to do it months in advance,” said Oliver Ranson, former QCSC executive at Qatar Airways, who advises airlines. aviation on pricing policy.

John Harrison, a former Iberian revenue manager and now an employee of Cumberland Consulting, says low-cost carriers have a number of advantages in this situation. These airlines focus only on filling seats on simple routes, so they prefer to use real-time pricing systems, rather than data from the previous season. With a complex global network, they quickly attracted guests and won the game.

Storing information on computers is now 1% cheaper than it was 20 years ago, but unlike consumer companies, the airline industry has been slow to use alternative sources of information to predict demand. "What the airline industry is using is 20 to 30 years ago, it's the reservation system with the structure and data communication primitive," he said.

According to Ranson, alternative sources of information come in three main forms. The first is a social network, which allows them to raise prices, utilize reserves, and create popular new destinations. Next is credit card data, which shows when people started traveling, paying a lot for food needs, jewelry, theater tickets. The final type of information is from mobile phones and communication platforms like Zoom, the increased amount of time talking is indicative of customers' explosive travel demand soon.

Of course, none of this data comes cheap. The reason why the airline industry delayed innovating the way tickets was sold was because they had to deal with the operation and daily maintenance of the entire system. The above strategy is completely fine if placed in the time of previous years, but in the time of post-Covid recovery it is no longer effective.

However, things will soon change. The airline industry must soon adapt and develop to generate income if it does not want to go bankrupt due to debt.

Instead of keeping ticket prices low to attract tourists, the airline industry is upgrading ancillary services such as baggage fees, in-flight meals, aisle seats and flexible airfares to increase salary. These costs were initially offered on a ticket-specific basis, now customizable as a commercial product. The airline industry is trying its best to cover losses and avoid heavy losses caused by too low or too high prices.

Covid 19 has put unprecedented strain on the global aviation industry. Even if they don't want to, it will be the passengers who will have to pay to restore it.

New research by a team of scientists at Nagoya University (Japan) shows that the type of collinsella bacteria inside the intestinal tract may have helped reduce the number of deaths from COVID-19 in Japan and some other countries.

According to the Japan Times on January 14, in order to unravel the "mysterious factor" that helps some countries have low death rates from COVID-19, scientists from Nagoya University analyzed data on 30 types of cancer. gut bacteria in 953 healthy people in 10 countries through a public database.

The team analyzed the relationship between gut microbiota composition and mortality from COVID-19.



Applying an advanced machine learning model in February 2021 - a time when a COVID-19 vaccine was not yet available, scientists discovered that collinsella bacteria may be related to COVID-19 mortality.

The scientists divided the data into five types of gut microbial ecosystems. They compared them with mortality rates from 10 countries and found that people with higher levels of the gut bacteria collinsella had a lower mortality rate from COVID-19.

The study said that in countries with low mortality from COVID-19 such as Korea, Japan and Finland, the rate of collinsella among intestinal bacteria is often high, accounting for 34-61%.

Meanwhile, in countries with high death rates from COVID-19 such as Belgium, the UK, Italy and the US, the rate of collinsella in intestinal bacteria is only about 4-18%.

"I'm not saying that just one type of gut bacteria can treat COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to find a breakthrough in the treatment of the disease and to find something to do with that factor. The mystery leads to low mortality," noted Masaaki Hirayama, an associate professor at Nagoya University and leader of the research team.

Associate Professor Hirayama explained that collinsella bacteria convert bile acids in the digestive system into ursodeoxycholic acid, which has the ability to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from attaching to receptors on cells and prevent "cytokine storms" (the type of overreaction of the immune system). immune system can be deadly).

"In fact, most Japanese and people from other Asian countries have high levels of collinsella and bifidobacteria," said Hirayama.

A new law was enacted by the National Assembly of Korea in September 2021, obliging app developers to use specific payment systems, in order to prevent monopolies from market operators. apps - like Apple and Google. On January 11, 2022, Apple gave regulatory consent and will allow payment systems other than those in the App Store.

Apple hasn't said the exact fee it will charge app developers for using an external payment system, but does say it will be 30% less than Apple's current regulatory fee. Exact commission rates for external payments, and execution date, will be determined after concluding discussions with South Korea's Technology regulator, the giant said.

Google also agreed to the new rule a little earlier than Apple, charging 26% for external payments. At first glance this sounds like a win for app developers on Apple and Google platforms, but there are also concerns about whether it will have any significant impact. For example, it is much easier and more convenient for a developer to use the payment systems provided by Apple or Google, than using an external payment system.

Another good example is the payment system of the market operator One Store in Korea. A fee of 5% when using external payment methods, 20% for internal payment methods of the market. However, for the sake of convenience, developers still accept the option of higher fees.

However, no matter how effective it is, successfully implementing the regulation and forcing Apple and Google to make concessions is a big step forward in the fight for developers. It is also considered that the first domino to be pushed will create a chain reaction in other countries to achieve the same goal as in Korea.

The Chinese government's digital yuan wallet promises to accelerate the trend of cashless spending in the country of billions of people in the future.

China's official digital yuan wallet app is now available on Android and iOS mobile app stores. This is seen as a step forward in the development of China's sovereign digital currency as the Beijing Winter Olympics nears.

Developed by the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), test versions of the digital yuan app have been opened to users on iOS app stores. and Android. In the test areas, users were able to use the digital currency through supported organizations that provide the service.

The PBOC has been testing the currency in 10 Chinese cities since the end of 2019 and the venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

As of October 22, 2021, more than 140 million individual digital yuan wallets have been opened with a total transaction volume of nearly 62 billion yuan (about $9.72 billion).

China has been moving towards a cashless society for years, and already millions of mobile payment users pay with Tencent's WeChat Pay or Alibaba's Alipay every day.

Compared to those applications, digital yuan payments do not require an intermediary step to link a bank account with an online payment system and allow the government to have greater control over the payments. transactions in real time.

A regular purchase and sale with digital currency will be quite similar to an online payment transaction via Alipay or WeChat Pay. When using those electronic payment tools, users must have a bank account with a certain amount of money inside, the money will be deducted when they pay through the application. Users are not outside the traditional banking system. However, with digital currency, users do not need to have paper money in a bank account. The digital currency is deposited directly into the user's e-banking wallet.

Digital currency is created digitally. It's still cash, but a different kind of cash. Imagine you are living in a virtual world or a video game, digital currency is like the money you earn and spend in the game. It has actual monetary value, only you can't touch it like with regular banknotes.

A Chinese digital currency issued by a central bank. This makes it completely different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Since all currencies are issued by the central bank, countries use their power to ensure the credibility of that currency.

Nearly 6,000 Tesla vehicles are being recalled due to loose brake bolts, which can reduce tire pressure and lead to accidents.

Owners of several thousand Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles will need to work with a Tesla Service center following the announcement of a new recall. According to documents published with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week, Tesla has recalled 5,947 electric sedans and SUVs due to the potential for loose brake calipers. These vehicles are delivered between 2019 and 2021, likely without the brake caliper bolts to the proper specs. Over time, loose bolts can cause the brake calipers to detach and come into contact with the wheel. If this happens, the tire can lose pressure, increasing the risk of a crash. Owners can hear unusual noises coming from their car if parts come apart and come into contact with the wheels. Tesla will inspect each affected vehicle and a technician will make sure the bolts are properly tightened. If the car owner's car is missing bolts, the technician will add and re-screw the screws for free. If the inspection reveals damage, the company claims to tow the vehicle to the nearest facility for repair. The automaker did not say when it plans to notify owners of the recall, but expects an announcement in the next few weeks to address this potential issue.

In 2020, Tesla delivered 442,511 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. The company said no accidents or injuries were reported because of bolt problems.

Meanwhile in the Chinese market, many accidents involving Tesla vehicles are reported by users as having a fault with the car's brake system. Some users have even installed cameras to prove quality problems in cars are due to manufacturer's fault. And yet, some shopping centers in China have refused to allow Tesla cars to park because this model often has brake problems.

When you use electricity to run your car, it's environmentally friendly. When you use electricity to run the most efficient financial networks in the world, it's an environmental concern," Changpeng Zhao said. write on Twitter.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance, took to Twitter to take a personal stance regarding recent criticisms of digital currency's energy use. And one of them seems to refer to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

"When you use electricity to run cars, it's environmentally friendly. When you use electricity to run the most efficient financial networks in the world, it's an environmental concern , " he said. Zhao tweeted.

The statement seems to allude to the recent announcement from Elon Musk that Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin payments to buy its electric cars, which is said to have sparked a wave of crypto sell-offs. CZ's tweet can be temporarily understood that the same systems use electricity, but there is no reason that the electricity used for new energy vehicles has the right to consider itself "cleaner" than the electricity used to operate the cryptocurrency network number. Tesla has suspended car purchases with Bitcoin," a statement from Elon Musk's Twitter account not long ago. “We are concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels to mine and trade bitcoin, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.

Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come with a hefty price tag on the environment.

Tesla will not sell any bitcoins and we plan to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use 1% less energy than Bitcoin's transaction." In fact, criticisms of bitcoin mining like the Elon Musks have existed for a long time. They are based on analyzes such as the Cambridge University statement showing that the bitcoin mining network uses more than 121 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, equivalent to 1 of the 30 largest electricity consuming countries in the world. Recently, it has been estimated that this industry uses a lot of energy for nearly the entire country of Argentina.